To think that you can’t just close a road like this!

[RoadClosed]

Came home from work a few weeks ago (2:30pm) and our road had “road closed” signs on it. Highly unusual as it’s a quiet one way street with a couple of cul-de-sacs leading off it. I parked up and walked the rest of the way home (only 2 minutes, it’s not a long road). When DH came home he said the road wasn’t closed - no signs of it ever being closed.

A few days later same thing, 2:30pm - road closed. No signs of work going on, so I moved the sign and drove to my house. A neighbour text me same day asking why the road is closed as there is no work going on. I said I had no idea so he rang council to ask - they had no idea either and said nobody had applied to close the road either. Therefore we all just moved these signs off the road whenever we saw them and drove past.

Long story short - a woman down the street then went knocking on doors asking people not to move the signs as they were put there during the day to make the street safe for kids to play on!! By kids she means her son. It was explained to her that she can’t just close the road for this reason! Her reasoning is that it’s a short street and it’s only a short walk from the signs to any of the houses on the street. She was told that this isn’t the point, people have a right to be able to drive to their driveways! She’s continuing to put the signs up between 10am and 3pm. AWBU to continue ignoring them??

Crazy! How old is the precious prince child? If he is over five then unless home schooled he won’t be at home between those hours, if not at school why is she encouraging him to play on the street, he would be just as happy in the garden.

Sorry, have read the OPs updates now.

Still crazy.

That car free street looks lovely but how are elderly and disabled people supposed to get to their property? How are deliveries meant to be made? I'm all for fewer cars and more pedestrianised places but only if the needs of the less abled are taken into account, which they never are.

Is this to do with playing outdoors? We’ve had a system like this in Bristol but I’m pretty sure it’s done with the cooperation of the council/highways

It may have been tongue in cheek but it does read as a post typical of many MNers, playing to the gallery without acknowledging the role/duty of parents to care for their children. They're not allowed in land-mined areas, for their own safety, is that wrong because they're cute liddle-kiddies?

This is so ridiculous I'm starting to think it's made up.

We live on a cul de sac. Kids play on the road. However, it's never un supervised and everyone drives carefully. Most of our neighbours are elderly and their kids grew up on the road doing the same thing. Never felt the need to close the road lol

The only thing unreasonable is that you have not called the council, given them the woman's name, her reason for putting out the signs, and ask them to deal with her.

I’m brown myself. She’s one of those suella braverman types. Give her the finger next time she does something batshit.

As has been repeatedly explained, neighborhoods of this kind can be designed with some wiggle room for disability and can allow deliveries at certain times but not others. In addition, a very high percentage of deliveries can be done by bike trailers or cargo bikes; having a sofa delivered is the kind of thing people do only once in a blue moon. It’s really not that hard to understand.

Even now, some cities are not designed around car use, and huge numbers of people do not own cars; how do you think we all cope?

Incidentally “Too disabled/elderly to walk half a street but somehow still safe to drive” is a very small group of people. Most people who are too frail and old to walk even short distances shouldn’t be driving. Most people with anything other than minor disabilities cannot drive. Cities designed around car use exclude them!

There is no way to design a perfect city that creates no barriers for any sort of disability whatsoever; if you live in a place centered around car use and can’t drive due to disability, you will spend your life having to beg for lifts from everyone you know, or else remain stuck at home. Or have to use buses that are slow and stuck in traffic because there are millions of cars, and have to make your way to the bus stop along pavements often blocked by cars, forcing you out in the street; trying to cross busy streets full of fast cars is likely to be terrifying.

I work in highways, trust me that’s everyday and quite mild. We’ve had death threats, following people home you name it . There’s a lot of nutters out there.

Incidentally “Too disabled/elderly to walk half a street but somehow still safe to drive” is a very small group of people. Most people who are too frail and old to walk even short distances shouldn’t be driving.

That's bollocks... and there's certainly plenty more who might be able to walk half a street but not while carrying their shopping.
You also seem not to have heard of taxis...

but it costs around £31bn - £33bn each year for car crashes, which is around £5/6 bn more than drivers pay in taxes - so it gets spent and subsidised by other taxes to cover car crashes, so people can drive. On top of that motorways and highways have to be funded, so again other taxes will subsidies that. Council tax covers local roads but not national rds. Should people be paying higher taxes to run there cars so that other taxes aren't being used to subsidise them? The true cost of driving would possibly reduce car use. If public buses were subsidised to the tune of £5/6bn it'd be fabulous service - possibly even free

I'm pretty sure that most car owners also pay lots of other taxes in their lives as well.

Motor vehicles don't exist in a vacuum, but they're an essential part of facilitating daily life for virtually everybody - whether they themselves drive or not. It's not a case of 'bad people drive vehicles and virtuous people have nothing to do with them'.

As has been repeatedly explained, neighborhoods of this kind can be designed with some wiggle room for disability and can allow deliveries at certain times but not others.

Do you realise that there isn't a central 'register' of everybody with disabilities and mobility problems? Not having a blue badge does not mean that you are completely fit and healthy.

Do you really believe that disabled, elderly and frail people should have their lives further limited by restrictions on when they can move around or receive vital deliveries - whilst all the healthy and able-bodied people get to do whatever they want, whenever? Are you under the impression that disabled folk have thing far too easy and need to yield a lot of their 'privilege'?

Much as I'd love to turn residential streets into woonerven, there are procedures in place for a reason.

Does she not realise the risk of abduction fir a three year old alone in a street?
I can understand if you’re new to Britain, not fluent etc. it’s all a bit overwhelming but surely no European would think an unsupervised 3 year old is safe?

Outrageous behaviour

I'd hate to be trying to walk on those cobblestones/pavers while using a walking frame or crutches. My 90yo mum, who uses a frame after a stroke, wouldn't be able to walk there at all.

I am struggling to see a single reason for a 3 year old being encouraged to play on a street. Surely if such a thing happened, you would be out there watching them. I can't imagine leaving a 3 year old on the street who could be picked up by who know who. In my opinion, you don't go inside and leave a 3 year old to play relying on an illegally acquired sign to keep them safe.

Report the woman to the Council. I'd probably even report her to Social Services.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/disabled-resident-blocked-leaving-home-8928708

the streets are parking free and still accessible by those with blue badges etc

weve had a couple of cases if this locally, one woman doesn’t venture out any longer as either can’t get out or can’t get back home in a wheelchair

Er....shopping trolleys? They are common in cities where most people don't have cars.

I'm pretty sure that most car owners also pay lots of other taxes in their lives as well.

theyll pay the same taxes non car owners pay

Motor vehicles don't exist in a vacuum, but they're an essential part of facilitating daily life for virtually everybody

35% don’t own cars, and obviously in cities that figure rises to 50% of households not owning a car. It’s not essential for virtually everyone

It doesn't matter what it's called or how you frame it. People pay high taxes to be able to run their cars; this huge amount of tax revenue - whatever it gets spent on - would not be received if it were not in return for people being able to use cars.
@FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper they pay a small amount of money which falls far short of covering the environmental and public health costs of their motoring.

If they're just sitting stationary on somebody's drive or at the side of the road, how are they 'dominating' or endangering anybody then?
These parked cars are so unobtrusive, aren't they? They definitely aren't making the street seem claustrophobic. Nor are they blocking the view for anyone short who wishes to cross the road safely. I suppose that they're also not taking up land which could be used for greenery to reduce the urban heat island effect.

In my experience the proportion of people who are safe drivers is a small minority, regardless of their physical abilities.

? I managed to learn road safety playing on roads as a child. Do you think children in the 00s are less capable of.learnong or do you think drivers are less capable of detecting hazards?