to be all of a caffuffle about the toddler / road incident

[gnomeland]

DS 1(6) and DS2(3) go to school by scooter. They both can get up some speed but on the whole are safe.

There's one particularly nasty road crossing which is on a corner, but with another v quiet dead end road coming off with no pavement (which we have to walk down). Essentially at the end, you have to look 4 ways at funny angles. (realise this isn't very clear.) I hate it as it is an awkward junction.

I have told DSs that they have to stop way before the end and get onto the pavement as soon as they can (but in doing this they are out of my sight - alternative is that they stay in the middle of the road).

Today, DS1 hurt himself so was being quite slow and DS2 went up ahead. As I came round the corner I saw him stepping from the pavement onto the main road. A car came round the corner and stopped (not emergency stop).

I was very shaken because cars can come round very fast and it could have been a lot worse.

Anyway, the driver of the car gave me a real mouthful that I shouldn't allow him on his scooter and I should be holding his hand at all times on the road.

So, what do you do. Am I wrong to allow a 3 year old to nursery on this scooter. I know it was a really dangerous situation but I have tried very hard to teach them road safety. I know if only takes once etc etc but I can't help feeling that it is unreasonable to expect him to walk along permanently holding my hand.

I'm all in a turmoil about it.

Meant to say I don't pull dd with it, it's more a safety handle so I can keep her beside me

YABU.

I hate seeing little kids scooting along on the pavement next to a busy road while their parents saunter along behind them.

Ds, 2.7, scoots round on our close, but there's onl;y one entrance, so I can watch it.

If we were on the main road, I'd be on the side next to the road.

I still feel sick when I think about the time I had to slam on (only doing 30) because a little kid's ball rolled into the road and he followed it. He was walking with his parents next to main road and they seemed to be ignoring him kicking the ball.I was 6 months pregnant with ds at the time and just cried and cried when I got home and thought about what almost happened.

any road anniemac we live in a quiet cul de sac and my children and the neighbours children regularly play out with a football on the footpath and small road between the houses, its a small cul de sac, dead end so no through traffic and they stay away from the end where cars can come in (and its all parents anyway who are very careful when they turn in, plus they are turning in from a road that has a 20 mile per hour limit and obviously slow down even more to come round the corner)

the children also scoot and ride bikes around the cul de sac, it isone of the reasons we chose this house as the kids CAN play out. they still know that there are rules for all other roads etc tho and dont play with the ball by any other roads, and i can see them out of my sitting room and kitchen windows as well :)

as i said ds4 scoots but i attach his scooter on to the strap ont he pushchair a bit like the link someone else gave, he is just 4 and actually he is almost too scared of roads and doesnt even like crossing roads even when holding my hands, i think its partly the noise of the traffic he doesnt like? but he wont go near a road on his own, which is good tbh. i have always drilled road safety into mine from as soon as they can walk, hold hands or reins, stop, look, listen etc, no crossing between parked cars, they can start young but it has to be constantly reinforced!

I only have 1 child so he is easy to control/keep hold of. I often watch mums with two or three kids and 2 of them are of course 'on the loose' either walking, running or on scooters. My heart jumps into my mouth when I see them running to the edge of the road, but they always stop.
The other day however I was driving and a dad was crossing the road with a buggy and a toddler to an island, the toddler (cant have been more than just 3) let go of the buggy he was holding onto and darted out straight in front of my car. Managed to emergency stop before hitting him but the dad gave me a right mouthful for irresponsible driving!! I guess it was just his stress reaction but it shook me up. So in answer to your question no you shouldnt let a 3 year old make decision about road safety (as in reality that is what you are expecting him to do).

we are lucky yes annie thats the thing tho we cant make generalisations about scooters etc as there are so many variables, my school run is quietish, one busy road with crossing but a bit over a field and on quiet housing estate with little traffic (think most people have alreayd left for work or they are old and not up yet!) so i let mine scoot and when i need to i attach the scooter to the pushchair.

and road sense in children varies hugely my boys are prettty good, esp ds4 bizarrely, but i know other 7 yr olds who are TERRIBLE and give me heart attacks when i see them balancing on the kerb etc and stepping into the road to pick up something interesting they have seen without even a glance to see if there is a car coming!

Apparently children can't judge the speed of a moving vehicle until they are at least 7. And even then, children are very easily distracted. So it's very risky to allow 3yos to scoot ahead - you just can't expect them to remember and apply the rules every single time, or to have the capacity to judge danger.

I got run over when I was 34, more than 10 times your son's age... Not my fault exactly but if I'd stood further back from the kerb the idiot who clipped the kerb would have missed me. Dropped kerb so he ran over my foot. He was moving slowly pulling out but it was surprising how much damage it did - I was thrown a good few yards, the length of a building. Fortunately didn't hit my head but the torn ligaments took months to heal and I couldn't actually walk for a few weeks.

When I was teaching road safety as a nursery teacher, our teaching packs said that the majority of children do not have a full awareness of road safety until age 8.

I agree with the driver.

edam, d'you know why I know this? Because my mother explained it to me as the reason for not being allowed to cross on my own. It stuck!

anniemac your df should not have been blindly backing out across a sidewalk back in instead!!!

Bravo to the OP for coming back and saying she is changing things. Very very glad to hear it.

Scooters and bikes have been banned at our school due to someone being seriously hurt,there are still some parents who let their children ride them and let them go on ahead whilst they chat and follow slowly behind.