Exeter school run parents talk of the abuse they receive from motorists while cycling

A2Bcyclist wrote:

In Germany and many other countries, the speed limit is 30km/h to 40km/h (20mph-25mph) around schools and residential areas. Enforceable with hefty fines (and licences revoked for repeat offenders). But Britain is "different", people don't need policing, we're told.

UK schools are usually in 30 or 20mph limited zones and typically have speed cameras nearby. However cameras are only going to catch speeders, not the dangerous and aggressive driving as Mumsy needs to safely deliver little Tarquin and Shaznay to the gates, and she's damn well going to use the off-road capability of her new RangeRover to drive over obstacles like cyclists, cars parked on zig-zags, that pesky idiot in the hi-vis with the lollipop...

...sorry, got a little side-tracked.

The school opposite where I used to live had to have a PCSO stationed to support the crossing lady for one term, who was getting death-threat abuse from certain parents. It's a shame that Police presence was required, but proper policing is the only way to get through to some of those idiots

Christopher TR1 wrote:

Ban cars. Obvious solution given that it's proved multiple times every single day that a considerable number of motorists are fcukwitted morons. 

Or, more directly, ban fcukwitted morons.

kil0ran wrote:

To add balance to my comments its worth pointing out its a Steiner school with parents called Arabella. Bunch of weirdy-beardy hippy vegan green party voters in crochet cardigans if ever there was

(Which is why they're cycling

 

No it isn't.

It is worth pointing out that all children are children and that everyone has a right to safely use the public highway in accordance with the law.

shay cycles wrote:

kil0ran wrote:

To add balance to my comments its worth pointing out its a Steiner school with parents called Arabella. Bunch of weirdy-beardy hippy vegan green party voters in crochet cardigans if ever there was

(Which is why they're cycling

 

No it isn't.

It is worth pointing out that all children are children and that everyone has a right to safely use the public highway in accordance with the law.

Well it sort of is.

It illustrates how conditions for cycling are so hostile that only the most culturally or ideologically committed even attempt it. And how far we are from a situation where 'normal' people consider it an option.

And the more that said 'normals' are deterred from even thinking about it, the more the likes of Dave Hill can bash cyclists and cycle-infrastructure as 'elitist'. It's a a nice little vicious circle.

kil0ran wrote:

I've done it a handful of times, both with him riding on his own and now on a tagalong. 

School is in a residential dead-end road with narrow pavements. Whole area is 30mph limit.

We've got two right turns to make on the journey which is less than a mile. Parked cars everywhere, dreadful sight lines, narrow roads.

School Head is constantly sending out letters/emails regarding near misses and there's a voluntary code not to drive within 300 yards of the gates which everyone ignores because there are a handful of disabled kids who get dropped off at the gate. The usual "well if they can do it so can I" attitude.

Driving standards are appalling. Speeding, driving on pavements, dooring etc. And then once out of the immediate area and on to narrow rural roads I feel completely unsafe - moreso than when mixing with HGVs on my work commute.

Last time son rode on his own bike with me he was heading downhill on a potholed country lane with a blind right-hand bend at the bottom and this cockwomble close-passed him in his chelsea tractor only to have to haul on the brakes because something came round the corner. My son shot up the inside of him (nowhere else to go) and the kid in the front seat of the 4x4 I'm pretty sure learnt a whole bunch of new words from me. Jumped out of his skin when I thumped the window. And yep - he'd just been picked up from the same school.

Thing was the bloke had plenty of room but was choosing to keep his 4x4 away from potholes and hedges. General gist was "Its a lease car, if I scratch it I have to pay for the damage" (whereas if he'd killed my son he'd have probably got away with it)

On the walk to school I see drivers tailgating CHILD cyclists and boxing them in so they can't filter and when I drive if I drive at 20mph I'll get tailgated and beeped. Its like some insanity descends upon them - I think they're actually worse than WVM and boy racers. I know its a stressful time getting kids to school and then yourself to work but it's a complete recipe for disaster. Distracted harrassed drivers mixed with infant and junior school kids on scooters on narrow pavements with limited street lighting.

Oh and for a rural area I would estimate maybe 5% of junior school kids are cycling to school based on the size of the bike shed. Most of the catchment area would be within 20 mins walk so maybe not worthwhile cycling but I think part of it is also that the parents don't cycle. When I pick him up on a Friday I think I've seen at most two other parents on bikes out of a school of 240 kids. Concerted effort required to get more of them cycling so they can accompany their kids but its a Catch-22 due to safety fears.

 

3 of you? Or 12 (x2 including parents) if 5%, and that's the cause of all the grief?  What a bunch of twats the locals must be.

Jitensha Oni wrote:

kil0ran wrote:

I've done it a handful of times, both with him riding on his own and now on a tagalong. 

School is in a residential dead-end road with narrow pavements. Whole area is 30mph limit.

We've got two right turns to make on the journey which is less than a mile. Parked cars everywhere, dreadful sight lines, narrow roads.

School Head is constantly sending out letters/emails regarding near misses and there's a voluntary code not to drive within 300 yards of the gates which everyone ignores because there are a handful of disabled kids who get dropped off at the gate. The usual "well if they can do it so can I" attitude.

Driving standards are appalling. Speeding, driving on pavements, dooring etc. And then once out of the immediate area and on to narrow rural roads I feel completely unsafe - moreso than when mixing with HGVs on my work commute.

Last time son rode on his own bike with me he was heading downhill on a potholed country lane with a blind right-hand bend at the bottom and this cockwomble close-passed him in his chelsea tractor only to have to haul on the brakes because something came round the corner. My son shot up the inside of him (nowhere else to go) and the kid in the front seat of the 4x4 I'm pretty sure learnt a whole bunch of new words from me. Jumped out of his skin when I thumped the window. And yep - he'd just been picked up from the same school.

Thing was the bloke had plenty of room but was choosing to keep his 4x4 away from potholes and hedges. General gist was "Its a lease car, if I scratch it I have to pay for the damage" (whereas if he'd killed my son he'd have probably got away with it)

On the walk to school I see drivers tailgating CHILD cyclists and boxing them in so they can't filter and when I drive if I drive at 20mph I'll get tailgated and beeped. Its like some insanity descends upon them - I think they're actually worse than WVM and boy racers. I know its a stressful time getting kids to school and then yourself to work but it's a complete recipe for disaster. Distracted harrassed drivers mixed with infant and junior school kids on scooters on narrow pavements with limited street lighting.

Oh and for a rural area I would estimate maybe 5% of junior school kids are cycling to school based on the size of the bike shed. Most of the catchment area would be within 20 mins walk so maybe not worthwhile cycling but I think part of it is also that the parents don't cycle. When I pick him up on a Friday I think I've seen at most two other parents on bikes out of a school of 240 kids. Concerted effort required to get more of them cycling so they can accompany their kids but its a Catch-22 due to safety fears.

 

 

3 of you? Or 12 (x2 including parents) if 5%, and that's the cause of all the grief?  What a bunch of twats the locals must be.

Older kids (Years 5 and up) can ride on their own to school. Plus it's the New Forest, the haters are plentiful

kil0ran wrote:

I've done it a handful of times, both with him riding on his own and now on a tagalong. 

School is in a residential dead-end road with narrow pavements. Whole area is 30mph limit.

We've got two right turns to make on the journey which is less than a mile. Parked cars everywhere, dreadful sight lines, narrow roads.

School Head is constantly sending out letters/emails regarding near misses and there's a voluntary code not to drive within 300 yards of the gates which everyone ignores because there are a handful of disabled kids who get dropped off at the gate. The usual "well if they can do it so can I" attitude.

Driving standards are appalling. Speeding, driving on pavements, dooring etc. And then once out of the immediate area and on to narrow rural roads I feel completely unsafe - moreso than when mixing with HGVs on my work commute.

Last time son rode on his own bike with me he was heading downhill on a potholed country lane with a blind right-hand bend at the bottom and this cockwomble close-passed him in his chelsea tractor only to have to haul on the brakes because something came round the corner. My son shot up the inside of him (nowhere else to go) and the kid in the front seat of the 4x4 I'm pretty sure learnt a whole bunch of new words from me. Jumped out of his skin when I thumped the window. And yep - he'd just been picked up from the same school.

Thing was the bloke had plenty of room but was choosing to keep his 4x4 away from potholes and hedges. General gist was "Its a lease car, if I scratch it I have to pay for the damage" (whereas if he'd killed my son he'd have probably got away with it)

On the walk to school I see drivers tailgating CHILD cyclists and boxing them in so they can't filter and when I drive if I drive at 20mph I'll get tailgated and beeped. Its like some insanity descends upon them - I think they're actually worse than WVM and boy racers. I know its a stressful time getting kids to school and then yourself to work but it's a complete recipe for disaster. Distracted harrassed drivers mixed with infant and junior school kids on scooters on narrow pavements with limited street lighting.

Oh and for a rural area I would estimate maybe 5% of junior school kids are cycling to school based on the size of the bike shed. Most of the catchment area would be within 20 mins walk so maybe not worthwhile cycling but I think part of it is also that the parents don't cycle. When I pick him up on a Friday I think I've seen at most two other parents on bikes out of a school of 240 kids. Concerted effort required to get more of them cycling so they can accompany their kids but its a Catch-22 due to safety fears.

 

Now that is how to encapsulate the problems. Beautifully written.

dog_film wrote:

kil0ran wrote:

 

Now that is how to encapsulate the problems. Beautifully written.

Sadly it resulted in him not riding his own bike. Admittedly perhaps we started riding on the road too young (age 7) but his road sense and positioning was good and these are (outside school run times) quiet roads with a lot of kids out on bikes and scooters. We've got a great skate park on the edge of town that encourages kids to ride.

The solution has been to go back to the tagalong and it is noticeable that drivers are giving us a wider berth and less aggressive passes at speed. Being a tourist destination I think subconsciously it triggers a "tourist, might not know where they're going" response.

When he was riding independently I got several comments about being an irresponsible parent for putting him at risk. Cognitive dissonance of the chelsea tractor brigade is epic 

kil0ran wrote:

...Thing was the bloke had plenty of room but was choosing to keep his 4x4 away from potholes and hedges. General gist was "Its a lease car, if I scratch it I have to pay for the damage"...

That's become an increasingly common thing, and I hadn't previously considered that as the reason. 

There's a lane, just an access way from a 'real' road to a car park and a couple of houses, that's on my way home, and if I meet a car coming along there they really don't want to move up closer to the hedge and seem to expect me to. 

Previously, I'd just got angry that they thought my t-shirt provided better protection from brambles than their tonne of metal box, but now I wonder if you're right and it's that they dare not get a scratch on their precious...

brooksby wrote:

kil0ran wrote:

...Thing was the bloke had plenty of room but was choosing to keep his 4x4 away from potholes and hedges. General gist was "Its a lease car, if I scratch it I have to pay for the damage"...

That's become an increasingly common thing, and I hadn't previously considered that as the reason. 

There's a lane, just an access way from a 'real' road to a car park and a couple of houses, that's on my way home, and if I meet a car coming along there they really don't want to move up closer to the hedge and seem to expect me to. 

Previously, I'd just got angry that they thought my t-shirt provided better protection from brambles than their tonne of metal box, but now I wonder if you're right and it's that they dare not get a scratch on their precious...

I live in the New Forest so there are plenty of 4x4s and narrow potholed lanes. Makes me laugh how frequently drivers don't make use of their off road ability, you'd think their 20" wheels were made of delicate china

kil0ran wrote:

When I pick him up on a Friday I think I've seen at most two other parents on bikes out of a school of 240 kids. 

So for those who say the parents should drive to create havoc, there's the answer. A couple of cyclists less, and a corresponding couple of cars more, would not be noticed in this car mad country.

My girl is the only one in her school (London zone 1) who cycles. It would be lovely to say the others walk because it is a central London school with a small catchment area but no they are delivered by Range Rover. This country has gone mad.

SteppenHerring wrote:

There seem to be a lot of horrible people about these days.

 

Maybe the parents should organise for one day/one week to drop their kids off by car. See how much havoc that causes.

And drive REALLY slowly

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I would say that road sees a lot of frsutrated drivers every day. If they are heading out or coming back from Crediton, then drivers will already be well and truly fed up with queuing behind slower moving traffic... its a horrible piece of town to negotiate. 

Maybe so, still no excuse though

Morgoth985 wrote:

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I would say that road sees a lot of frsutrated drivers every day. If they are heading out or coming back from Crediton, then drivers will already be well and truly fed up with queuing behind slower moving traffic... its a horrible piece of town to negotiate. 

Maybe so, still no excuse though

More accurately, there is no excuse.

ChrisB200SX wrote:

Morgoth985 wrote:

Maybe so, still no excuse though

More accurately, there is no excuse.

[/quote]

Isn't that what I said?  I think we can safely assume that we're in agreement on this one.

Morgoth985 wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

Morgoth985 wrote:

Maybe so, still no excuse though

More accurately, there is no excuse.

Isn't that what I said?  I think we can safely assume that we're in agreement on this one.

Yeah, sorry, I thought I was adding to your comment rather than disagreeing with it.
I was assaulted by a chimp in a Porsche last week, after I said he needs to give more room when overtaking (twice, on blind bends) he deliberately drove his car into me, then got out and tried to wrestle my bike off me to damage it, making loads of threats while trying to push me over.
And the 10 minutes of vitriolic abuse, swearing and namecalling I received from a nutjob in a Mini on Sunday morning after I dared to be in the right hand lane, in traffic. Appararently he's a cyclist and has got a more expensive bike than mine so he knows that cyclists must stay on the left (even if they are turning right??).
I'm really starting to feel that anti-cyclist hatred is at an all-time high after the media's "reporting" of the Alliston trial

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I would say that road sees a lot of frsutrated drivers every day. If they are heading out or coming back from Crediton, then drivers will already be well and truly fed up with queuing behind slower moving traffic... its a horrible piece of town to negotiate. 

What a shame. I'd hope the police would make them even more frustrated by arresting them. But hey, evil fixie riders.

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I would say that road sees a lot of frsutrated drivers every day. If they are heading out or coming back from Crediton, then drivers will already be well and truly fed up with queuing behind slower moving traffic... its a horrible piece of town to negotiate. 

I remember having to drive two hours for 42 miles (each way) when i was sojounred to one of our contracts in Wimbledon (from n.herts), so A1/A41/A406/Kew Br/S.circular/A306 

Didn't mean by the time I got back home after working with a load of numpties all day and 2 hours in gridlock through much of London I could vent my anger/frustration out on anyone along the final part of my journey in my local area (or anywhere for that matter). That you even give some 'out' for these people is a tad worrying.

Simple solution is to make the road one way only and to give up the whole of one side of the carriageway for people on bikes, actually make the whol road system like that in towns and cities, that'll fuck the vast majority up and those doing 3 miles or less will virtually be forced to use a bike or walk.

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I would say that road sees a lot of frsutrated drivers every day. If they are heading out or coming back from Crediton, then drivers will already be well and truly fed up with queuing behind slower moving traffic... its a horrible piece of town to negotiate. 

Maybe if they all got on a bus or a bike they wouldn't be so fuckign fed up!

The number of single occupancy cars on that stretch is insane all to park in the overcrowding car parks so they can all moan about the number of parking tickets they get, and complain about motorists being victimised by exeter parking wardens!