Walking my grandkid to/from school, it absolutely floors me how many dangerous drivers there are around kids.

In a matter of maybe 10 minutes, I’ve witnessed:

  • at least a dozen cars illegal parked. It’s not the parking that bothers me, but the fact that these cars are often parked on turns or just before intersections, making it impossible for other drivers to see small kids.
  • Several people not stopping at stop signs, including at the exit of the school parking lot.
  • One car, who completely blew through a stop sign at the front of the school, made a left turn and nearly hit a guy walking his kid. The driver didn’t even slow down.
  • Super fucking huge pickup trucks parked in the school parking lot, but their long ass hangs well over the sidewalk near the kindergarden area, leaving very little space to use the sidewalk.
  • Speeding. Obviously, you have to have speeding in school zones, right?

This happens every day, during drop off and pick up. I was told that bylaw were “cracking down”, but no, they aren’t. If they were, our municipality would generate $5000 in fines each and every day at every school.

The other day, I rode my bike past another school as kids were getting out. Not only was their massive parking lot completely full, but they had blocked the bike trail (WITH PYLONS) to make space for more cars. Then as I entered onto the road, cars were illegally parked along the road and on a bridge for a like 100m. Making it extremely difficult and dangerous to cross because they blocked visibility for me and other drivers on the road.

I asked the cross guard if these students all lived out of town, requiring every parent to drive them home; he obviously didn’t get my joke.

Seriously, fuck cars. All of them!

  • njordomir@lemmy.world
    1·
    1 month ago

    I live in a suburban part of a medium sized US city. There is a school nearby that has similar problems.

    • situated on a 2 lane collector road with bike lanes
    • lots of no parking signs -they set up a bunch of cones and have crossing guards all around
    • there are school zone flashers

    Despite All This

    • people park in doubled up bike lane/no parking area all the time and the way the cones are set up encourages it
    • people swing their doors open into traffic and cross wherever they want
    • during off times, the school has a sign forbidding use of their parking lot so people park in the bike lanes

    Luckily, the speed limit is only 30 so when school is in letting out I take the lane and anyone that doesn’t like it can choke on a bottle of tire sealant.

    My city is generally responsive when enough people comment on something and in general, you are likely to get a sentence or two back no matter what you comment on. I’m afraid to comment on this because the people picking up their kids in cars outnumber the cyclists and I forsee the school holding firm on closing their lot and they’ll probably quote something stupid like liability or security. Is it not also a liability if a kid steps out from behind a parked car and gets squished by an F350 Crew Cab Mega Hemi Coal Roaler? In any case, I think the more likely outcome would be accommodating the cars and moving the bikes into the road with sharrows or doing something like that.

    If I was in charge, I’d put a speed table at each end of the school zone, narrow all crosswalks to the minimum acceptable distance and put the bike lanes behind a 6inch wide curb to make it more obvious that you cannot park there. I also want these lifted Ford Excursion drivers to watch us casually pedal past the traffic jam they create every single day. I’d force the school to open their lot where capacity permits and I’d start ticketing the shit out of anyone who stows up traffic in the area or parks where it is not allowed. There is a trail just south of the school that leads to a grocery store maybe 1/4 mile away. That’s where the car drivers could best pick up their kids. All the tickets should easily pay for the speed tables and upgrading the bike lanes and walking paths.