in expecting parents to teach their kids road safety?

[misdee]

today was driving along, and saw a mum with her toddler on reins by the side of the road. the toddler steps into the road. mum made no attempt to get him back on the pavement. first argh of the day.

then later on, at the school, a young girl, similar age to dd2 was playing in the road. mum said nothing. and yes she could see her.

kids run out into teh road without looking all the time, drives me mad.

do people teach road safety now? or is it left to the school?

somedays feel like i'm the only one doing 'stop look and listen' with the kids. i know i'm not, but that whatit feels like.

[avenanap]

I teach ds about road safety, however, there are always tossers adults who willingly walk into the road infront of cars because they are too lazy busy to wait for a safe time or for the lights to change. This REALLY PISSES ME OFF! I can't teach my child to wait when there are adults running into the path of oncoming cars. We do stop, look and listen, it's a shame about everyone else.

Rant over.

[misdee]

oh yes. and the adults who cross when the red man is shopwing when there are kids waiting for the green man

[avenanap]

I feel like telling them off. It's really bad where we live. It doesn't show road sense to our children and I feel that it undermines all the effort I go to in order to keep ds safe.

Bastards!

[misdee]

oh dd1+2 are very vocal. 'muuuum that man didnt wait for the green man'

[avenanap]

lol! ds doesn't bother any more. I always wait when I'm not with ds and I see a parent and child waiting to cross. It really annoys me when people just walk.

[babymt]

We're very vocal with the people crossing on the red man. "Oh all those people are so naughty crossing, do they want to be run over" etc etc.

I have put the fear of god into my kids regarding the road. It scares the crap out of me. If a 2 year old gets hit by a car they're most likely going to die. And I tell my kids that that they will die if they get hit by a car. And no that doesn't scar them for life because I've chosen to have a healthy idea of death in our family.

My friend lets her son play in the road outside her house (ok its a dead end but I still think its gives off the wrong message) and I refuse to let my girls play at his house in the road. Also she lets him get out of the car on his own for example in my lane and it makes me so nervous. He's only 3 and I've told her cars hare down my lane but she doesn't listen. Same boy dropped a peice of paper into a main road and went after it It was pure luck nothing hit him. My dd1 (also 3) dropped a toy in the road but stood on the side crying and told me about it. I fully trust she would never have gone to get it.

I live in a lane which is used as a short cut for school. I'd say 80% let their under 8 year olds walk in the road. Theres a perfectly good pavement but oh no use the road. They never seem to notice me coming and I'm careful and watching them but the bin lorry and other lorries all reverse down the lane and cars go so fast down it I just feel its an accident waiting to happen.

Sorry huge ramble but this is my biggest fear them being run over.

[TheArmadillo]

People round here walk down the middle of the road.

They don't all move for cars.

It annoys the fuck out of me.

Oh and they just walk out into the road when they feel like it so the cars have to brake suddenly or try to swerve around them.

[asicsgirl]

what really gets me is when people grab toddlers' hands and charge out between cars with them.

and people who dash across the road when there is a Perfectly Good Crossing 10 yards further along.

[wittyusername]

I say bring back the Green Cross Code . Why don't they do ads like that anymore?

[asicsgirl]

yay for the tufty club!

[williamsmummy]

I could have squished a child last week.

child of 7, with bare feet, ran in front of a parked coach, and across road in front of me.
she didnt look at all, and didnt even notice that she was in danger.
no parents around.

and soo glad I was driving slowly.

'whatif' flashbacks are horrible

[slightlycrumpled]

Yes, they should bring back the green cross code.

My youngest son has SN, (he's moderately deaf and speech delay) I asked his pre-school SN teacher about books teaching road safety as for him he simply doesn't hear the car or doesn't know from which direction the noise came from, it took ages. Neither of us could find a decent one that was understandable.

In the end she brought one in from her home she had used on her (now adult) son.

williamsmummy the thought of whatif just makes you shudder.

[wittyusername]

YANBU by the way. Not too long ago at the secondary school near my house two pupils had to be airlifted to hospital after a very nasty accident involving two cars

Once upon a time the Green Cross Code would have been on the telly. I suppose nowadays if this was shown we'd hear people bleating on about the "nanny state"

[worley]

i have scared my ds1 about cars, so much so that when he was little(r) hw wouldnt walk on the road side of the path he had to be on the inside, and if i start the car enginge without him having his seat belt on he would panic,ds1 is now 10, but ds2 who is 2, doesnt care about cars at all, he would happily walk in to the road and tries to take his seatbelt off as were driving.

[Pixel]

On Sunday I saw two little boys out on their bikes as I was out walking. They sped down the road on the wrong side and then straight across the junction without looking, nearly giving me a heart attack. Both roads are on a busy bus route where a 9 yo boy was killed in the summer holidays.
I couldn't believe parents would let their dcs out on bikes on the road without teaching them at least the basics of the highway code, let alone without helmets as these boys were. I'm sure I wasn't allowed until I had my cycling proficiency badge.

[babymt]

My poor dh did hit a girl who ran out in front of him. She just ran behind a car passing on her side and straight in to him. Smashed up his wing and windscreen. He was very shaken up and very luckily for the girl she got away with just a cut chin. The police let him off as it clearly wasn't his fault(lots of witnesses) and then the childs mother rung dh up to apologise profusely for her daughters bad road sense! She was 10 I think.

How in hells name she didn't break something or die I don't know. Her face broke the windscreen!!!!!!

On the plus side her friends all saw it happen and I suspect they'll all be alot safer re the road now! I just feel so sorry for dh as thats an awful thing to happen to him. I'm so glad it was categorically not his fault because I know he'd punish himself with the whatif's otherwise.