Joe Bikerider

I'm staying home today, because the local high school started today and the lower grades all start tomorrow. No, I'm not worried about too many bike riders. It's their parents. I live very close to the local middle school, when my grandson started there we walked together to time it so we could be sure he would get their on time. Six minutes. For those three years I would walk over most days and wait for him to help carry his horn. Tenor sax. I never felt comfortable walking down my own street. There would be a big traffic jam at the school with drivers jockeying to get up front. I've been yelled at by moms on their cell phones and almost run down by a dad backing his jeep out of a not really legal parking place.


The whole thing makes me so angry. That school is right on the local MUP and has a connected back entrance that is totally convenient. Only a couple bikes on the rack. Some kids I know who's houses are along the MUP are still getting a ride and the mom is waiting to pick them up in the afternoon. I'm talking about like around 1/4 mile away.


It's a vicious cycle. The parents are afraid to let their kids ride so they drive which makes the street really dangerous so the parents don't let their kids ride. Sigh.

livedarklions

1/4 mile on a MUP? Kid should walk or ride unless he/she is disabled. It's got to take longer to get everyone in the car, drive through the traffic and park at the school.

Moe Zhoost

My wife taught at a local elementary school and had many stories about the outrageous behavior of some parents in the "car pool" line. There are some efforts to turn this situation around, but momentum is elusive.

My community has Walk-Bike-to-School events supported by the administrations of those schools located in neighborhoods where walking and biking are safe for the kids. The intent is to both show how easy it is as well as promote the many benefits to kids and their parents. From what I've seen through my participation, most think these events are great; however they seem to be just that - events that are fun but rarely translate to day to day practice.

Digger Goreman

My daily work existence....

Every morning watching the SUV Follies.... Illegal, out of touch, careless and mostly, competitively angry... and the police refuse to issue citations even if they are (rarely) present....

How these poor children survive their sui-homicidal parents, to become just like them, is a mystery....

jeffreythree

It is a different world these days. My daughter usually rides the 1/4 mile to school usually , but there are at least 2 kids that don't even walk across their residential street to the school door. 100 feet of so from their door to the school door. I have even been laughed at and mocked by other parents for walking instead of driving to the school.

anon06

Hey! I really relate to your post; it's very similar to where I live, except there aren't any MUPs.

It's exactly the area where I've been harassed by drivers, for the past few months (even when school isn't in session, and it's a Saturday morning).

That's what's really annoyed and frustrated me: even when I've tried cycling early in the morning, when there's less traffic and it's not rush hour, there's still a motorist who's angry/annoyed that I'm cycling on the road (who wants me to cycle on the sidewalk, where there's debris, and I've had a flat tire).

It doesn't make sense to me that drivers, here, apparently feel angry and upset when another drivers or a cyclist is slower, in front of them, because it's a small town; it's not as though it's a huge metropolitan city, with a lot of traffic and people around.

I thought people in small towns would be more relaxed and chill about life, unless, perhaps, some are from larger cities and bringing their same stress with them. Still, though, I grew up living in larger cities, and still didn't decide to have an angry, arrogant personality toward others.