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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 6/25/2009 12:48:58 PM | | School's and Parents should teach children from an early age even the basics about road safety. Regarding motorists it should be made law that every 5 years you have to take a refresher course, cause we all know we pick up bad habits with our driving and if the examiner felt that your driving wasn't at a high standard licence suspended till you reached the required standard. Every 10 years a retest again licence suspended till you pass. It could help with lowering the amount of dangerous drivers on our roads at present. Cargy you will the human rights brigade after you lol | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 6/25/2009 12:52:37 PM | Let's be honest; If the kids were down the mines, where they belong, then it would simply cease to be an issue.
Or up chimneys .... its a bugger they stopped all that ... now they have to do paper rounds and risk getting run over 
OT ... All you can do is educate your child and just keep drumming it into them about the dangers of crossing the road without looking, being visible to motorists etc. I don't like the speed bumps for the fact that they slow down emergency vehicles and the car drivers just put the boot down to make up for lost time either in between them or once they are clear of them | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 6/25/2009 4:25:05 PM | | The town of Bohmte in Germany has removed all of its road signs traffic lights and lane markings including the kerbs in a radical way to improve safety- ther are less signs to distract drivers and pedestrians and motorists alike are now more vigilant when they travel through the common roads in this town- strangely -it all works better. i suppose it ties up with the definitive paper on Human factors and ergonomics bY George miller that postulates that the human brain at best can only deal with seven pieces of information simultaneously -so the less the better. I still think though that barriers /fences that keep kids or indeed adults away from the path of motor trafic is the best option. | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 6/25/2009 4:28:40 PM |
I don't like the speed bumps for the fact that they slow down emergency vehicles and the car drivers just put the boot down to make up for lost time either in between them or once they are clear of them
Yes, speed bumps increase the amount of pollution in that area. People slow down for them (increased fuel pollution and brake dust) then speed up after them (fuel pollution).
It's not just impact that kills our children..... | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 6/26/2009 1:07:36 AM | Just over a year ago an 11 year old boy was killed not far from his school in my area. A petition was started by his classmates to lower the speed limited to 20 mph which has now been implemented. Its all we can do. Children are often careless on the roads . Some will be lucky and some will die.
I do feel for the person who has killed someone in a tragic accident when it isnt their fault. They must relive it over and over. | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/12/2009 10:00:18 AM | | there is never going to be any way of making roads any safer while the human element is part of the problem! speed limiters are not a solution, traffic calming is not a solution, bigger fines are not a solution, re-sitting the driving test is not a solution, the human element will always undo any measures taken to prevent accidents. for instance, using a mobile phone whilst driving has been against the law for a while now, but how many people do we all see driving with the things stuck to thier ears not concentrating on what they are doing! peoples attitudes to responsibility and accountability are the things that need to be tackled first! i enjoy driving and am a responsible motorist,my car is maintained regardless of cost! i may do 80mph on the motorway at 2am on a dry road occasionally! but i religiously stick to 30 mph in town much to the annoyance of the people tailgating me. I ALONE AM ACCOUNTABLE FOR MY ACTIONS! and i do not want to be accountable or responsible for causing the death of any person, so i modify my behaviour accordingly i,e. use my eyes and brain and do not allow distractions (phone, smoking, eating, fiddling with the stereo etc) if others had a more responsible attitude to driving then there would be a lot less accidents. bieng able to drive is a privilage not a right! | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/12/2009 11:15:32 AM | I think to reduce the speed limits in built up areas is a start however with regards to children riding on the roads I really don't know.
My son's just started going out with his dad and I think he's too young, even with a high visibility jacket on and his dad in the way first I worry that he'll get knocked off. Maybe our parents did too? I spent most of my childhood on my bike cycling up the village and even to and from school which was miles away. I know the roads were different then ; I don't know what the answer is | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/12/2009 11:49:06 AM | I drive and ride a cycle. The highway code might be a start for youngsters on their bikes. I see students who use a local cycle path and have no roadskills, I dread to think what they would be like on real roads, the iPod wearing muppets! I'm on a racing bike and get upto 30mph continuous on the flat so my spidey sense always has to be 110%: Sight - Sound - Experience - Paranoia.
-G. | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/12/2009 12:00:21 PM | i enjoy driving and am a responsible motorist
If you can find me a motorist who says "I enjoy driving and I'm a completely dangerous Muppet behind the wheel" then you're a better man than I Gunga Din!
99.99% of drivers who say "I'm a responsible motorist" are bloody dreadful drivers, purely because they THINK they are responsible! They think they can do nothing wrong and are invincible. They really believe it, and that is extremely worrying.
I've been driving for 42 years and have covered in excess of 1 million miles in that time but, even after all that experience, I'm still irresponsible at times.
i may do 80mph on the motorway at 2am on a dry road occasionally!
Bollox!!! If you don't do 80mph on a motorway in normal daytime conditions you are holding everyone else up. At 2.00am on a dry road you'll find me doing a tad bit more than that!! | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/12/2009 12:25:16 PM | | so if i have two tyres on 1mm i shall leave it untill i get caught! i wont bother with that noise from my brakes untill they stop working! i will do 45mph in an unrestricted a road and when it comes to the 30 zone i will continue to drive at 45mph and then over take somebody doing 30 (whilst on my phone and smoking) in said 30 zone! oh and labdien, for your info i am a professional haulage driver who has lost count of how many miles i have covered!perhaps its a trillion (thats a 1 with 9 zeros after it) your speedo probarbly wont go that high! i am also not a stranger to speed and handling of a car as at a weekend i race a car in stock hatch series. i also would like to say that i dont think i am invincible cos it will probarbly be some w***** (thats a w with anker after it) like you that will kill me by barreling into my car at 120mph as im changing a flat tyre on the hard shoulder! | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/12/2009 1:39:59 PM |
so if i have two tyres on 1mm i shall leave it untill i get caught! i wont bother with that noise from my brakes untill they stop working! i will do 45mph in an unrestricted a road and when it comes to the 30 zone i will continue to drive at 45mph and then over take somebody doing 30 (whilst on my phone and smoking) in said 30 zone
WTF has any of that got to do with my posting? Not a lot I think, so don't try to put words into my mouth or make stupid assumptions. I don't recall mentioning anything about poorly maintained vehicles or speeding in inappropriate places.
As for being a professional haulage driver, there are far too many of those on our roads who think that tailgating someone in a 40 tonne truck is fun.
Oooh, a stock car driver! I'm terribly impressed, that must make you soooo much safer on the road!  | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/12/2009 2:19:21 PM | The majority of accidents cannot be attributed to excess speed. What do speed cameras achieve apart from slowing vehicles down for approx five-to-ten seconds? nothing, other than raise additional revenue for cash strapped councils.
Speed isn't inherently dangerous it's where you apply it. Time to stop persecuting drivers doing 32 in a 30 and clamp down hard on dangerous drivers, drug and drunk drivers and those who drive unroad worthy vehicles. Those are the real problems on our roads not Mrs Jones creeping over 30mhp. | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/13/2009 5:17:20 PM | We can ignore the ramblings of those who want to remove cars from the roads as a safety measure. Afterall, who pays for the roads - certainly not cyclists! Nor are they held accountable for their actions - do the words road tax, insurance, number plates etc sound familiar?
Before this turns into an anti-cyclist rant (too easy), the OP asks what can be done to keep children safe on the road and I, for one, am not sure they should even be on the road. The reality is that children do learn from what happens around them and - in London at least - most adult cyclists do not provide a good role model.
The simplist way forward is through education - teach children to ride defensively - teach them the rules of the road - teach them that not every road user is kind and responsible and they should take that into account. Parents should ensure that their children are not riding in areas that are dangerous - or ride with them if you must. Ideally, some sort of licence for children to ride on roads, where the Police or Rospa (or similar) have tested the child for their competence to ride. For those who use the exercise argument, well you can ride your bikes in parks etc and walk elsewhere.
Finally, my deepest condolences to the parents of the child that died. They have to live with their decision to let the child ride his bike. I hope other parents learn from this tragedy | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/13/2009 5:28:50 PM | When I first started driving, the best peace of advice my dad gave me was assume everyone else is an idiot and think round them.
It's good advice for anyone using the roads.
Don't assume that the guy in front is an excellent driver, assume he's a twat and give him plenty of room.
Do't assume that the other driver has seen you (even if you make eye contact), assume that he's blind. | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/13/2009 10:35:19 PM | Well wouldn't it be a good idea if all children had tags that automatically slow cars down when near!
May be in their shoes!!! Sorry I can not think of an alternative.
Well may be the tag sends a signal to the cars approaching of a child near by, in way of a bleep! Nope!! that wont work because of range! House to road and kids in bed would be annoying if their not on the street, unless they put little transmitters everywhere so that children are picked up within 10- 15 feet to relaying a warning! Might work :)
Comment dated 14/07/09
copy rights
M. V. C. | |
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| How can we make roads safer for our children...
Posted: 7/14/2009 12:37:05 AM | Practically ?
not a lot can be done , sorry
Educate drivers
Educate drivers
Educate drivers
Educate cyclists as to the rules of the road, maintenance of bike etc
Educate CYCLISTS not to jump red lights etc
Educate cyclists to remove those stupid dark glasses AT NIGHT and in the RAIN !
Bring back cycling proficiency test for cyclists
Compulsory Helmets for cyclists
Compulsory Hi Viz jackets (everyone else seems to have to wear them these days )
Ban ipods on bikes
Compulsory LED lights on bikes front and back
Ban bikes from certain types of road
Well, its a start | |
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