Why do people drive their kids to school??

[brightonbaker]

Every day My oldest DD 11 walks to school, she is at secondary school and it is about 8minutes walk away. There is one road to cross. I walk my younger DD 8 to school, her school is the same distance. I then get home and go to work, I'm lucky I can start at 9:30.
I think it is good for them to walk to school as it is a good start to the day, exercise, fresh air etc.
I have two neighbours with older DDs about 13 and 14 who I am quite sure have never walked to school, ever. So they leave about the same time as us and get back about the same time as its only 8 minutes walk and by the time they have found somewhere to park** illegally it takes the same amount of time. So why? Why are they doing this? one of the parents does not work so no need to rush and I'm not sure what the other one does.
Really gets on my nerves so thought I'd see if there are some legitimate reasons why people drive to a very local school ?

Silver I live in NI 3 miles from nearest small town, 7 from nearest city and 20 from nearest Tesco. A car is an essential here.

The school bus is free because we live over the three miles that the Education Authority deem to be acceptable walking distance.

There are no footpaths on the roads between here and the school which is usual in rural NI. If I actually made them walk I wouldn't expect them to survive.

http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/road-horror-familys-anguish-as-boy-dies-after-mum-and-six-children-knocked-down-on-way-to-school-in-co-antrim-30738112.html

MynewmaneisKy, obviously there are people who have to drive, but there are also people on this thread who drive for no reason at all, beyond laziness and selfishness.

drives me mad. I am currently going through the local authority fair access procedure to get my girls into a school we can walk to, their current one is over 2 miles away. I'm disabled and am finding the driving is causing me a lot of pain so passing people who could easily walk really irks me. What's even worse is those who seem to think no one else has kids to get to school, block both sides of the road and won't let anyone else past in the other direction. One of these schools has a catchment of less than half a mile which frustrates me even more. Oh and having dealt with that I then have to deal with more of the same at the girls school.

you're talking as if this is something unusual. or exceptional, or unreasonable, rather than the absolute norm for most human beings in most places on earth and in most times in history.

Or I could be talking as someone who does this. Daily. On a bad sciatica day though you're lucky if I can walk 20yards never mind two miles. If your workplace is six miles away from the school then of course its not unreasonable to drive. Mainly so you're not late.

Love some of the excuses on here. Some people will literally say anything no matter how ridiculous to justify their lazy, selfish behaviour!

Love some of the excuses on here. Some people will literally say anything no matter how ridiculous to justify their lazy, selfish behaviour!

I know, its pathetic, isn't it. It would be funny if the impact on the rest of us and the natural world wasn't so absolutely devastating.

I work part time and have kids close to those ages I thought your post was about me at first OP.
My kids go to different schools and it is time consuming for me especially on a work morning. But I take my DS to the station to save him some time on a morning and to ensure he and his belongings get there safely as he has a very early start as he catches the train to school. As a few months ago he had hassle from a 'down and out' in the city centre early one morning wanting his phone. He walks home from the station a good 30-40 minute walk home.
I also take my DD to Secondary which is closer as she was being bullied by some ex friends, has no one to walk to school with, looks far older than her age as she is very tall and I don't want her having any more hassle from the tarty 'popular' kids who get a kick out of insulting and targeting others who look slightly different or don't have the same low aspirations as them or hassle from a large group of older boys.
Frankly why kids get driven to school is none of your business OP and I can't understand why it bothers you so unless they are parking illegally in which case take a photo of the car and report them. Simple. Otherwise live and let live.

Frankly why kids get driven to school is none of your business OP and I can't understand why it bothers you

There's plenty of explanations of why it is other people's business in the last few posts. Air pollution, traffic congestion, climate change, and high volumes of traffic that make walking and cycling unsafe affect everyone.

Frankly why kids get driven to school is none of your business OP

its actually everybody's business, you don't get to pollute the planet and then say its nothing to do with anyone else.

it impacts on absolutely every human, and every living thing on the planet.

Otherwise live and let live. people who drive ridiculously unnessesery car journeys are not "live and let live" though, are they. they are " I will take take take whatever I want from the planet, as my wealth and privilege permit, and the rest of you can go hang"

It's not just the school run either. Many people seem wedded to their cars for short distances, especially when it's raining. I used to live opposite a man who on Sundays drove to the Co-op practically next door (I once timed it and it took one minute to walk there) and return shortly afterwards with a newspaper. My children have swimming lessons on a Saturday at a local high school and virtually everyone drives there, and I'm sure we can't be the only people who live within walking distance.

Silver I like your style. I will definitely vote for you. We need a lot more people who are angry about how we treat our planet, and determined enough to do something about it.

Love some of the excuses on here. Some people will literally say anything no matter how ridiculous to justify their lazy, selfish behaviour!

Yes. Walking an 8mile round trip each school day and getting a lift some days because my DS has no perception of danger whatsoever (ASD). The route we usually use is completely impassable in wet weather. It turns into a running river. We know. We both got stuck in it once.

But yeah. Totally lazy

I'm going full time next month which means my dds can no longer walk to school on any days. I live not even half a mile from school. I am gutted but I need the money

One of DDs friends dad instead of walking the literally 2 minute walk to school - would take his DC in the car, drive to school - park in nursery car park on opposite side of school (as spaces there) and walk the 3-4 minutes round to her door

Baffling - he's stopped now.

And then he would drive straight home - not an onward journey

We used to walk to the primary school in the village faster than my neighbour could load her kids into the car, drive for 2 minutes, park, get them out again. I still don't know why they didn't just walk.

people are strange.

It is completely ridiculous that people who live far from school, with no bus service, or have disabilities which prevent them from walking are getting defensive.

Obviously, some people have no choice but to drive.
Obviously this thread is not directed at you!

Equally obviously, there are a lot of people who are too lazy to walk or bike, and could very easily do so.

Slightly less obvious are the people who live a little further away (say, 1-2 miles), or on a road which is slightly tricky for biking on (like mine, a small country road without a bike path, perfectly fine for biking, but you have to be a bit cautious). Those people could afford to look at the bigger picture- the impact that their driving has on the environment, local congestion, and their children's health; those people could think about making an effort to walk or bike at least some of the time, for a whole lot of reasons which have been eloquently written about on here already.

Yes there are some people with hidden disabilities who need transport, but for every person with a real need for a car for a short journey, there are hundreds of people who just don't care, don't think about their actions, can't be bothered, or have the attitude: "I know I should walk, but this one little car trip doesn't actually matter".

clara like I say it was a status symbol at DCs last school. I know it sounds stupid but stroll in there with makeup on, hair done and jangling car keys whilst your kid was still in the same coat they outgrown a year or two before and the staff would give you the time of day.

Here it's because it's a village school with a wider catchment area so you have people travelling from several areas.

Silver47 what makes you think he says of private car ownership are coming to an end?
And how are those of us who live rurally, without good public transport, supposed to manage without cars?
I drive my DC to school, about 1.5 miles, leave the car there, then walk the rest of the way to my work, about another 1.5 miles.
Would that be considered unreasonable?

Silver47 what makes you think he says of private car ownership are coming to an end?

the number of petrol driven cars being made is declining rapidly, there is no future in opening or maintaining petrol stations, there is a deadline by which it will become illegal to sell a petrol driven car, there is no infrastructure in place to charge electric cars, there is no capacity to power electric cars, as in we don't make anything like enough electricity, and nor could we, There is a growing population, and no further capacity to drive or park more cars in cities etc etc etc.

And how are those of us who live rurally, without good public transport, supposed to manage without cars?

you will need to adapt. You will adapt, as you will have no choice. This is a democracy, it is within your power to initiate and support expansion of public trnsport, for a start.

I drive my DC to school, about 1.5 miles, leave the car there, then walk the rest of the way to my work, about another 1.5 miles.
Would that be considered unreasonable?

distance wise, yes, obviously, but it depends on other factors to, such as whether you have any disabilities, and whether you have a safe walking route, or could reasonably ask the council for one.

Tbh, personally, I'd love it if days of private car ownership started to come to an end, or at least vastly reduced to those who really can't manage without them. I've been saying that's what should happen for ages. It's ridiculous now. Every town across the south east of England, (where I live), is frequently congested ime. Public transport is shocking, even in semi-rural areas, plus you can't even walk (safely) to a lot of places, as there are no pavements and idiot drivers driving at speed around blind corners.

I'm a driver btw, but we walk everywhere we possibly can and I'd gladly give up my car for better public transport where we live.

I have the best chats with my DDs on those walks, we see the flowers coming up in Spring and all the changes through the seasons, play little word games and chat about the school day. No screens or toys just walking and holding hands

Aren't I just the perfect mother?

You do know those of us that have to use vehicles are allowed to chat in them too?

I would love to have walked DD to school. In fact we moved prior to children to do just that. However we didn't get the only school we're in catchment for, and the one she's at is rural, not on a public transport route and too far.

you will need to adapt. You will adapt, as you will have no choice

That is quite possibly the daftest thing I have ever read. I'm really interested to see these suggestions for public transport on roads you couldn't fit anything larger than a car down.....