Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Very young children scooting by busy roads?

64 replies

SmoothCriminal · 10/12/2009 09:06

This seems to be the 'in' thing around here. On the school run every other child is on a scooter. I'm pretty shocked though to see preschoolers zooming ahead, especially alongside the main road.

Am I just too cautious? I would never trust my DC to stop at crossings or not veer off into the road. We have some but only take them out in the park or on the heath.

OP posts:

lolapoppins · 10/12/2009 09:20

My sister lives in SE London and used to let her children do that all the time, I hated it when I would go to visit and pick her DC up from school with her. A lot of the kids from her dcs school would scoot, and I would be in a constant state of panick seeing them on he edge of pavements with cars/abulances whizzing by.

I am very over cautious though, to the point of being neurotic, so it's not something I would even let my just tuened 7 year old do, he is still quite clumsy and easily distracted, I wouldn't trust him not to topple off in front of a car.

Not that he could do it where we live anyway, winding single track counrty lanes here, ds only ever sees pavements when we venture into Norwich!

Original poster

SmoothCriminal · 10/12/2009 09:22

We are in N London so the traffic is never particularly speedy - but still!

OP posts:

SpawnChorus · 10/12/2009 09:26

My DCs (3 & 4) often get to nursery on their scooters. They wear helmets and I insist that they scoot on the safe side of the pavement, and that they don't scoot too far ahead. Actually the 3 yr old usually scoots while holding my hand.

I'm quite neurotic about road safety, and I am a bit surprised at / in awe of parents who have so much confidence in their kids' reliability.

teameric · 10/12/2009 09:30

YANBU I'm in London too and would not let my DD(3) use her scooter near the road but I too am very neurotic, other Mums seem to be much more laid back about it.

muddleduck · 10/12/2009 09:32

My dss (2 and 4) do this.
I understand why some parents would be nervous, but I am confident that they know what they are doing and that they will listen to me. They both know that if they ever break the rules I will pick up the scooter/bike and carry it home straight away. TBH if I could get them to be as well behaved in the rest of their lives I'd be very happy.

cockles · 10/12/2009 09:44

Mine do it too (stoke newington), and I feel ambivalent about it - I trust ds (4) to stop at every curb and have done since he was 3, but if he didn't, could be disastrous. It can be hairraising for pedestrians too. Now he has a pedal bike it's even more difficult as I can't carry it far, and it's hard for hiim to wheel it, so if he doesn't ride it on the pavement how do we even get to the park (where there is no parking). On the whole I think mums should be prepared to run with the scooter or kids to stay close.

muddleduck · 10/12/2009 09:50

We use a lamppost system.
The have to wait at every lamppost for me to catch up. (And roads and corners obviously)

I think as long as you have a good system then this can be fine. On the other hand I have seen a boy ds1's age (4) land in the road because he was out of control on his bike. If he had been mine he would have been taken off his bike long before he fell - he clearly was not in control and his mum was miles away.

teameric · 10/12/2009 09:56

see this is the problem I have with my DD, she is like a little whippet on her scooter and I'd never catch up with her! She will stop at the road if I tell her but sometimes she's away with the fairies and would forget. She's always asking if she can ride her scooter to the shops ect but I just don't know if I can trust her at the moment

MiaMamma · 10/12/2009 09:57

My 3yo DD scoots quite far ahead of me, I guess I'm one of those laid back mums... But I know she always stops before the road and never scoots around the corner, she knows the 'Mummy has to see me'-rule. Maybe if she was dreamy kind of child or bit too wild I wouldn't be so laid back with her.. Don't know..

tattycoram · 10/12/2009 09:59

I used to let my DS scoot to nursery and he was pretty reliable about stopping when I told him to. However, a couple of months ago my friend's nanny saw a toddler scoot onto the road and under a car (in Clapham). So, I only let him scoot in the park now. He has got a trike which is fine because it is heavy and he is quite slow on it.

teameric · 10/12/2009 10:04

I wish I could be laid back MiaMamma sometimes I think I'm too neurotic for my own good and probably need to lighten up a bit, I was never this bad with DS(10) but then he was totally different to DD.

Adair · 10/12/2009 10:05

I used to hate it too, and couldn't imagine letting dd, but I do now let her go a little bit ahead of me, similar to lamp-post idea (she is now 3.5). We have just moved from Stoke Newington, and wouldn't let her on Church St (too many people) but did on our road as it was wide and she could scoot on the house side rather than the road side iykwim. I remember seeing our friend's little boys waiting at the road, cars stopped and the scooted across the road - perfectly safely but terrifying - they were all of 2.5 at the time. I have seen separately they wouldn't have done it (great road sense) but I guess they thought they were ok cos they were together.

It's one of those where the risk could be small in probability but high in severity...

MissAnneElk · 10/12/2009 10:09

The roads around here are fairly quiet, but the thing which I worry about when I see young children scooting ahead is that they pay little attention to people's driveways. DDs friend was knocked off her bike by a car reversing out from a driveway. She was on the pavement and the driver just didn't see her.

tattycoram · 10/12/2009 10:11

"It's one of those where the risk could be small in probability but high in severity..."

Totally agree. The chances of it happening are tiny, but I wouldnt fancy my three year olds chances if he was hit by a bus

Original poster

SmoothCriminal · 10/12/2009 10:16

I still hold the DC's hands on the main roads around here. Not worth the risk.

I did think about letting them scoot with their little life backpacks on and me holding the reins but it would be quite a funny sight.

OP posts:

Undercovasanta · 10/12/2009 10:16

YANBU.
I was walking into the city centre shopping area near where I live and there is a big road where all the buses turn to go down to the main bus station. Me and this other lady were waiting one side of the road (for the traffic lights to change), a bus was coming round the other side of the road (its a tight corner) just as a little boy (3 or 4yo) was scooting as fast as he could towards the traffic light crossing. Me and the lady next to me started beckoning to the boy to slow down, and then the lady next to me ended up shouting at the boy to stop, just as he screeched to a stop a few inches from the bus which was taking the corner fast and tight. I actually closed my eyes!!!!

We couldn't see the boys mother nearby, and the boy had started crying cos the lady next to me had frightened him. We were all a bit shaken. Then quite a few seconds later, this boys mother turned up - she must have been WAY behind him, and gave us a really dirty look.

I thought afterwards that maybe the mother just trusted the boy implicitly to stop , but then he stopped SO close to the road that there was no margin for error. He could have easily gone under the bus.

My DD (3.5) is getting a scooter for Xmas but I intend to make her 'scoot' right next to me when we are by main roads, and save the fast scooting for parks!

mamasmissionimpossible · 10/12/2009 10:21

I let ds (4) scoot along to preschool. It does make me nervous tbh. If I let him walk he would whinge the whole way there, so at least we can get to preschool fairly quickly and without me feeling frazzled! He is also good at stopping by roads and lamp posts (when I ask him to!) I think it has increased his road safety awareness, as he is very wary of cars (in a positive way). He will pull right over out of their way and has even saved me from being run over on occasion

GrendelsMum · 10/12/2009 10:26

I think it's a bigger question, really, isn't it? For almost everything in life, there's a point at which you have to decide whether or not your children are mature enough to do it - and it depends so much on the individual. As one of my colleagues always says, he still can't trust his 13 year old to cycle to school safely on his own, but his 10 year old already has much more road sense. It's the same with little ones on scooters - some can follow the lamppost rules, and some can't yet.

pigletmania · 10/12/2009 10:28

YANBU it is scary especially in a place full of traffic, young children cannot be trusted at all, they do not have a good a danger concept as older children or adults.In that situation i would rather be a neurotic mother and have my child safely with me, than 6 ft under ground in extreme cases or ICU. My dd 2.9 still has a buggy as i feel safer when than letting her run all over the pavement and in the road.

Original poster

SmoothCriminal · 10/12/2009 10:30

Gosh some scary stories here!

See my DC have very good road sense it's just the fact they could hit a kerb and veer into the road, or scoot into someone, or be having so much fun they fail to stop at small junctions. Or just go against everything they know for no good reason - it only takes a second.

We walk to preschool I always make sure it's fun so will set a task like ' collect 5 orange leaves and four green' etc.

OP posts:

NKffffffffee0f8010X1140828dc0e · 10/12/2009 10:37

smooth crim - i feel like you've seen my 3 y/o out on his scooter cos i do wonder how it looks to people. We're in North London and some of the roads he scoots along can be busy. Because i'm pregnant, i can't always keep up with him. But he never goes out of my sight and he always stops at roads. If he didn't he knows i will take the scooter away but then it only has to happen once doesn't it....

As parents we're constantly having to weigh up - giving them some responsibility and keeping them safe and everyone will draw their own line on this.

muddleduck · 10/12/2009 10:41

Agree with GM.
There is a bigger picture here about giveing your children the opportunity to show that they can be trusted. I will not put my 2 year old in a buggy that he does not need just to make me feel safer. I give him the freedom to show he can be trusted and he (usually) rises to the challenge. He knows what I mean when I say "safely and carefully" and knows that if he doesn't do it then he will not be allowed to scoot.

IME expeience all the potentially dangerous traffic incidents have been with either children on scooters/bikes where the parents have no control or children who spend their lives in pushchairs who manage to 'escape' but have no sense of what is safe.

Madsometimes · 10/12/2009 10:41

No YANBU. I allowed my dd2 to like-a-bike to school once when she was four. Fortunately, we made the return journey in one piece, but it was terrifying and I have never repeated it.

I occassionally allow her to go on a scooter because she is now 6, and because she cannot scoot very well. Plus my 9 year old can scoot on ahead and can get to side roads first.

OtterInaSkoda · 10/12/2009 10:42

YANBU. I find it bizarre, tbh.

Even with the best road sense in the world, the risk of falling off into the road is too great.

muddleduck · 10/12/2009 10:43

Madsometimes...
Is it at all possible that if you had allowed your dd to start going on pavements on her bike when she was younger (and slower) then by the time she was 4 she might have known what to do?

Flip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread