To judge this behaviour - driving when could walk

[foreverderbyshire]

I suspect that I'll be told I am but here goes!

A 13yo girl lives next door to us. She is fit and healthy, no mobility problems. Her school is a 10minute walk from her house. I'd do it in less than that, but I do walk fast. The walk is along residential streets, crossing one main road, that has both a zebra and pelican crossing.
The drive, however, is more than twice the distance, due to ours and most of the other streets around here, being blocked to cars at one end.
Her mum (or sometimes her friend's mum) gives her a lift to school every morning. She seems to walk home though (not always around at home time).
I think the parents are setting a really bad example to their daughter. There is no reason for her not to walk to school most days. We live in an area where lots of infrastructure has been put in place to discourage driving and encourage walking and cycling, hence the roads being blocked off. I used to cycle past her school on my way to drop DD at nursery. It's s five minute ride. I accept though that not everyone is comfortable on a bike.
I know people will say it's not my business / problem. But, that's one extra big engined car (it's a very large 4x4) sitting in traffic outside my kids school in the morning (DD's school is on one of the roads they'll drive down and is notorious for getting snarled up) so I feel that is IS my business, in a way.
AIBU to judge the parents? They're enabling her behaviour and aren't setting her up for a healthy outlook towards activity, and why if you can walk, then you probably should.
Right, I've got my hard hat on...

There's no way I'd take kids to school in a car as I don't drive.
i managed it for about 20 years no problem
No wonder kids are so fat, parents hover over them and treat them like babies.

Is her Mum dropping her off on her way to work?

I think in general most people do drive too much, especially on school runs. However unless you know them well judging individuals never works well as you don’t know what is going on away from what you see.

Ds is disabled, he doesn’t look it but he is bad enough to have a blue badge. Most mornings we walk, slowly but we walk (5 min walk takes us well over 15 on a good day). By the end of school he is too tired to walk so we have to drive.

It’s not ideal but it’s what works best. I think our days of walking in the mornings are limited but will keep at it while we can

I used to run DS to school because I went on to work after. He walked home because I wasn't home from work at that time.

How do you know she's fit and healthy with no mobility problems? Are your neighbours in the habit of discussing all their children's private medical business with you? Fit and healthy with no mobility problems might mean a hidden disability - autism, for example, or a balance problem, or even EDS.

Also in a morning some medical conditions make it harder to get up or need extensive treatment before you go out which makes time tighter

YABU OP by making assumptions.
She might appear to be fit and healthy but she might not be.
She might play truant and parent/friend needs to make sure she actually goes to school.
Could list a whole bunch of 'mights' but where d'ya stop.

If a child is being bullied, they may not want to go to school, and dropping them off means you're sure they go, and if they have a meltdown and don't want to go you can turn around and take them straight home again and comfort them.

Why the hell would anyone care that much about a child who is literally nothing to do with you and it is not your business? Weird.

On MN you can think it, but are better not to say it, OP.
One of my DCs classmates was going to have his DGM wait for him to get off the school bus when he went to seniors as he had no idea how to cross a road as he had never done it alone - always ferried everywhere in the car by DMum. No physical issues at all.

Standing in the window behind the curtains watching everyday are you op? Mind your own business.

My oldest son is fit and healthy no Sen etc , he walks to school when his Dads in an early shift, if his Dads on a late sh fit he drops him off , I'm not really keen on him walking there tbh because it's a half hour walk and he has to be out of the house for 8 the mornings are getting a bit lighter now but prior to xmas and just after it was dark when he was leaving the house ,if I drove I would drop him off myself

YANBU. Drives me mad. Teenagers around here doesn't seem to be "allowed" to walk anywhere. I let my 16 yo walk all over, but most of the time her friends' parents don't "allow it" and gives her lifts - which we both then feel bad about.

Most drivers could perfectly walk to school, people are just lazy. It takes many of them longer to drive (let alone de-ice the car, block people's drives park) than it would take them to walk. It's a well know issue around every school of the country.

Maybe that family is not one of the lazy ones and has valid reasons. Who knows.

You have no way of knowing the girls medical details. And you certainly have no way of knowing her friend's details. One of mine gets a lift to school with his friend. My neighbours probably think she's lazy - in fact you might be my neighbour! - but her friend can't do the walk to school. Sometimes I have to drive her if her friend can't make school last minute.

There's a myriad of reasons why she could get driven to school, the only thing they have in common is that it's got absolutely sod all to do with you.

Agree with other PPs. She may look fit & healthy but you may not know the reasonings. Perhaps it's to ensure she actually goes to school. Perhaps she gets bullied on the walk to school. There's many reasons. Until the day you start paying the fuel to drive her there, I'd start busying yourself with someone else in the mornings rather than watching your neighbours comings & goings.

My dear dd lives less than a 5 minute walk from local school, but due to housing scheme, cul-de-sac etc. it is at least a 10 minute drive. Her neighbour drives his 2 children to school and back every day!
The silliest thing is that while he takes his car to the school other parents park outside his house (where his car was parked) while they walk back and forward to school to collect their children!
Bye the way my daughter walks her 2dc to school.

It is your business because?

You do not know the reason behind next door neighbour being driven to school. Disability? Anxiety? Likes spending time with parent?

My child "looks normal and is fit and healthy " according to others. He isn't, but because you can't see his disability and he does not have two heads total strangers think they can judge the fuck out of us!

Jeez I'm glad your not my neighbour! Judging about someone giving their daughter a lift! FFS!

*something else. Not someone else. Don't inflict your noseiness on anyone elss !

My NDN's daughter looks perfectly fit and well. Her mum gives her a lift to school because she has epilepsy and had a fit on her way to school a year or so ago. My point is, you can't tell just by looking at someone what their situation is.

None of your business.

For safety I would do the same ,13 years old is not that old and considering things happening these days they are doing just right . My neighbour's 13 year old boy got mugged in the street on the way to school.
Besides ,it is not your business at all

My mum used to drive me. Because if I walked I was surrounded by bullies. Had my hair pulled, was kicked, punched, spat on.

Some people are lazy, no way of telling though.

I am a bit bemused by the 'curtain twitcher' comments. Do people really not just observe what goes on in their street as they are just getting on with things?

I know a neighbour gets picked up by a minibus taxi every day simply because it is often the same time as I go out and blocks me in I'm not purposely looking out for it.

YANBU. I know loads of kids who are fit and healthy (and I know this for a fact), who very rarely walk the 10/15 minute walk to the local school here.

In fact some of my neighbours drive to the local newsagent which is a 5 minute slow walk.

OP my DD's school is a five minute walk from our house, my friend lives 10 doors down from me and takes her DS to school every day by car. It takes her longer to park it than it does for me to walk it and I always get their first. No other reason thank her son is lazy and she panders to it. Not my business but I still think it's ridiculous.