There is an awful lot of criticism of drivers these days, some of it justified, and the authorities are constantly trying to make our roads safer by introducing a variety of road safety measures. I understand their motivation entirely and have as my goal making the roads safer by producing safer drivers. However, now I'm going to have a rant!
The responsibility for safety on the roads does not only lie with motorists but also with pedestrians. Everyone who uses a road (which includes the pavements) is a road user, something which I constantly reinforce to my pupils. It is therefore extremely aggravating when pedestrians take unreasonable liberties with traffic. We can all think of examples but for some reason, parents with children are the worst. Those who seem to think that hanging the front wheels of a pushchair or pram over the kerb is a good way of signalling their intention to cross the road. Those who carry children into the road in order to put them in the back seat of their car and then stand with their head inside the car strapping the child in working on the basis that if they ignore the traffic it will miss them. Even worse, those who shepherd the children out alongside the car in an erroneous belief that their protective hand will somehow prevent an oncoming car from mowing everyone down. I just don't understand the mentality of parents who have such a cavalier attitude towards their children.
Parents, you do not have some bubble of immunity around you which will protect you from an error by a driver. Are you really happy to play the lottery with the lives of your children? For their sake, think before putting them, or yourselves, in harm's way!
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