Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think scooters on the school run are a bloody nuisance

140 replies

17leftfeet · 18/10/2013 08:57

I have no problem with little ones in them that are under the control of the adults they are with

But 7 yos plus who career down the paths at a million miles an hour are just not on!

Especially when they are going back and forth

And a new menace this morning -the electric scooter that you can't hear coming -I nearly got flattened this morning

And shouting 'scuse me while making no attempt to slow down is not good manners!

Pavements are for people not scooters!

OP posts:
HarderToKidnap · 18/10/2013 09:01

I live a couple of cores down from a school and if I try and and pull in and out of the drive in the morning I've had so many near misses with kids whizzing across driveway on scooters. It's a bit scary, there is no one around and then very suddenly and very fast a scooter whizzes across the back of the reversing car! Usually followed by a few minutes later by a mum bellowing "slow down!!!" Smile

Fenton · 18/10/2013 09:02

YANBU

I fear for my ankles every morning.

I don't want to be a killjoy, but I do wish there was a bit more control - there should be a scooter lane!

There's one for the suggestion box.

redskyatnight · 18/10/2013 09:05

DC's (junior) school has banned scooters because every year (when a new cohort of children start and don't know the rule) they have several accidents within the first week.

Scooters and a large volume of people don't mix well.

Nancy66 · 18/10/2013 09:06

Yes, I hate them. Too many kid on them - at any time not just school run.

Very often the kids are way ahead of their parents and have poor steering skills, meaning the onus is on other people to get out of their way. ok if you're fit and young. Not ok if you're an elderly person who struggles to walk.

Morgause · 18/10/2013 09:06

YANBU.

It's got so bad here that the pavement outside a nearby primary school is now patrolled by plastic bobbies a couple of times a week. They make the kids dismount at the point where the pavement gets crowded.

LittleMissGerardBOOOOOtler · 18/10/2013 09:08

Scooters shouldn't be riden round busy shops at high speed either, or round the self scan area with others trying to pass and parent completely ignoring the child and letting them get on with it Angry yet we are not allowed to say anything!

pixiepotter · 18/10/2013 09:10

YANBU but the preschool/infants are worse IME

UptheChimney · 18/10/2013 09:12

YANBU.

There was a thread in here a while ago where the OP saw an elderly woman knocked off her feet by a small child on a scooter out of control of his/her parent.

The woman had her leg broken by the child knocking her over, was hospitlaised and obviously, at an advanced age (I gather she was in her late 70s) that is quite risky for her futiure lasting mobility. And a couple of further awful things: the woman injured by the child on the scooter was a carer for her dependent husband, so the husband had to go into a nursing home, I gather. And the father of the child on the scooter out of its parent's control was apparently quite aggressively saying that it was the woman's fault.

So, no, YANBU. I'm nimble & able-bodied & I've had to jump out of the way of children on scooters.

The problem is, they are too young to think through or recognise the consequences, I don't want to hold my ground and have both of us hurt, but by jumping out of the way, I suspect that there's a slight encouragement of a generation of PFBs who learn that the world revolves around them, and it is their right to have right of way in shared space. Cyclists on the pavement can be like this too ...

3littlefrogs · 18/10/2013 09:20

Yes. A lot of people have no idea that a simple fall can be fatal for an elderly person.

My elderly neighbour was knocked over, on the pavement, by a child on roller blades. She broke her hip and subsequently died in hospital.

People are so self centred these days. Sad

BrokenSunglasses · 18/10/2013 09:24

YANBU. It's very selfish behaviour allowed by parents that think their children are the centre of the universe.

LunaticFringe · 18/10/2013 09:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

dandydorset · 18/10/2013 09:32

yep hate them and just waiting for one to crash into me,a few near misses

though all that allow their children on here will say that their's always never bash into anybody etc and are very aware and considerate,it's all the other peoples children that are at fault Wink

cant you tell im in a spikey mood

this is a regular topic on here

tabithasmum23 · 18/10/2013 09:34

YANBU it also makes me cringe when I see (teenage/adult) skateboarders in the road too. I live near the top of a steep hill with many junctions and heavy traffic 2 'yoofs' were careering down the other day oblivious to the dangers of some poor unsuspecting sole pulling out of a side turning and having to live with the consequences

tabithasmum23 · 18/10/2013 09:36

I meant soul didn't I? I live near the sea but not that close ;)

Wallison · 18/10/2013 09:36

I agree that they are a pain in the arse but nowhere near as bad as those massive triangular-type scooters that do literally take up the whole of the pavement - which fucking bright spark thought of that one then? Twats.

BlueGoddess · 18/10/2013 09:40

Our school has got a scooter week this week - think 300 kids all turning up on a scooter! Which bright spark thought that one up Halloween Hmm

LoonvanBoon · 18/10/2013 09:42

Another YANBU. Had an altercation with a lady a few weeks ago when her son ran into me on his scooter, first having run into an elderly lady. This was a younger child, about 4 - I do think they're more of a danger than older children, tbh. He was careering off in all directions on the pavement so it was impossible to avoid him. I just ended up with a grazed shin & the elderly lady was mainly a bit shaken up.

Neither of us could even see the mum to start with, but she had presumably seen the incidents from a distance & came marching up to us - we had been asking each other if we were both alright, etc. Thought she was going to do the same, but instead just said "He didn't do it on purpose!". Neither of us had uttered a word of criticism to the mum, but I did venture at that point that the child might have hurt himself / someone else quite badly, as he didn't seem to be in complete control of his scooter. The response was more of the same: he didn't do it on purpose (spectacularly missing the point) & we should "get over ourselves". Sadly some parents do think their children are the centre of the universe & don't seem to give a shit if they have a negative impact on other people. Fortunately in this case the older lady hadn't actually fallen & was okay.

junobaby74 · 18/10/2013 09:50

YANBU. My dc's school has over a thousand pupils and to get to it you have to walk down a narrow residential road. Many mornings we've been almost mown down by an unaccompanied or unsupervised older child on a scooter, and it's starting to do my head in to be honest.

limitedperiodonly · 18/10/2013 09:54

I got the 'he didn't do it on purpose' from a woman yesterday when her son (about seven) went into the back of me.

He was racing his sister who was about five. No physical harm but she wouldn't see why I was annoyed. Well, she could but she wouldn't admit that it was a fucking stupid thing to have let them do.

Squitten · 18/10/2013 10:00

YANBU

Our school is on a hill and every bloody afternoon, loads of kids are whizzing down it on scooters, weaving in and out of buggies, small children, lots of adults. I ensure my 2 walk close to the fence but it's not always possible. The parents don't seem to give a crap either.

I will be fuming if we, especially my 2yr old, ever get crashed into!

Meglet · 18/10/2013 10:01

yabu. But I'm that parent permanently bellowing at her children to "'SLOW DOWN" or "BE CAREFUL NEAR THE ROAD". I don't let them tear off or weave around other pedestrians and they have to walk them near driveways. They get us there on time and with the minimum of screaming.

kiriwawa · 18/10/2013 10:08

I saw a really young child (about 3) scoot off the pavement into the main road the other week. The adult with him and what I presume was his elder brother was way too far behind to do anything. The older boy (reception age) grabbed the younger kid and a car had to swerve to avoid him.

I suspect some children will have to die before people begin to realise how bloody dangerous they are - sadly, I suspect that an old person dying after the event in hospital is never going to change behaviour :(

TwoPeasOnePod · 18/10/2013 10:09

At our school I have one of the largest buggies out of the parents, and the school is small enough for most of the kids to realise that I cant stop on a pin heaad, my turning circle with buggy has the circumference of one of Saturn's rings, and my eyesight is conveniently rubbish. It only took a few bashed ankles of the scooter riders (scooterers?) And now they give me a wide berth.
I am not advocating crushing childrens lower limbs with the bull-bar-esque mountings of the front buggy wheels, but.. worked for me. And I am a model of politeness and pavement courtesy usually,, the scooterers must learn to pay attention. "SORRY I HIT YOU, PLEASE WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING"

kiriwawa · 18/10/2013 10:09

Sorry, that second sentence makes no sense! The woman was far behind. The older boy was scooting alongside him (they were racing down a hill and up the other side)

limitedperiodonly · 18/10/2013 10:12

Yes, this woman was shouting 'slow down' and 'mind the lady' right up until he hit me too 'meglet'.

Swipe left for the next trending thread