Sorry, need to rant about traffic

[mattyh]

I don't actually disagree with you, I'm just putting another point of view across.

I've often thought that there should be parent & child spaces, but there's no reason for them to be at the front of the car park... why not put then at the back with some safe walkways (for obvious reasons). Then replace the current p&c spaces with more disabled spaces (who should have spaces right at the front).

The main problem, which I really do have issue with, is those ***** that feel the need to park in disabled and p&c spaces, when they neither have a disability, or kids, and I often ask them why

 

[Sgt_Major]

Now we agreeing completely. I don't mind where the spaces are, as long as it's reasonably safe to walk.

But the able bodied parking in disabled spaces REALLY annoys me, and I too often query them on it, much to the embarrassment of my mrs

 

[mattyh]

my Mrs doesn't like it either!

 

[Jimmy_Lemon]

why not put then at the back with some safe walkways (for obvious reasons). Then replace the current p&c spaces with more disabled spaces (who should have spaces right at the front).

Big companies aren't going to take up space they can use for cars with walk ways. I dont know any car park around here that has a walkway between the cars, it is walk on the road or stay in your car. Even the local council parking in Skipton lacks any sort of walkway, and you have to dodge blind tourists and the blue rince brigade walking through them carparks.

We are forever getting people scraping out car bumper or leaving dents in the doors in out cars, no one ever leaves a note

In fact some women once tried to claim my dad had driven into her as he was backing out of a space, she drove up behind him as he was backing out of a space, he noticed her at the last second and stopped before hitting her, she still jumped out and claimed he has hit her, my dad got out, looked at the damage on her car (which was pretty bad) but was surrounded by yellow paint (out car was black, hers grey). He pointed this out but she started shouting about calling her husband over, my dad made a note of her license plate, took a photo (I think) then drove off, as he left he realised all the bollards and railing in that car park were bright yellow. We think she must have ****ed up her parking and hit a bollard, realising she would need to pay for that she tried to cause an accident, but didn't think about the paint left on her car. genius!

 

[dazzajl]

The simple answer that people should only be allowed to drive anywhere with children, between 10 in the morning and noon. That's plenty of time to get the stuff done that parents need to do. Then the rest of the time other people, who are getting on with their business free of snot ridden offspring, can go about their business with far greater ease.... in a much more peaceful world to boot.

 

[NathanJT]

Ditto to all of the above.

HOWEVER (devils advocate hat on). It occured to me the other day that with something like 5 million people in the UK currently claiming some for of incapacity benefit how many of those are also in possesion of a blue badge? And do they deserve/need it?

The new shopping centre in the middle of Derby has a MASSIVE car park with one of the floors having the most disabled spaces I've ever seen in my life. Are they ever full? Hardly!

So it begs the question, if new car parks have to adhere to regulations on the number of disabled spaces and if the figures used to calculate the ratio are completely out of whack... are there too many disabled spaces?

*runs for cover*

 

[Marcel]

Yes, quite often there are IMO.

And as for the Parent and Child. They don't just put them at the front for the sake of the parents, it's been proven we spend more, hence they're more eager to please us

 

[Yv]

I can go even more annoying and dangerous than the car park shennanigans...

Like everyone else, there are several primary schools within a mile of my house but the nearest is on a busy crossroads - not complete main roads, but busy enough to warrant traffic lights. Now this in itself causes complete chaos when 4x4 mum parks up all along the road to the lights to be as close to the school gates as possble. However, WORSE - they then get the kids out of the car on the drivers side...as in, opening the doors into the road and taking their precious bundles out into the oncoming traffic WHY???? when there is a perfectly good pavement on the other side?? Mental! Several times if I have been driving past with the roof off I have suggested that using the nearside doors might be safer and more appropriate but they just look at me like I have grown two heads! :bang:

 

[NathanJT]

LL - Darwin FTW!

 

[mattyh]

Yes, quite often there are IMO.

And as for the Parent and Child. They don't just put them at the front for the sake of the parents, it's been proven we spend more, hence they're more eager to please us

Wonder how much that study cost!

parents + kids = more mouths to feed, plus stuff for the kids = £££

I could've got millions for that!

 

[NathanJT]

Doesn't that mean there should be Parent+child+dog spaces as well then?

 

[mattyh]

between the parent & child & disabled spaces, obviously

 

[Borats Baby]

I wish I had the patience to sit here for an hour and type a good ole rant about the standards of driving I have seen these days. I could have a field day.

But I havn't.

Needless to say, as far as I'm concerned, everyone on the roads, (except about 10%) are total ******s.

 

[russdaz]

Couple of points limiting car numbers per house hold is a joke. At one stage when i was living with my perents before getting my flat, i had 2 vehicles my personal car, and a company van (i was not, and still not allowed to use this for private use) and my brother had a car. Now my Dad and brother both start work and finish work with a 5hour time difference, neither could use public transport either as there is none at the times they work. Personally my hours very at the drop of hat being on emergancy call out, and with no private use means i couldnt possibly drop either off. My other Brother and Mum use public transport. And with my motorsport hobby i need the car to get around. Ok now i live on my own but still have 2 vehicles. Its about usage, i.e if both my Dad and brother started at the same time and used 2 cars that would be mad (they work at the same company)

Car parking spaces deffo need to be made bigger, purley from the fact the modern cars are that much bigger then older models, i can bearly fit my car in some older carparks, as there too narrow.

One of the local schools recently started running a mini bus system, the perents paid but the traffic dropped, and it actually saved alot of money to alot of them, i know a couple of familys have actually got rid of there second cars since.

 

[mercmanuk]

You know, what this government needs to do if they want to slash congestion and pollution in towns and cities - get an integrated school run transport policy! Sod the adults, its the kids that cause the problems! :bang:

Needless to say I dont mean the kids literally, I refer to the parents that insist on driving their precious cherubs everywhere and especially to and from school. Normally I leave for work at 7am in order to avoid the worse of the carnage. We live in leafy nth london but our business is in Kentish town, a journey of some 7 or so miles heading towards the city. By leaving at 7am I can be there in 25 mins. For every 5 mins after 7 that I leave, the journey takes an extra 10 minutes, so much so that leaving at 8am can often mean not arriving until 9.15!
Today I decided to experiment, the schools are out for summer so I left at 8am - by 8.30 I was making coffee in the kitchen at work!

I mean FFS, why can't they WALK! It would cut childhood obesity dramatically, reduce congestion and pollution and have a significant impact on road rage too I imagine! I walked both my kids to school daily when they were younger even though for a few years the school was nearly 2 miles away. WHAT is it with these people?!?! As a parent I appreciate there are times when a car journey is necessary but in general they are NOT!

Yes, I appreciate many workers will currently be on holiday atm, which also reduces traffic, but the difference is very significant even during the less popular school holiday periods such as Oct and Feb half terms when fewer people take holidays.

Get off the road, let the people that need to get to work miles away actually use their cars and give your kids a better lifestyle! :rules:


Ok, sorry, rant over.....

That sounds like a before school club (cheep baby sitting) so parents can get to work on time, most children are in school for 0900.Easy get your self a child and join the Que sorted.

 

[Flash In The Pan]

We have school buses here, but parents still drive their kids to school and because they do this the feel the need to buy a huge 4x4 which then spends it's life going between the school and the Morrisons supermarket up the road and home again. I'm not sure if it's a safety issue or whether they don't want their little darlings mixing with the offspring of the lower orders who are forced to travel to scool on the bus

 

[Yv]

That sounds like a before school club (cheep baby sitting) so parents can get to work on time, most children are in school for 0900.Easy get your self a child and join the Que sorted.

I done that one, I have two, both now teenagers, and I still despair of some [and definately not all] parents these days! Even 12 years ago there was no such thing as parent and child spaces in carparks, and the ex hubby liked big cars yet we managed to park up at the retail park, get 2 kids and buggies out without damaging anyone elses car. Then again, we also used get them out of the car on the pavement side when parked by the roadside too :nuts:

However, you do remind me of a story Mr LL tells - his mum, a very nice well spoken lady of about 5ft tall but with a real 'presence' once commented to a traffic policeman "tell me, if we were all the leave the spaces between cars that the highway code suggests, should I just drive to scotland and join the back of the queue?"

 

[JumboBeef]

We live in leafy nth london but our business is in Kentish town, a journey of some 7 or so miles heading towards the city. By leaving at 7am I can be there in 25 mins. For every 5 mins after 7 that I leave, the journey takes an extra 10 minutes, so much so that leaving at 8am can often mean not arriving until 9.15!

I'm so glad I live in the sticks (and work from home). This morning I had to be at a meeting 40 miles away by 9:30. I left at 8:30 and was still there early.

My nearest town is 6 miles away....I can do that in 10 minutes, whatever the time of day *smug smilie*

 

[Yv]

I'm so glad I live in the sticks (and work from home). This morning I had to be at a meeting 40 miles away by 9:30. I left at 8:30 and was still there early *smug smilie*

 

[hepburn]

I for one would be happy for a proportion of my tax to be spent building a system of yellow busses like those in the US.

:nono: :nono: :nono: Given the state we appear to churn kids out of school these days we don't need to do that. Just close the schools and keep the kids at home. or better yet, stop people having kids! Much cheaper than running a massive fleet of yellow buses

 

[Jimmy_Lemon]

I'm so glad I live in the sticks (and work from home). This morning I had to be at a meeting 40 miles away by 9:30. I left at 8:30 and was still there early.

My nearest town is 6 miles away....I can do that in 10 minutes, whatever the time of day *smug smilie*

Do you not have to factor in "Tractor Time" - we do they always appear when you are trying to get somewhere at a certain time too!

 

[JumboBeef]

Do you not have to factor in "Tractor Time" - we do they always appear when you are trying to get somewhere at a certain time too!

Well yes, but no. We live in a very quite area (in the middle of nowhere) on the edge The Lake District, yet we are only 5 minutes from two major A roads, and the M6. Best of both worlds

 

[AlanoDale]

The thing that confuses me with my friends who have children ( I have none, so please feel free to tell me to wind my neck in) is this. When I was a child, I had an older sister, mum, dad and dog. We managed perfectly well with a Talbot Horizon followed by a Vauxhall Nova. These days, as soon as the 2nd baby is on the way, my friends are "well now we simply MUST have a people carrier" What has changed that we now require a posh mini bus to carry 2 kids and a vehicle capable of going up Ben Nevis "for the dog".

 

[Borats Baby]

The thing that confuses me with my friends who have children ( I have none, so please feel free to tell me to wind my neck in) is this. When I was a child, I had an older sister, mum, dad and dog. We managed perfectly well with a Talbot Horizon followed by a Vauxhall Nova. These days, as soon as the 2nd baby is on the way, my friends are "well now we simply MUST have a people carrier" What has changed that we now require a posh mini bus to carry 2 kids and a vehicle capable of going up Ben Nevis "for the dog".

Its the Money Driven world a lot of people live in these days. Bigger + More Expensive = Better ...

I lost 2 good friends a while ago because they crawled so far up their own asses, and HAD to be better than everyone else, that they forgot what the term love and friendship meant. << cliché I know, but its true..

 

[mercmanuk]

I done that one, I have two, both now teenagers, and I still despair of some [and definately not all] parents these days! Even 12 years ago there was no such thing as parent and child spaces in carparks, and the ex hubby liked big cars yet we managed to park up at the retail park, get 2 kids and buggies out without damaging anyone elses car. Then again, we also used get them out of the car on the pavement side when parked by the roadside too :nuts:

However, you do remind me of a story Mr LL tells - his mum, a very nice well spoken lady of about 5ft tall but with a real 'presence' once commented to a traffic policeman "tell me, if we were all the leave the spaces between cars that the highway code suggests, should I just drive to scotland and join the back of the queue?"

LOL that is very true, don't mess with little old lady's, mind you if they removed the bumpers off Volvo's we would have much more room on the road. i have 3 children, one who can drive ( well he passed his test ) and two we hump around with us, i agree about child spaces they are as much abused by single/couples >>>>childless >>> as are Disabled parking spaces by people using someone else's badge, or no badge at all,:thumbsdown: I've had to wait because some dipstick parked in a disabled space and ran off to MacDonald's, i did not challenge him because even though i am 5ft 11 and 15 stone i can not put up much of a fight, patience i have lots.

Regards Mark.

 

[Gary]

When I was in school, if you got dropped off in a car, you got beaten up.

LOL thats very true! I remember those days well!

 

[BeHappy]

This last couple of weeks my journey to work has been loads quicker and of course its because of no mums on the school run.

I drive mine to school on the 3days a week that I work cos of time issues. I make sure though that I take the car home and walk up to get them at 3pm so we walk back together. The two days I have off, we walk both ways. Its a nice time to talk about their day as we walk along instead of slobbing on the back seat with a nintendo game. the amount of parents who drive to school half an hour early to get a prime parking space only to sit in the car reading hello magazine:shrug:

There are plenty of mums who are just too lazy to walk and those mums that dont even bother to take them to school...push em out of the door and they walk on their own which I think is madness giving the nutters on the road and kiddy fiddlers out there.

When I was a kid, I walked to school as it was only 5 mins away. Those were the days everyone went to their local school. My mother didnt drive and didnt need a car. there were no "supermarkets" . she shopped daily at the local grocers and butchers so need need for huge bootspace. But those days are long gone

 

[hepburn]

When I was a kid, I walked to school as it was only 5 mins away. Those were the days everyone went to their local school. My mother didnt drive and didnt need a car. there were no "supermarkets" . she shopped daily at the local grocers and butchers so need need for huge bootspace. But those days are long gone

I used to walk for 30 minutes to school, whatever the weather. Mind you, in those days cars had men walking in front of them waving red flags, so there was hardly any danger!

(thought i'd save Behappy posting a reply )

 

[MikeeB]

You know, what this government needs to do if they want to slash congestion and pollution in towns and cities - get an integrated school run transport policy! Sod the adults, its the kids that cause the problems! :bang:

Needless to say I dont mean the kids literally, I refer to the parents that insist on driving their precious cherubs everywhere and especially to and from school. Normally I leave for work at 7am in order to avoid the worse of the carnage. We live in leafy nth london but our business is in Kentish town, a journey of some 7 or so miles heading towards the city. By leaving at 7am I can be there in 25 mins. For every 5 mins after 7 that I leave, the journey takes an extra 10 minutes, so much so that leaving at 8am can often mean not arriving until 9.15!

Today I decided to experiment, the schools are out for summer so I left at 8am - by 8.30 I was making coffee in the kitchen at work!

I mean FFS, why can't they WALK! It would cut childhood obesity dramatically, reduce congestion and pollution and have a significant impact on road rage too I imagine! I walked both my kids to school daily when they were younger even though for a few years the school was nearly 2 miles away. WHAT is it with these people?!?! As a parent I appreciate there are times when a car journey is necessary but in general they are NOT!

Yes, I appreciate many workers will currently be on holiday atm, which also reduces traffic, but the difference is very significant even during the less popular school holiday periods such as Oct and Feb half terms when fewer people take holidays.

Get off the road, let the people that need to get to work miles away actually use their cars and give your kids a better lifestyle! :rules:


Ok, sorry, rant over.....

Cripes...remind me never to get on your bad side

 

[Nod]

Apart from the beginning and end of term, half term and exeats, I'm pretty sure I was never driven to school. Some I walked to and one I cycled to.

There are 2 women at the bottom of the road - great friends and in and out of each other's houses as though they shared them both. Each has a child of the same age and those children attend the same school which is about a mile away. Both women drive their own child to school every day and pick it up at the end of school - in convoy both ways and while waiting for the respective children, they spend their time in one or other car chatting (often while parked on the yellow zigzags right outside the school...).

I've recently had to spend more time than I wanted on the road at school kicking out time and the danger the school runners pose to other road users is considerable. They seem to spend 1/2 the time facing the child(ren) in the back shouting at them and the rest of it going through red lights, swerving across the road or failing to indicate. Oh and Madam, next time you put your frickin' baby seat with child in it on the roof of my frickin' car, I WILL drive off with it there.