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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:
IsabellaMilborne · 18/10/2013 10:19

YABU re the pavements are for scooters bit, but YANBU re being ridden at like a demon.

DD rides hers sensibly by my side, or only a few feet in front of me; a fabulous way for us both to get some exercise in the mornings on the way to school rather than going on the bus. I have drilled her to be considerate of other people as she scoots, and she is.

It's like cyclists; there are those who cycle safely, and those who ride dangerously, but it doesn't mean that all cyclists should be banned. It would be a shame if some irresponsible types spoiled it for everyone else.

jellybeans · 18/10/2013 10:20

YANBU Many a time my little ones have almost got knocked over. Keep them for the parks!! Also makes me wince when little ones (3-5yrs ish) are in front of their parents on them including going downhill (most accidents are when going downhill or crossing roads on them). It will only take a little accidental steer to be out in the road. So not worth the risk to me. I just don't get it.

Chattymummyhere · 18/10/2013 11:18

The amount of children 6 and under I have seen fall off the bloody things on my way too and from school is unreal!

They are all over the cycle path and the foot path, zooming over a bridge that goes over a parkway god help them if they crash and go over the rails..

I feel like I'm Doing an agility course on the school run

RagamuffinAndFidget · 18/10/2013 11:24

YADNBU, not at all. Bikes are just as bad. There's a Mum at DS1's school who really annoys me - she has two DDs and every morning they park in the car park across the road from the school, get their bikes out of the boot and cycle the roughly one hundred yards to the school gate. Then they go in to school and she carries the bikes back to the car again. I mean.. WHY?! It hardly seems worth it to me, and it just irritates everyone because the path is quite narrow so there isn't room for them to whizz past without the people walking having to step right into the grass/hedge at the side of the road!

lljkk · 18/10/2013 11:25

can't speak about OP's school run, but YABU about my school run.
Literally 10x as much traffic as usual from motorists, though. I'd ban cars before I'd ban scooters on pavement (we get cars on pavements, too).

bearhug · 18/10/2013 11:29

sorry but I think YABVVU. Parents have the choice of how to get their kids to school. Unfortunately most parents choose to do so by car, clogging up the roads near the school. This makes cycling to school too dangerous to contemplate. Which leaves the humble scooter (or small person's walking pace.....). That said, ofcourse kids on scooters should be told to ride responsibly.

RedWineAndCheese · 18/10/2013 11:35

Better than all the cars clogging up the school run. By using a scooter, I can park a mile away from DD's school, meaning one less car on what is a hideous, hideous queue of non moving traffic.
That's a bonus as far as I'm concerned. She'd never be able to walk it at a suitable speed and not get too tired, as we are tied into specific timings with her sibling. Plus, that blast of fresh air does her good before school.
Children simply running or skipping along a pavement can knock over someone too. It's the parent's job to monitor a child IMO.

Lilicat1013 · 18/10/2013 11:47

I am planning on getting scooters next year for my two children, there is no way I will be letting them go top speed down pavements. They will get to scoot beside me or not at all. I will be confiscating them if they can't follow the rules.

Going fast is for play spaces only or other spaces I tell them its OK. Not anywhere where there is a risk of running in to people. If people are walking around they have to slow down.

We don't seem to have a scooter problem round here, I have seen a few children on scooters but have never been run over by them or ever felt at risk of being run over by one. I think because the route to the local school is a wide cycle track rather than a narrow pavement that helps.

fedupwithdeployment · 18/10/2013 11:49

I think there is a balance. Being out of control on any form of transport is unacceptable; children need to learn what is ok / not ok. And parents need to teach their children to scoot/ cycle responsibly. My DS did knock into someone once (not en route to school) a long time ago. I am always telling them that pedestrians have priority and not to cycle too fast etc, and I haven't had any problems recently.

If people scoot responsibly to school it is far better than driving imho.

LoonvanBoon · 18/10/2013 11:51

Do agree about the cars, but we walk to school & I increasingly feel as if pedestrians are seen as the lowest of the low. We too have had cars on the pavements (not to mention the number who happily ignore zebra crossings, every sodding day); there's an increasing number of secondary school pupils & even adults who think it's fine to cycle on pavements; then there's the scooter menace (although yes, there are plenty who stay near the parents & are sensible) - & if none of those get you, there's the dog shit to dodge. Surely there should be some space on the pavement for pedestrians? I do make sure we walk single file on narrow pavements & we get out of the way for buggies etc., but it's becoming a bit ridiculous where I live.

Elfhame · 18/10/2013 11:52

I was thinking of posting a similar AIBU but thought I would be told I was being miserable. They are a bloody annoying hazard. YANBU

SweetTeaVodka · 18/10/2013 11:57

YANBU. Scooters are great for parks, gardens and the such, but not near roads, in shops or areas where there are lots of people. I used to think this was obvious and common sense, but judging on the things I see, perhaps not.

Disclaimer: I am not yet parent to a child old enough to scoot, so I except I may be unfairly judgy or at my words in future. But I hope not ;)

wheredidiputit · 18/10/2013 12:08

Try going to a zoo or theme park.

Children seem to have lost the ability to walk anywhere.

Last time we went to the zoo my dd2 5yrs (but the size of a 3/4 yr old) was nearly knocked over by 7/8 boys on scooters have a 'race'. They only missed her because had to stick my arm out and step in front of her to protect her. The parents were about 20 feet behind, and could not see what they were doing.

Bosgrove · 18/10/2013 12:12

My DC love their scooters, but I don't feel that they can safely scooter on crowded pavements near the school so I don't let them take them on the school run.

There is a very narrow alleyway between the Infants and Junior schools, and so many of the Infant children scoot at speed shouting "get out the way" so I have to jump to the side grabbing my Infant school children at the same time. As there are no driveways or roads to cross they tend to be far ahead of their parents only stopping when they get to the school gates.

I really wish the school would take the scooter racks away and banned them in the grounds, then are least parents would think twice about bringing them.

OTheHugeManatee · 18/10/2013 12:19

YANBU. I work right next to a school and rush hour at Kings Cross Station has nothing on the madness of those last 30 yards to the office front entrance Shock

LaLaLeni · 18/10/2013 12:21

I was hit in a busy town centre whilst 9 months pregnant. From observation, my area isn't full of responsible parents who control their children whilst on scooters, and around the shops is definitely not safe or appropriate.

lynniep · 18/10/2013 12:40

I then it depends doesn't it. I can imagine it can get very unsafe when you factor in speed/number of scooters/location.

Luckily my sons school is fairly small, and they have a scooter/bike park as they aren't allowed to be ridden on school grounds. Its much better than high volumes of cars within the school area, and it doesn't seem to cause an issue because the roads aren't that busy and nor is the footfall.

cashmiriana · 18/10/2013 12:49

I was going to post exactly the same thing! This morning, I had to drop both my children at their schools due to the timetabling meaning that they both had PE, music, tech etc etc all on the same day and were loaded down with bags and instruments.

As I was already out in the car - unusual for that time of day - I decided to call into our local Tesco Express and pick up a few things for dinner tonight. As I was about to turn across the pavement into the car park, I saw a small child up ahead on a scooter, aged about 5, and knew that there was no way he was going to stop.

He flew straight over the entrance to the car park with no awareness of the fact that there were two cars about to leave the shop, and me waiting to turn in. And yes, there was a harrassed mother a few seconds behind him having to run to keep up, and to add insult to injury she too ran straight across the car park entrance, equally oblivious to the traffic. Yet I reckon if there had been an accident, the two young lads in the white van waiting to pull out would have been held responsible.

MiaowTheCat · 18/10/2013 12:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Rufus44 · 18/10/2013 13:20

YANBU

I can't stand the way they try and get past you through the smallest gaps and then wait in front of you for mummy!

And you know sometimes you think "I hate that (but I have done it once or twice)". Can safely say I have never let my children scoot on the school run...that's how much I hate it!!!

Oh yes I went there!

AnnaRack · 18/10/2013 13:25

Not at all unreasonable! And in public buildings too! You wouldn't ride a bike round a museum or supermarket, why would you ride a scooter? don't get me started on pavement cyclists thats a whole other thread

ChristmasPixie123 · 18/10/2013 13:31

YANBU - The little darlings speeding along the busy path outside my DDs school expect parents to dive out of the way with toddlers while their mothers are always oblivious, nattering away to other parents further up the path, blissfully unaware of it all.

UptheChimney · 18/10/2013 13:54

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

The really sad thing about the thread I remember from last month about this (where the elderly woman's leg was broken by a child on a scooter crashing into her), was the ageism -- the victim blaming. Apparently, according to some posters, it was her fault for not looking to check for out-of-control scooters as she walked out of her front gate.

UptheChimney · 18/10/2013 14:04

many of the Infant children scoot at speed shouting "get out the way"

Who ARE these parents that teach their children that this is in ANY way an OK way to behave?

i really don't look forward to growing old.

backinthebox · 18/10/2013 14:17

If you are one of these people who are lucky enough to live within a couple of 100m or so of school, then you probably don't understand the need to find some way of coaxing a very small child that they CAN make the mile-long journey to school (and back again for their younger siblings) twice a day. I can get my kids on their scooters, or bikes, or I can just drive there in my great big 4x4 (which I own because I live down a dirt track at the top of a hill, and tow a large trailer on a regular basis.) I am damned whatever I do unless I make my toddler walk 4 miles a day, every day in order to get his big sister to school. I have occasionally picked her up on the pony, and that causes ALL kinds of bother with the other parents, too!