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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Walking vs driving kids to school

458 replies

OpportunityKnocks · 12/02/2020 13:27

I've seen a few rants about traffic on local Facebook pages.

Every single time there is someone who says 'well, if the parents walked their children the half mile to school then we wouldn't have this problem' with an inference that parents are lazy.

Well, actually, people usually drive because it is quicker, just like they drive to work because it's quicker than walking or public transport.

Parents, like the rest of the population have stuff to do. It wound me up because a lot of comments were targeted at parents that don't work. I'm currently on mat leave and drive DS to/from preschool. I have other reasons why I drive him aside from time, but that's irrelevant. Why is my time any less valuable than someone who has to go to work? That half a mile is a 40 minute round trip walking vs a 20 minute round trip driving.

So AIBU to call these people out on blaming parents for traffic?

OP posts:
Trahira · 12/02/2020 13:31

Hmm. I'm on the fence. Yes you may have good reasons why it's tricky for you to walk, but in general it would be great for lots of reasons (our health, the planet, traffic etc) if everyone made an effort to drive less and walk more. Maybe try to do it once or twice a week if you can't manage every day?

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 12/02/2020 13:32

Bit of both OP.

I live in a small village. The furthest you can walk from the centre (where the school and preschool are) is 10 mins and most houses are within 5-7 mins. It is an oversubscribed school and few children attend from outside the village.

The road through the village is swarming with cars picking up and dropping off. I know several of the mums, many live only a 5 minute walk away.

I know it's 10 or 15 minutes out of a busy day walking there and back but really?

MaidenMotherCrone · 12/02/2020 13:32

Not everyone lives half a mile from school.

twoheaped · 12/02/2020 13:32

As a sahm, we walked everyday. Dd2 was 2 weeks old when dd1 started school.
We had 0.6 miles to go. It was an absolute treat walking with them.
I really missed it when I started work after Dd2 started school. Had to drive then to make it to work in time.

If you can walk safely and have time, then yes, I think the effort should be made to walk.

GruciusMalfoy · 12/02/2020 13:33

Yanbu. I don't drive them to school because I live about a 3 minute walk away, but I can see why others who have a longer distance to go, choose to drive. Especially in the rain and cold winter months. Next year I will drive, because I'll have one in the secondary school which is too far away to walk to.

Nowayorhighway · 12/02/2020 13:34

Half a mile does not take 40 minutes walking and definitely doesn’t take 20 minutes to drive Confused. My DC’s school is 1.8 miles away from our house, it’s a 5 minute drive or 30 minute walk. I walk it on my days off if the weather is alright but drive otherwise. Parking is a huge issue in most schools and parents who sit idling in their cars for ages...

Original poster
OpportunityKnocks · 12/02/2020 13:35

I totally agree, I love to walk, it would be my preference, but most people do not have the luxury of time.

OP posts:
Purplelion · 12/02/2020 13:35

Why does a half mile round trip take 40 minutes to walk or even 20 minutes do drive?!

Samhradh · 12/02/2020 13:35

That half a mile is a 40 minute round trip walking vs a 20 minute round trip driving.

No way should half a mile take you twenty minutes!

YABU -- I work FT and walk DS just under two miles to school. Well, he scoots.

JosefKeller · 12/02/2020 13:36

Well, actually, people usually drive because it is quicker

mainly they don't though. It's just laziness. Fair enough when you are really rural, and the school is miles away.

What people are usually laughing about are these schools, like the ones around here, with a very strict and limited catchment area. EVERYONE is local. By the time you buckle the kids up, start the car, find a parking space you could have walked...

If people genuinely needed to drive and were not lazy, they wouldn't be so obsessed about parking right at the school gate, because god forbid they could have to walk to the next couple of streets.

Have you been in front of a school 30-45 minutes before the end of the day? They are usually full of parents already waiting in their car, to secure that spot that will save them from walking 20 meters.

It's not about working/ not working parents, it's genuinely lazy people.

And the fact that the amount of cars double when it's raining. People are not "busier" in the rain than on a sunny day...

randomsabreuse · 12/02/2020 13:37

From many places it would be quicker to walk than drive once you count parking especially allowing time to get "good" parking...

RachelEllenRE · 12/02/2020 13:37

YABU.

JosefKeller · 12/02/2020 13:37

Half a mile does not take 40 minutes walking and definitely doesn’t take 20 minutes to drive

it might take 20 minutes to drive, when you are stuck in the traffic jam created by the lazy parents who can't phase walking for 5 minutes!

Original poster
OpportunityKnocks · 12/02/2020 13:37

It is a 20 minute round trip driving once you account for parking up, talking to the carer, etc.
It is absolutely a 40 minute round trip when accounting for road crossing and a dondering small child.

OP posts:
TweetUsOnFacebook · 12/02/2020 13:38

We do all need to do what we can. It's not always possible to walk, but even just walking once a week is better than nothing.

I'm sure there have been studies that show children who walk to school are more alert and prepared for learning.

Could you drive halfway, op? If your school/preschool is anything like my local ones it's a nightmare to park anywhere near anyway.

Clackyheels · 12/02/2020 13:39

YABU. People should walk. Understand if it's an hour there and back, but the reality IS that on the whole people are lazy. Not suggesting that's you. But generally that's the reason. The environmental and health benefits should come first.

Bibidy · 12/02/2020 13:40

I think if you're within easy walking distance of the school then you really should walk if you can.

If you need to drop off then head immediately to work then obviously you can't.

The reality is that the majority of people could definitely walk for at least one of their school runs a day and it would make a big difference to traffic. Catchments are strict in most areas so the majority of kids are very local.

Why is my time any less valuable than someone who has to go to work?

Umm it's not but most people driving to work don't have the option to walk? Parents dropping children to school almost definitely live locally enough to walk.

usernotfound0000 · 12/02/2020 13:41

I'm quite sure that not everyone who drives, couldn't just walk. When I was on maternity leave, I walked every day with eldest DD to school. Now I'm back at work, it isn't feasible for me to walk every day but I do on the days I don't work. I hate driving at normal school time, (currently I drive but drop to before/after school club so it is quiet), if I had to drive at normal time, I would probably have to set off at the same time to get parked any closer than I would be if I'd just walked.

Original poster
OpportunityKnocks · 12/02/2020 13:42

I have thought about leaving my car parked at the school overnight and walking there to pick up and walk home then walk there and drive on. I think it might make residents a bit cross though

I'm not yet a parent at the school gates so hadn't appreciated that there's an early arrival crowd for a good spot.

OP posts:
BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 12/02/2020 13:42

If you live within walking distance, are well enough, it’s safe to do so & you have the time, then yes I think you should walk.

There was a similar argument recently on our village fb page. One parent (who lives on my road) was insistent she absolutely has to drive because her younger dc has to nap. She couldn’t understand that lots of other parents with younger children manage each day (or that she was leaving 40 min earlier than those of us that walk to ‘secure’ a parking space).

Hoik · 12/02/2020 13:46

We walk the school run most days. Two of my children benefit from the exercise and fresh air before school to help calm them for the day ahead and then at home time it helps them destress from a long day of masking, the other two benefit from the fresh air and exercise. Including preschool pick up at lunchtime, I walk close to six miles a day on school run. We only take the car if we are running late, we need to be somewhere directly from school, someone is poorly, or the weather is truly crap.

There's nothing wrong with driving to school every day if that's what best suits your circumstances, my beef about people driving ti school in entirely focussed on the dickheads who drive and/or park dangerously when doing so. One of my DC was almost run over by a driver doing a three point turn outside of school where they reversed completely up onto the pavement. My friends DD was run over by a driver who failed to stop at the zebra crossing. There are people who drive too fast next to school because they're running late and people who aren't as vigilant as they should be when there are large numbers of children crossing roads and walking alongside roads. People who park in front of the dropped curbs, right on the corner of the pavement reducing visibility of the road and the ability to cross it safely, and people who park up on the pavement but don't leave enough room for wheelchairs and pushchairs to get through so that pedestrians need to go into the road to pass, not to mention people who suddenly pull in to park and mount the pavement without actually waiting for pedestrians to move out of the way first so you find yourself jumping backwards to avoid being hit.

DCIRozHuntley · 12/02/2020 13:47

I live about an 8 minute walk from school and have never driven the kids to school. For me, walking is significantly quicker and easier than faffing with car seats etc. It also gives me a chance to chat to them on the way. I also like being able to have friends back for tea / go to the park spontaneously without worry about car seats or parking.

The ability to walk to school (and DH walks to and from work around 3 miles away every day, which takes 40 minutes) is non-negotiable for us, having lived on a satellite housing estate with no school which meant no choice but to drive. I'd rather live in a smaller house and keep those lifestyle benefits, but we do have that choice as we're not rural or disabled.

We do see people who live on our road driving to school but I assume there are reasons for that.

SooticaTheWitchesCat · 12/02/2020 13:48

I always walked my children to school. It was half a mile away and took us 10 minutes to walk without rushing. I could have driven but it was completely unnecessary for such a short distance.

It was also nice to be able to spend that time with them, we would chat on the way to school and on they way back they would tell me about their day. I quite miss doing he school walk.

gallbladderpain · 12/02/2020 13:48

It takes 40 minutes to walk half a mile ? Come off it !!
I walk DS to school with pre school she's DD with me it's over a mile each way we leave house 8.25am back again at 9.05-9.10am then we leave again to walk a mile to preschool we leave the house at 11.25 and are there with plenty of time for doors opening at 11.45 and I'm home again and in the house before 12 !
Then we do the afternoon pick ups which granted take over an hour because I do both pick ups at different times in opposite directions and there's a bit of a wait between them finishing !

JRUIN · 12/02/2020 13:49

Parents who work usually need to drive so after the school drop off they can drive on to their workplace and arrive their on time. Driving half a mile to school is the height of laziness and really environmentally unfriendly. YABU and lazy