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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Kids playing in roads and carparks

49 replies

Mumofonesoontobetwo · 05/05/2016 19:11

Why is this suddenly acceptable? Where I live my car has to be parked around the back which is accessible via a cul de sac and by driving through a tight passage way to a car park for at least 10 houses. For some reason the people that live on cul de sac think it's acceptable for numerous children under 5 to be running in and out of car park and using scooters across what is the blind entrance and exit. All houses have gardens and the large park is only 5 mins walk away. AIBU to think these kids shouldn't be playing there? Sometimes parents have to leg it into road as children just scoot wherever when cars are coming!

OP posts:
MrHannahSnell · 05/05/2016 19:16

Hardly suddenly. I remember this being an issue when I was a kid in the 60s.

WutheringTights · 05/05/2016 19:18

Where would you prefer they play?

WutheringTights · 05/05/2016 19:19

All the parks around here are full of large aggressive dogs wandering around off-lead. Our neighbour was bitten a few days ago. There's no way I'd allow an under 5 to play there.

cheapandcheerful · 05/05/2016 19:26

I spent most of my childhood playing on the street outside my house. Loved every second of it. Lots of happy memories :)

InsufficientlyCaffeinated · 05/05/2016 19:28

I wish we'd give more space to children's play and less to cars. Makes me sad that as a society we've chosen traffic over play

NeedACleverNN · 05/05/2016 19:33

It's still quite common round here

A lot of children play kerbies on the road.

In a cul de sac I would think it was fine tbh. Cars have got to go slow in that area anyway.

Natsku · 05/05/2016 19:33

I wish we'd give more space to children's play and less to cars Absolutely agree

revealall · 05/05/2016 20:03

Parents are out there so YABU.

You can't scooter on grass very well.

southeastastra · 05/05/2016 20:06

in america they have signs you can put out to tell cars to slow down as kids playing out.

sleepyhead · 05/05/2016 20:07

I wouldn't let my children play in our car park because I don't trust drivers to keep an eye out and drive safely, but I wish I could.

I remember playing in the road, with someone keeping an eye out and shouting "car" when we needed to get out of the way. There were far fewer cars about through.

Vaara · 05/05/2016 20:23

I thought the "thing" now was that kids didn't play in the street like they used to.

I grew up in a cul de sac and we always played in the street. Remember in Wayne's World they're playing hockey on the street and every so often have to shout "car!" and move everything onto the pavement? That brought back happy memories....

Unescorted · 05/05/2016 20:27

It isn't sudden - happened in the 70s. Drivers took care to not feel entitled to the space / run small kids over.

When did it suddenly become acceptable for car drivers own all the outdoor space?

ABCAlwaysBeCunting · 05/05/2016 20:30

They play in the road outside our house. I don't mind, but it's a busy cut through and people drive carelessly. There's a huge park and wood literally two minutes walk away. One day one of them is going to get run over. I don't understand why their parents let them do it.

TigerPath · 05/05/2016 20:38

I think it's ridiculous to let kids play in the street in this day and age. Not only is it dangerous with traffic, but it's a nuisance for everyone. Who wants a screeching racket right outside their windows, or balls hitting their cars? Where I used to live it was awful, footballs being kicked against cars and kids screaming and yelling until 9pm, racing around on bikes as though the street was a park Angry

You need to make a complaint to council or ring the non-emergency police number, saying they are at risk of being hit by cars, property at risk of being damaged, that noise is an issue etc.

If parents can't be bothered to supervise them in the park, they should be playing in their gardens!

Vaara · 05/05/2016 20:40

Maybe they don't have gardens?!

Unescorted · 05/05/2016 20:41

And then we will all be complaining about the teenagers who are soooo anti social.

Timeforabiscuit · 05/05/2016 20:42

Tiger, ha ha on your garden comment! You do realise that most new builds prioritise parking over garden space cos the planning regs and market made it so!

NeedACleverNN · 05/05/2016 20:46

Tiger do you actually like anything?

You seem to hate everything apart from yourself and your son..

InsufficientlyCaffeinated · 05/05/2016 20:49

So you'd rather the racket of traffic over the racket of children enjoying themselves?!
If people are driving dangerously why not call the police on them rather than the children?

ABCAlwaysBeCunting · 05/05/2016 20:49

No, the ones outside my house don't have a garden because it's a block of flats. But if there's a park and wood less than two minutes away, why on earth would their parents let them play on a busy road?

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 05/05/2016 20:57

Where do you prefer them to play.?
Well put it this way. Certainly not on dangerous roads. Hmm

TheSolitaryBoojum · 05/05/2016 21:04

The children here who play in the culdesac and the car park that's part of it use cones to block off the road. They scoot, bike and play football or skip.
Then the drivers stop, they move the cones and proceed carefully. They are part of the same set-up, so they usually know the children.
Like having a low-budget gated community.

Orda1 · 05/05/2016 21:04

Eww. Playing in the road, how awf.

TheSolitaryBoojum · 05/05/2016 21:07

We played in the road in the 60s. Mind you, it was an unmetalled 1 in 5 and only seven people owned cars out of a street with 100 terraced houses.

Atenco · 05/05/2016 21:22

"I wish we'd give more space to children's play and less to cars. Makes me sad that as a society we've chosen traffic over play"

This

As for the sound of children playing being a "screeching racket", words fail me, it is the most beautiful sound in the world. Tiger, you should have lived where I used to live, where the children spent their time deliberately destroying other people's property. Really an accident resulting from play is a thousand times preferable.