To complain about the lolly pop lady

[Morph22010]

I have to drive ds to school about 10 miles away as he’s austistic and at specialist. No other viable way to get him there, we get a transport budget paid from council. I drive through a large village on way, not an alternative route. There is a school with a zebra crossing and lolly pop lady, have never really noticed much before just stopped when needed to then on my car. There’s been a new one there about 3 months and she crosses people across then if anyone is walking down road she’ll wait in road until thry get there then they cross as well. This is meaning the traffic can start to back up so there’s more of a wait in a queue than there used to be. There was a queue this morning, was in it maybe 7 mins then stopped again at crossing. Now the bit that’s annoyed me is that the parents were crossing back across the road and one had stopped and they’ve had a conversation in middle of the road, only about an extra 30 seconds but there were huge queues both ways. She seems a great lolly pop lady for getting people across the road but Aibu in thinking they should have some regard at least to the flow of traffic? My mornings are quite stressful anyway due to ds so I’m probably letting this stress me out more unduly

They're the same thing

You may be currently speaking emotionally, but the people that understand see the rational side.

@QuertyGirl they're not. Holding up traffic is dangerous. For many reasons. For example, I don't know... there may be people in the care with extra needs?

*car. People walking are going somewhere all the same. Not somewhere more important.

Just complain to the council, it's easy and simple to do. She's not doing her job properly, end of.

I've heard it all now! We can't delay traffic in case there's someone in the car with a disability?

People can be sociable on the pavement, not in the middle of a zebra crossing.

@QuertyGirl exactly. Remove the question mark, and you have a very important statement everybody should hear. OP can't physically get that car out of that traffic. And her son can't walk far enough to get to the school. During that car ride, he has already developed a number of needs, ranging from potentially having a 'meltdown', soiling himself or getting violent. I don't know how far along the spectrum OP's son is and quite frankly, I don't care. You can't poll every parent in the morning to ask if it's urgent before you stop for your tea and biscuits. So do your job, and then go home for your chats, just like the parents are waiting to do after what feels to some like their night shifts.

And no, I don't have an Sen child, I have twins, I drive, and I don't get held up in the morning most days, especially as I leave in time to beat traffic and take them to breakfast club. I have no reason to complain. But god help me if I did, I wouldn't bother asking Mumsnet for fear of getting answers like these. Of course you should bloody report her! Help the world go round, please!

Don't be so foul. You have no idea how hard it can be dealing with a severely autistic child who has trouble coping with transitions. The most wonderful grip in the world doesn't provide a remedy for that.

That's bizarre.

The OP needs support for her son, not that we build national infrastructure around her son.

No, they are not the same thing. The job of a lollypop lady is not to prioritise pedestrians over traffic flow. If it were that easy, the council could just close the relevant roads completely to traffic (including emergency vehicles) for 30 minutes from the times that schools close, which would obviously be completely impractical.

@QuertyGirl what is the point of national infrastructure if it doesn't serve that exact purpose? The only thing bizarre here are your repeated attempts to say something inflammatory.

OP, I agree that you need to raise this politely with the council and suggest some urgent extra training for this person - or the installation of traffic lights.

Separately, have you looked into whether your child is entitled to taxi transport with an escort? It would take some of the stress off you.

@Patineur

That is exactly what they do- prioritise pedestrians.

What you've described is called the school streets scheme and is something that many councils are successfully adopting. It solves all this bollox at a stroke

It’s not just me though, there were prob 15 to 20 cars behind me and the same amount queuing in the other direction, people have all shorts of reasons why they need to be somewhere

I agree, we need more cycle lanes and more traffic restrictions so less people think they need cars on the school run.

Me too

Lollypop ladies are usually employed by the council. But they're hard to find, so I agree they're unlikely to sack her for one complaint.

you should live where I do - the council just closes roads to make the areas around schools safer - either permanently or between 8-9 and 3-4 etc.

@mumoffourminimes

Same here, they've desperately trying to recruit one here. A child was flung over a bonnet at the junction in question too

That's the school streets scheme 😎

YABU.

Lolly pop folk are fantastic and get loads of abuse from drivers, which is why there aren't enough of them.

Councils are only using the school street scheme in streets that can realistically be closed without causing serious traffic problems. They have them in our area, but only for schools with entrances on side roads. On busy roads, absolutely not. For those it is accepted that school pupils need to be kept safe but that traffic also needs to be kept flowing, otherwise it causes all sorts of bottlenecks over a wide area.

Then how are you proposing I get my child to school?