scooter rage. Am I the only person who suffers from it?

[noobydoo]

Seriously, I see scooters everywhere: busy roads where children could easily have an accident; playgrounds where there are mixed ability walkers (as in toddlers); high streets; supermarkets and even cafes - I was in a cafe yesterday afternoon and was nearly ran into with a bloody scooter.

Do people not realise that there is only one place scooters should be and that is in a park on a path?

This has been brewing for a while and my rage is coming out after seeing a friend whom I usually highly respect run after her child shouting "not in the road" and another woman who I am also friendly with allow her children run into the heels of little old ladies in the high street with their b*** scooters.

and yes, I know 2 is very young, but he crashed into my baby, ffs, I am riled

We visited the Imperial War Museum a couple of weeks ago and my DS nearly 5, wanted to use the scooter but my Dad said no before I could even respond. Obviously, I would not have let him use it to get around the museum as I also have a walking 13 month old bolter so cannot let my DS scoot in such a busy setting!

I disagree that they can't be used outside of a park context. I live by the sea and it has a very wide, very quiet (after school) promenade that is great for scootering along on! Also, I don't see the harm in using them on very wide pavements that have pedestrians on. I saw a girl on one in our local Sainsburys express shop last night and initially thought, 'not appropriate' but she wasn't going fast on it and I had my buggy so what's the difference?

'squashed', is this your PFB as it is not great but the mum is right 2 is so small still IMO to think they should no right from wrong. I don't think a child who is 2 on a scooter that accidentally went into you is indulged. Life is still a learning curve at 2!

Scooters are not the problem, some parents are - as with most aspects of bringing up children.

Scooters are, in fact, brilliant.

haven't had any bad run-ins with scooters yet so have never thought about it. I see dc on scooters in shops and find that a bit odd but otherwise they are just out on the pavements

No he's my precious second born! She is right, and so are you, and from her point of view I probably was OTT but scooters are my biggest bugbear and a sore point for me. I lost my last pregnancy, had complications with my son at the same stage and had just got the all clear when a kid on a scooter crashed into my stomach. Then this kid crashes into DS and I am bloody sick and tired of having to avoid kids on scooters Every.Time.I.Leave.The.Damn.Bloody.House and I did take out my pent up frustration on her, but my ds could have been hurt!

no need for them in shops or other indoor busy places but other than that I don't see the problem although I wouldn't be carrying it around for ds. Our rule is if you take it you ride it or push it and if you don't it gets left. Never lost a bike yet!

A lot of mums at school seem to carry them home and back down for their lo's which I've never understood. Why not just chain them up beside the bikes? Although watching these mums ride the scooters down the hill to school in the afternoon is quite funny. Maybe that's why they do it!

I love scooters, the kids have them and use them a lot. Not in busy areas, though. They are great for developping balance and coordination. Do people have to moan about everything?

I get incredibly cats bum
Mouth about them in shopping centres, I don't understand how anyone could think that is appropriate. I live in West London and they are everywhere. Does anyone know why they all have hundreds of rubber bands up the pole under the handlebars? We be country folk and never saw that before we moved here.

I was nearly knocked over by a bike in a busy shopping centre today, as I came out of M and S. Had I been a less sprightly old person, I would have been knocked over.

It's a pedestrian walkway for a start. I called the idiot a stupid twat.

Agree that riding scooters in shopping centres/ museums etc is stupid but if they should only be ridden in parks as some suggest, how exactly are we meant to get to the park? By shoving the kids in a car and driving to said park or walking, with me holding the scooters and therefore unable to hold DCs hands.

yanbu. My DD was knocked over by a bigger child on the way to school...she's 4 and fell over because this childs stupid Mother let him career around the corner.

I am more concerned about a generation of children who will grow up with one really strong muscly leg and one little withered one.

Unless they change legs.

I'm still shocked by the middle aged man (in a suit) who was riding his scooter across the very busy concourse at Liverpool St Station at 9am one day last week.

I think as long as children scoot safely and with consideration to others, I cant see the problem. Mine stop when close to people and at roads and driveways and if they see a moving car. They are never more then a few feet in front and they will walk if the situation is too dangerous to scoot.

m.micro-scooters.co.uk/product/micro-samsonite-scooter/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_term=micro-samsonite-scooter&utm_campaign=shopping

The future of scooting?!

Ds is2.5 and has one. I'm forever shouting telling him to avoid people, scoot nicely, not to crash, to stop when I tell him. This is in the park.

He also scoots on the pavement but has to be next to me or DH. If not, he gets carried. Usually works.

Oh and I'm worried about him having a giant left leg too

Thinking I should get him a bike instead! He loves his scooter and is very good - people comment on it every time we go out - but Im now restricting his use of it which doesn't go down well.

The rubber bands are picked up from the pavement where the litter lout posties drop them.

YANBU OP, they are a godsend - we live in London, local traffic is a nightmare, I avoid driving round here at all costs so use the scooters daily, particularly to and from school, which is over a mile away. I am one of those very annoying mothers who has at least three, often more, young children, scooting very fast. I do my best to stop them weaving in and out - the older DDs don't but youngest DC (3.5) likes to. They are very road aware and stop at every road and driveway (more dangerous than the roads IMHO). Scooters are fantastic, I don't know how our parents managed without them - you can pull the kids on them when they're tired, hop on a bus with them, and it gets you to and from places much quicker and with much less complaining than otherwise. Using the scooters means we stopped using the buggy months earlier than otherwise.

I think you're missing the point of them if you want them confined to parks - they're like bikes, to be used for getting from place to place, not just (or as well as) play equipment.

Well I get car rage quite a bit, have nearly been run down several times, but unfortunately I can't ask cars to drive only on motorways or on special race tracks...

Scooters are just how my children get around (DH has the car for work during the week) but they don't ride them across roads, and know to slow down when pavements are busy, as on the school run.

Although recently I nearly got run down on the way to school by a grown man on a scooter. He cast a FFS in my direction because the buggy was in his way apparently, and he nearly dropped his fag. Classy...

seems like parents of scooter kids on mumsnet all teach their kids to be considerate to pavements users etc,yawn

must be all the non MNers that let their kids run mad with them

maybe we should get mners to roll out a national programme of safe scootering,as by the sound their all very well educated on the good manners of scootering,and its everybody elses kids,

lol

When dropping my son's friend off at school, I see a mum who, every day, lets her son ride his little scooter to school and then uses it to scoot home herself, full speed

I love the micro scooters. They are so light and manoeuvrable, and so much better ( and safer, IMO, as they don't topple over) than standard kids scooters.

Scooting is the only way DD (3.10) can manage the 20 min walk home from school without getting tired and whining to be carried. She wears a helmet and knows that she must stop and step aside to let others past, not scoot up close behind people and only cross the road holding my hand.

But we do live in Belgium where there are relatively few scooters around.

squashedbanana Is your DS ok?

How far ahead is the "acceptable" distance? DD is allowed to go about 5-10m on pavements without driveways, or 2-3m if there are a lot of driveways after reading a thread here about near misses with people pulling out terrified me she then gets told "stop", then I count (if I get to 3, she gets carried). She also rarely never is allowed to use it indoors, and has the choice to either hold my hand, walk while I carry the scooter, or be carried when crossing roads.

The scooters are fantastic for getting some children around but there is a fairly narrow age band where children are old enough to understand how to use them safely and being too big for them.

As long as parents/carers have taught children to be both safe and polite when using them then they should be fine but that isn't always the case.

I've said before here, I have mobility and balance problems, I don't always need or want my walking stick but I have to be careful and I can't jump out of the way so it is terrifying to see (or hear from behind) a child hurtling towards me but I've not yet been hit.