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Original poster

Why do people drive their kids to school??

614 replies

brightonbaker · 28/09/2017 09:27

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 ?

OP posts:
thismeansnothing · 01/10/2017 12:06

Because it's on my way to work which I have to go to. I don't have time to walk t school, walk home and then drive to work. On my days off I walk though

Tealdeal747 · 01/10/2017 12:12

I'm a slow walker so what could be a 8 min walk for you would be 15 mins + for me.

I used to drive to a local school with pfb because second born wouldn't tolerate the buggy but would sit in car seat.

Also I could do car run in jammy bottoms, no hair and make up etc. For walking I'd have to be half way presentable.

The best bit about driving and dropping off was avoiding the school gate mum cliques!

That was the worst part of parenting for me!

FindTheLightSwitchDarren · 01/10/2017 12:17

I'm really interested to see these suggestions for public transport on roads you couldn't fit anything larger than a car down.....

Walk or cycle? For those who are able obviously. And how much nicer and safer that would be if there weren't any cars. It really isn't beyond the realms of possibility that people could get around without their own car. It's only fairly recently that most people had access to their own cars. If there was a decent incentive, I imagine there's a lot more which could be done to make public transport more efficient and accessible. I don't 'blame' people for driving. There often doesn't seem to be any other sensible option.

Silver47 · 01/10/2017 12:22

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.....

The size of the roads is irrelevant, the scorn of the inhbitants is irrelevant, car ownership IS ending, that is a fact, but it was always going to come to this, the extravagant, decadent life style car owners have grown accustomed to in recent decades was never going to be sustainable. Many of those country roads you are referring to were in use centuries before the advent of cars anyway, and will still be in use centuries after private cars are a thing of the past.

When cars are not available, you will find other ways of travelling, or you won't travel. That is a fact, and it doesn't matter if you don't like it,

JacquesHammer · 01/10/2017 12:26

Silver47

Do you live rurally?

Walk or cycle? For those who are able obviously

Well sure - but for those who aren't able? No cars and no public transport?

albertatrilogy · 01/10/2017 12:29

I believe very strongly in walking and public transport rather than using cars.

However, I think education and public transport provision will have to change as car ownership becomes less possible and environmentally desirable.

There might have to be a return to smaller, more local schools. And a shift away from the ideology of education as a marketplace where parental consumers get to choose where their children go.

ilovesushi · 01/10/2017 12:35

I would love to walk my kids to school or go on bikes, but I have a one hour drive to work and I need every second to get there on time. I literally sprint from the school gate to my car carefully positioned for an efficient getaway. We used to cycle in every day when I was a SAHM and it was lovely. Miss those days!

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 01/10/2017 12:37

@Silver47 - my parents used to live in a small, remote Shropshire village where there was only ONE bus a week - that's right - one a week. It came on a Wednesday, took people to the nearest small town, and brought them back a couple of hours later.

It dropped people in the middle of the town, nowhere near the only doctor's surgery - so if you needed to see the doctor, and managed by some miracle to get an appointment that fitted with the bus times, you had to hike all the way to the surgery - far too far for anyone elderly or with any mobility problems.

Other than that, the nearest bus stop with any sort of service was TWO MILES away - and not two flat miles either - up hill and down dale - and there was just one bus an hour in each direction.

The people of this village, and its environs were reliant on cars - there was no other option. Since most people couldn't use the once-a-week bus to get to the doctor, if they needed medical care they either drove themselves, or got friends or the local voluntary car scheme to drive them.

The village has had to fight, numerous times, to keep the once-a-week bus - it is subsidised by the local authority, and when money is tight, it is one of the first things they look at, to save money.

FindTheLightSwitchDarren · 01/10/2017 12:43

Well sure - but for those who aren't able? No cars and no public transport?

I am not an expert, but in my fantasy situation (so talking out of my hole as they say where I'm from Grin), people who really needed it; those who are disabled or who can't walk / cycle and live in areas which are completely inaccessible to buses and minibuses would be able to have cars for journeys where they were needed. I can't imagine that would be many people tbh. My dad is nearly obese, has (well managed, so not high anymore) BP issues, is 66 yo and he regularly cycles distances of up to 70km (in one round trip, but with lunch break etc). I know there will be people who genuinely couldn't manage without a car, but, even if only those people had cars, imagine how few cars there would be on the roads.

Silver47 · 01/10/2017 13:13

@Silver47 - my parents used to live in a small, remote Shropshire village where there was only ONE bus a week - that's right - one a week. It came on a Wednesday, took people to the nearest small town, and brought them back a couple of hours later.

and?

we live in democracy.

Do something about its your responsibility, not anyone elses.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 01/10/2017 13:15

@Silver47 - they DO do something about it - they own cars!

I was trying to make you understand that not everywhere has regular and frequent public transport, and can manage without cars - a fact that appears to have escaped your attention.

ForalltheSaints · 01/10/2017 13:16

I think there are some differing reasons, some or most have been mentioned. I think one that may be difficult to overcome without anything such as a congestion charge is people who get in the car for short journeys either because they are always running late, or have no measure of how long journeys take.

JacquesHammer · 01/10/2017 13:21

we live in democracy

Indeed. And some of us choose to have vehicles to mean we can work/shop/get to the GPS/take kids to school etc

FindTheLightSwitchDarren · 01/10/2017 13:27

I know loads of people (who are able) who say how much they would love to cycle instead of driving, but they're too scared to... because of all the cars! So they end up driving.

I have to admit I'm one of them. Maybe I'm being naive, but I imagine it would be amazing if there were few enough vehicles out there, (as per my fantasy situation where only those who really needed them had cars), that people who wanted to, could feel safe as a cyclist or pedestrian on the roads.

Silver47 · 01/10/2017 14:07

I was trying to make you understand that not everywhere has regular and frequent public transport, and can manage without cars - a fact that appears to have escaped your attention.

i am very well aware of what rural areas are like, thnk you. and owning cars is a temporary sticking plaster, which some people may have been deluded into thinking was a long term solution, but was never going to be.

That age is nearly over, so anyone living in such areas needs to take action now, to plan and prepare for when private ownership of cars is no longer viable.

Silver47 · 01/10/2017 14:09

Indeed. And some of us choose to have vehicles to mean we can work/shop/get to the GPS/take kids to school etc

living in a democracy does not entitle you to poison the planet for your own convenience, and in fact, in the future, this option will not be open to you anyway.

It does entitle you to be politically active, and to take responsibility for your own plans and preparedness for a future without many private car ownership.

JacquesHammer · 01/10/2017 14:39

It does entitle you to be politically active, and to take responsibility for your own plans

You have no idea what I do politically.

I have been a vociferous campaigner for better local schools and medical provision.

Getting rid of private vehicles will mean wholesale job losses for those that can't commute by public transport. The roads around here simply cannot be altered for public transport.

Let me guess you don't live rurally so "I'm alright jack".

JacquesHammer · 01/10/2017 14:40

That age is nearly over

Nonsense

Lethaldrizzle · 01/10/2017 14:47

ok so all the people who live in rural areas, - i get it, - i do not get the city dwellers who insist on ferrying kids around in cars - especially when they've chosen to exacerbate the situation by choosing schools/nurseries far from their homes

xqwertyx · 01/10/2017 14:54

Im guessing they do it because they dont want to walk.

So your actual question is "why dont these parents want to walk"

Think thats something only they can answer, maybe health reasons, medical reasons, lazy, walking phobia....

AmaraSas · 01/10/2017 14:56

When my DS was at lower school we lived in spitting distance from the school so i wanted to walk daily. When he was 4, the rubbish hit the fan behaviourally so i often had to drive to pick up an aggressive screaming child from the front door the school. Now it was fairly obvious why i was driving on said occassions but i still got judged for it, worse of all by people in their cars that lived the same distance from the school i did. My point... dont judge other people by your standards until you have walked a mile in their shoes

woodhill · 01/10/2017 15:01

Wouldn't the walk have tired the dc out slightly?

Luckymummy22 · 01/10/2017 15:10

I didn't chose to send my kids to a school far away from our home.
But others did. And the sibling rule meant my kids doesn't get to go to local school (250 yds from our house)
So we drive daily and pass lots of cars driving the other way to the school that my kids should have went to.

Silver47 · 01/10/2017 15:14

Getting rid of private vehicles will mean wholesale job losses for those that can't commute by public transport

you are speaking as it is a deliberate act, or a choice, it isn't. Private, petrol driven cars are not not possible to sustain, they are destroying the planet, they cannot be allowed to continue, and they are not being allowed to continue, it isn't negotiable, or optional, it is a fact of life.

those roads were there before cars, and will still be there after cars.

Silver47 · 01/10/2017 15:15

Nonsense

its over, sorry. but there it is.

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