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

[17leftfeet]

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!

So the school run is the only form of exercise children can get is it?

if you let your child scoot on the pavement, listen up.

I used to live in a house with a driveway leading off the pavement. Because I know how to park unlike dipstick opposite who reversed into my car and wrote it off I always reversed into the drive and came out forwards.

so there I was driving out at the usual snails' pace, forward, looking left and right. When there was a squeal and a scream from a mum, and a small child just stopped its scooter centimetres from my car. He was too small to see from the driver's seat, and if I had been reversing out there is definitely no way I would have seen him.

many people do reverse out of driveways. Any change in the above circumstances and he would have been killed.

nothing on the pavement with wheels except pushchairs and wheelchairs. End of. If you let your child scoot anywhere outside a park, you clearly don't give a damn.

also second the comment about knocking people over.

If you drive out of a drive onto the pavement and knock someone over then you are at fault.

Don't put the blame on a child. The child could have been walking and you wouldn't have seen them.

Yes, what a great idea. Bikes quite often run red lights too, which is very dangerous. Let's ban them as well. In fact, I hear that it's happened in the past that a small child running has knocked over an old person and caused them serious injury. So probably we should ban small children on pavements altogether, and only ferry them to their destination in a car or possibly strapped into a buggy, though only a very small one so it doesn't get in anybody's way. Mostly, use CARS, CARS, CARS, especially outside schools. It's the only safe way

Try telling the insurance company and the police its the child's fault for being on a scooter.

A child on a scooter goes a lot faster than a child on foot - that is what specialsubject is getting at.

specialsubject, in what way was it the scooter that rendered the small child invisible? If they'd been on foot, 2 feet ahead of their mother, would they suddenly have appeared magically into your line of vision?

Perhaps a speed limit to walking pace? I used to volunteer with shopmobility and accompany elderly people out around the town centre on electric scooters. They had to agree to go no faster than walking pace when the scooters were hired out. I did help one lovely old man who always used to make me check the long, wide path alongside the car park and so he could open up the throttle and go full pelt on our return journey! Was the highlight of his week I think.

Speed is irrelevant. A running child goes faster than a walking one. She is still in the wrong is she hits them whilst driving out onto the pavement.

I was replying to ChristmasPixie

A child racing on a scooter is faster than a running child too. I get that if special had hit a child she would be in the wrong but parents need to face the responsibility too

Given that 90% of children round here scoot on pavements - in fact I don't know of any who don't - I can only breathe a sigh of relief that parents wanting to ban them are in a rather tiny minority!

I don't want to ban them but I want parents to be held responsible if their child hurts another person

No. The driver needs to understand they are driving a potentially lethal weapon and to be aware of all hazards.

Its simply not good enough to blame a child on a fast scooter.

I have no problem with wanting children to scoot responsibly. But people on this thread have gone rather further than that, haven't they! People have even suggested they'd rather more cars on the road (and presumably, couch potato children) than having children scooting. Bonkers.

"but I want parents to be held responsible if their child hurts another person"

Well I'm sure the compensation culture (that is currently turning this country into a mini USA with ambulance chasers everywhere) will take care of this for you ..

So if a child knocks me or my child down that is somehow our fault Confused?

Don't want them banned, my 3 children have them. They don't scoot to school, even scooting away from school is better as people are not all walking on the same stretch of pavement

I don't think the alternative to scooting is to drive, my DS likes using his scooter and it is quicker, however we live in a village, there aren't shed loads of people walking the streets and he never has to negotiate a person until the point he has to get off it anyway.

Perhaps what you are all talking about takes place in larger busier places than round these 'ere parts!

My DC could walk, they sometimes do, it just takes forever. The round trip school/nursery run takes 90 minutes as it is. It's just not viable minus scooter/bike.

I think someone is putting words in my mouth here

I don't want scooters banned but I do want parents to control their children's use of them and if they can't then the children should walk

Parks & skate parks? Knock yourself out

There isn't a child at my dc's primary that lives more than 1.2 miles away -they can all walk rather than scoot

SpecialSubject

I am dreading doing this, we have to cross pavement to our drive too and on hill, I back out gingerly looking nad at speed of light little boy zooming past v dangerous

Children can walk, we have a good half hour walk to school its slow but better now DC older.

So what?

If you let them scoot have rules plain and simple.

I couldn't live with myself if my DC knocked down an old biddy and broke a hip or something.

With the elderly, if they do have an accident and break a bone, it can sadly often be the beginning of a slippery slope for them....

I just wouldn't want that on my conscience

I'll let my children continue to scoot and not let the small random risk of them bumping into an elderly person and ruin their lives forever take over my decision making.

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