Kids on scooters during school run 😒

[Heyjude16]

It drives me insane. Small path to school and they come zooming so fast up behind you that if you don't move you get smacked at the back of your legs, and then none of them say please or thank you or excuse me. Drives me insane! 😒

I live right by a school and would cheerfully throttle some of the kids who come on scooters. The ones who have the 'stunt's scooters' are the worst, as every single child appears to be too small to really do anything on them and they take up the whole pavement and appear indifferent to anyone else who is going around.

I especially loathe small children who bring their scooters into the shop where I work. I always tell ask them to stop scooting and walk, or else go outside. The parents always object and say they aren't doing anything wrong right before said spoiled git child collides with a stand of clothes and drags the whole thing down on top of them!

I also hate kids on bikes on the pavements. There are 2 children that I meet regularly while walking the dog in the morning and the little girl whizzes around a blind corner every time and shouts 'move' if there is anyone there. If she does ever hit me, she will be very, very sorry indeed. Mummy wanders along behind - a good bit behind - and murmurs things like 'slow down, darling' that said child won't hear as Mummy is not even in sight, never mind hearing.

I am not actually that grumpy and love to see kids playing on scooters, but not on the school run or in shops.

There are several junior school aged boys who hurtle down the hill at the top of our local park completely out of control every morning. This often coincides with me getting two small dogs onto their leads and I frequently have to leap out of the way. Toddlers are let loose by the parents at the top of this steep slope on the evening school run.

You are not safe once you get out of the park either, with secondary school aged children using the pavement to cycle to school, it is only a matter of time before there is an accident as there are several elderly care homes in the area as well.

If she does ever hit me, she will be very, very sorry indeed.

What will happen?

I've has to dodge a few this morning - mostly adults! Even DS rolled his eyes at the grown man scootering through Victoria station in rush hour.

Maryann I Agree totally about parents driving children a few yards to school. I always walk my GD to school but ex dil drives , because she's always late, she's always late to school too of course.

My poor GD asks me "why am I always on time with you when we walk\scoot and late with mummy? "

MadHatter, move out to Zone 6. Here we seem to have better brought up kids - lots of 'excuse me!' as kids overtake you with plenty of space, lots of kids (even older ones) slowing down when the path is busy and stopping to let people past, lots of parents barking sternly at their kids for any transgressions.

I suppose it's a community thing isn't it? The more parents who insist on strict rules for their kids, the more that becomes the norm and kids don't question it. Mind you we also have Scooter Gran.

DS1 (4.5) and I have a 25 minute scoot/walk to nursery. To build up his stamina when he was 3 we used to do it so he'd scoot a bit then I'd pull him a bit. On the way home there was often more pulling than scooting as he was knackered. But now he's fab and importantly safe. He's only allowed to scoot ahead of the path is quiet, he has to stop if there are people walking the other way and there isn't enough space, slow down if there are others nearby, hold hands crossing the road and if the path is busy stay beside me. Transgressions mean the scooter is confiscated.

I think some parents need to keep a closer eye on their kids, or kids need to be trained in sharing a path with pedestrians. However ...

Just to play devil's advocate, as someone who bikes to school with kids on bikes or scooters, I also find that pedestrians are mostly extremely self-absorbed and not brilliant at sharing the paths. We ride mostly on the road now they are older, but there is a large part of a journey which is on a wide cycle/footpath.

My kids are well-trained in not running into people's legs, and slowing down when there are pedestrians, and also saying thank you when people move out of the way. A lot of pedestrians don't appear to be aware of the world around them, and think it's okay to take up the width of the path or meander about all over it, with no thought that other people may want or need to move quicker than them.

What makes me cross is what happened this morning, when people are walking along, hear the noise of a bike or scooter coming along behind them, turn round and see a bike or scooter, and then carry on walking at snail's pace, taking up the whole width of the path until I actually had to ask them, "excuse me, please could we squeeze past you?". I'm not suggesting people should leap out of our way so we can charge through, but it should be obvious that a scooter or bike goes faster than a pedestrian, and surely it's not in your interest to have a bike right behind you as you then liable to get your ankles bumped. It's also a safety issue for bikes as it is actually extremely hard to ride a bike at walking pace without falling off.

"STDGisan There are people (not disabled) who drive their cars to the end of their road to buy something small from a local shop and drive back to their homes.

Now excuse that.

I said "..many people need a car because of where they live, their lifestyle and public transport that doesn't meet their needs..." - I am not sure why that means I am responsible for 'excusing' why people who DON'T need to use their cars, use them anyway, ppeat.

"Also many many deaths are caused by cars. Directly and indirectly. I doubt ANYONE has been killed by scooters."

I am sure you are right about this - but given some of the accounts on this thread, of children hurtling into the road in front of cars and buses, surely it is only a matter of time before someone is killed on a scooter.

What about the injuries that scooters cause? Accounts on here of people's legs/ankles being gashed - is that OK? And if it hasn't happened already, it's only a matter of time before a child on a scooter hits someone vulnerable and causes them serious injury. I could echo your words, and ask you to 'excuse that' ppeat - but I won't.

Given the way that towns and cities are designed now, and people's work and lifestyles, sadly cars are a necessity for many. I maintain that scooters are not a necessity, for the vast majority. HOWEVER - I have no problem with them, as long as they are being ridden safely and with consideration for other pedestrians. Parents need to supervise their children, and make sure they use their scooters with reasonable care.

And yes, drivers need to operate their vehicles with the utmost care and consideration - and for the sake of the planet, we need to walk/use public transport whenever we can.

But take my situation. I live in a large-ish village. We have some public transport, but it's not brilliant. I do not have a doctor, dentist, shop, chemist or school within walking distance. I have two hobbies - a knitting group and a choir - if I went to knitting group on public transport, it would take three times as long as driving there, would require two buses each way, and would cost more than driving. I could not get to choir rehearsals on public transport.

Take away my car, and I become pretty much housebound - isolated and lonely. Excuse that! Oh - and before you ask - we chose this house and this village because it offered our boys the best possible education available in an area where we could afford to live.

Yes well, life is a lottery, we could all be injured in one way or another. With bikes, scooters and skate boards about but I still prefer them to cars.

There are as you agreed many more fatal accidents in cars than any other mode of transport.

The way some people drive has to be seen to be believed, on their mobiles txting etc. At least if they were scooting they can't do that ! Hopefully

Unfortunately neither a bike, scooter or skateboard would be of any use to me where I live. I either drive or become housebound.

not brilliant at sharing the paths

But pavements are for pedestrians.

Strictly legally, bicycles should not be on pavements at all, unless there's a marked cycle path.

But pavements are for pedestrians.

It seemed to me that 2cats was talking specifically about a shared cycle path/footpath.

We have one of those and the markings on it are not clear to show which side bikes or pedestrians are meant to be on which doesn't help.

Sometimes cyclists and scooterers are quieter than you'd think. That's when a bell is useful but you need to combine it with a polite "excuse me please/thank you" otherwise it can seem a bit rude.

That's when a bell is useful but you need to combine it with a polite "excuse me please/thank you" otherwise it can seem a bit rude

Unless you're in Amsterdam!

Ah foggy, I don't want to divert from the thread but the last time I made a similar comment about behaviour of people in/from that country I was accused of being a racist, so I am saying nothing.

First post here - friend of mine sent me this and have been moved to comment as I have been seriously affected by these bastard scooters just last week.

Walking to tube during school run hours, I was hit by a child on one of these scooters - travelling so fast the little bastard broke my ankle - currently into my first of 6 weeks minimum in a cast/boot.

Now, to anyone else, this might be a mild annoyance - however...my job is a freelance specialist climber. Have had to back out of at least £10k's worth of pre-arranged work for the next 6 weeks (and that's if the healing goes absolutely perfectly).

No sign of remorse, sympathy or apology from the mother of the child - had a go at me for me even asking for her name/address. Lawsuit for loss of earnings will be in the post shortly.

Take heed parents...

There was a kid on a scooter INSIDE my doctors waiting room when I was there last week. Couldn't understand why the staff didn't tell him to stop since mum clearly too dopey to realise that small child on scooter and frail elderly adults with walking sticks is not a good combination....

Misjudged the timing of my day off today and got caught up in the hometime school run... had jump very sharply out of the way of a kid on a scooter (not fun with a very dodgy ankle and painful lower back). The mother was totally oblivious and engrossed in her mobile

Yep clearly my fault for being outside when school kicks out I know!

DD's school is just over the mile mark and is a bit of a winding treck, so 8yo DD LOVES to take her scooter on the days we walk. Unfortunately, the pavement is so bloody uneven and full of holes that she ends up needing to walk it instead of ride it in a lot of places Her school is tiny and most parents drive their children to and from, so the walk in never busy. But I couldn't imagine DD ever being rude or bumping anyone with it. She never has done even when zooming up and down our busy high street. Likewise, I've never suffered an injury from a child on a scooter. It's such good exercise for them and it's more 'fun' than walking, so I'm all for them.

There's a sad report in the Times this morning that a mother in Stratford upon Avon has died under the wheels of a lorry when she stepped into the road to get her daughter who had strayed into the road on her scooter. The daughter is in hospital with serious injuries.

So many children are killed in traffic accidents that it doesn't even make the news. Knee jerk reactions of seeing scooters as dangerous because of one tragdy is illogical.

The sheer number of parents who drive their children ridicolously short distances contribute to accidents every day. Lots of parked cars might it harder to cross a road safely. Children who go to school on foot or on a scooter develop road sense quicker than a child who is driven everywhere.

If we are serious about saving lives then we need to get parents and children out of their cars as much as possible.

And we need, as parents, to make absolutely sure that our children know how to be safe around roads, ReallyTired. Because the numbers of cars, lorries, buses etc are not going to decline dramatically, unless there is a big change in government policy towards public transport - particularly the cost of public transport - and making it more frequent, making it meet the needs of the users better, and making the different forms of public transport match up better.

As a driver, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of people around me, and as a pedestrian, it is my responsibility to be aware and careful of traffic. When my dses were little, it was my responsibility to ensure their safety on and around the roads too.

You are right that it is illogical to say all scooters are dangerous because of one tragedy - but we do need to learn from all these incidents. And, to my mind, it's not the scooter that is the main problem - it's the supervision by the parent. I do wonder if the scooters contribute to the problem because children can get so far ahead of their parent, so quickly, so if they do get into danger, the parent can't easily hoick them out.

I do drive carefully, do my best to be aware of the pedestrians, and do obey the speed limit - but if a child shot out on a scooter, right in front of me, even at under 30mph, I might not be able to stop in time. I have had a child on a bike, whose brakes hadn't worked properly, shoot out in front of me as I was pulling out of a driveway. Luckily, I was barely moving, so stopped without touching him, as he fell off his bike in front of my car - but it was a terrifying and shocking experience, nonetheless, and I cannot imagine how horrible it would be if you actually hit a child, even if there was nothing you could do to prevent it.

Even when you are hyper aware of pedestrians, there are places where parked cars/vans/lorries, or hedges, walls etc will obstruct your view - in the incident I mentioned just now, there were high hedges either side of the driveway - which is why I was going so slowly - but I didn't see the cyclist until he was about to come off the pavement in front of me. In that situation, I was able to creep out really slowly - but in normal traffic, on the road, you can't creep along at 2mph. Hence why pedestrians (and the parents of young children or those who don't understand road safety) need to take responsibility too.

There was nanny where I worked who had a nursery aged child on a scooter and baby in a pram. One day on her way to nursery, the nursery child scooted into traffic and was killed by a construction truck and the nanny dived after the child and was seriously injured. It was awful.

Sallyingforth I just saw the news article on that mum. So so sad.