AIBU to think lollipop men/women also have a responsibility to cars

[BenandBolly]

Our local lollipop lady stands on a narrow junction up the road from the school and due to the size of the school there is a constant stream of children.

She will literally stand in the road for ages even waiting for kids to walk down the street who are not at the cross point.

Of course the most important thing is safety for children BUT it ends up with traffic backed up to a level where it's grid locked which causes regular road rage.

AIBU to think that lollipop men/women should consider the implications on traffic as well as safety of the children and not stand in the road waiting for children to reach the cross point thus causing mayhem on the roads.

[LilyCocoplatt]

YANBU, the cars and pedestrians should take turns, if there are no children actually at the crossing point it's ridiculous to hold the traffic up for no reason. You could always send a polite email to the school and ask them to have a word with her?

[plantsitter]

You make road rage sound like a natural phenomenon. It's not; it's people behaving unreasonably.

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

YANBU.

[BenandBolly]

I agree it's not acceptable but inevitably the situation causes it.

[bumperella]

I'm guessing that if she returns to the pavement each time then some/most drivers don't give way to her to let her help kids cross over the road again. So she'd be waiting on the pavement to cross for ages (if is v busy road)? I am guessing but that would be the only rationale for her behaviour.

It sounds like a no-win situation really, unless the council put in a zerbra crossing so drivers HAVE to stop to let her /the kids cross.

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

Nothing 'inevitably' causes road rage. Twits who can't drive 'cause' road rage.

But yes, she sounds a bit OTT if traffic is getting really backed up.

[AThingInYourLife]

You can't hold a lollipop lady responsible for other people's inability to keep their temper.

[Sirzy]

They should take it in turns. Won't cause any issues for ether to wait a couple of minutes but traffic shouldn't be allowed to back up too much.

What I don't understand about lollipop ladies is why they are used at pelican crossings where all they do is press the button then stand in the road when the lights are on red!

[BenandBolly]

I am sure when I was at school we used to all wait on the pavement and then all go across together when she said so. There is no waiting here just a steady stream.

I have also seen bikes struggle to stop where she obviously doesn't understand it takes longer for a bike to break than a car going at the same speed.

Do they get any training?

[AThingInYourLife]

So we all need to pander to impatient drivers in case one of them "inevitably" loses it?

[BenandBolly]

bumperella

People do give way to her and she has no problem walking straight back into the road.

The road rage thing is just an aside, my OP is really about the grid lock it causes.

[2blessed2bstressed]

One of the lollipop ladies who worked outside ds's old primary school used to do exactly this. It was very irritating. There would be traffic queuing up right back to the junction with the main road, and she would be standing there in the middle of the street waiting for children to wander up to her.
I don't blame the kids at all, but why didn't she just move onto the pavement til they reached her? The longest I was made to wait was nearly 4 minutes - which might not sound like very long, but if you think that most traffic lights are on a 45 second cycle, then it is a bit of a disruption to traffic flow.
Of course the children should be able to cross the road safely, of course there should be pedestrian crossings and lollipop ladies to help them do that (and if we didn't live out of catchment area and ds1 wasn't disabled), of course I might feel differently if I walked them to school.....but she was just annoying!

[Tailtwister]

YANBU.

It's important to maintain the flow of traffic as well as help the children cross safely. I don't know if they get training or not, but they should do.

[AThingInYourLife]

"What I don't understand about lollipop ladies is why they are used at pelican crossings where all they do is press the button then stand in the road when the lights are on red!"

My guess would be dangerous behaviour by drivers, eg pulling off as soon as the light changes without making sure children are safely across.

[Gumby]

Yes they should have training
Email the head & suggest hers needs refreshing?

[AThingInYourLife]

But no, lollipop ladies are not responsible for cars, just for children.

Car drivers are perfectly safe from little children walking to school.

[SofaKing]

But if children are crossing the road she has to stand there until they stop crossing surely? She can't just decide to let the cars go without putting children at risk, so she would have to wait until there were no more children crossing before she could leave the road.

The drivers committing road rage should be utterly ashamed of themselves. They would rather small children stood in the cold than they had to wait in warm cars? Disgustingly selfish people.

I live next to a school and the selfish and entitled behaviour of some drivers is beyond belief. Two children were knocked down last year, I and my kids have nearly been run over twice, and I cannot understand why you would not take every care and show every courtesy to children crossing the road. How would you live with yourself if you ran over a child?

[Sirzy]

Sofa - I read it as she is staying in the road when she can see children approaching but they aren't physically at the crossing yet.

[BenandBolly]

Sofaking
She is waiting for children to reach the cross point from a far so plenty of time to let a car or two pass.
The children aren't cold.
The cars aren't waiting they are grid locked because part of the road is only wide enough for one car to pass and so the longer she stays on the road more traffic backs up and no one can actually pass.

It inevitably ends in people getting extremely frustrated.

[DesperatelySeekingPomBears]

You know what annoys me about lollipop men/women? When they "assist" perfectly able bodied adults across the road. Why do they do that? I've had them attempt to assist me and have told them (nicely of course) that I'm perfectly capable of crossing the road without them holding up traffic for me.

[FredFredGeorge]

If your bike is taking longer to stop than a car, your bike needs maintenance and isn't roadworthy, in any case whatever the standards of your brakes the requirement is to be able to stop within the area you know is safe - that includes going at a slower speed if required when you can see a lollipop lady by the road.

YABU, seems nothing wrong with ensuring the safety and ease of walking to school and completely within the power of the lollipop lady.

[SofaKing]

Then why doesn't one of the car drivers ask her to return to the pavement and let the car past? If there are no children waiting to cross, problem solved.

And sorry about the cold children remark, I live in Scotland and any child waiting to cross the road is always cold!

[BenandBolly]

Fredfred

I totally disagree, a bike travelling a 10 mph will take a lot longer to stop than a car. If you brake hard on a bike due to a lollipop person walking out a few yards ahead you will likely go over the handle bars.

The bike I saw was not going fast but she did not give the woman enough time to stop.

Where do you get the information from that they can brake at the same distance in the same time?

[Sirzy]

Sofa - they shouldn't have to ask. That should be common sense