I warn you now, this post is going to be a bit of a rant. But frankly, if I can't rant on my own blog, well...where can I?
Myself and Ruby walk everywhere. Admittedly, I don't drive so we have little choice, but I think that even if I did we'd still walk those little journeys that others seem compelled to jump into their 4x4s for. We enjoy walking, it gives us an opportunity to talk about the surroundings, discover new things, be in touch with the weather and the seasons, learn about nature and of course, get some exercise.
But I am getting increasingly fed up with the selfish, stupid, reckless behaviour of some drivers, and their total disregard of pedestrians.
Take this morning for example. We walked the 10 or 15 minutes to the rail station. It was early morning, about 8.30 so there were a fair few other children about on their way to school (those who weren't in the 4x4s).
In that short space of time we encountered no less than 3 separate incidents of dangerous/reckless/selfish/moronic - call it what you will - behaviour from car drivers.
The first, was crossing a pedestrian crossing. We do try to use the proper place to cross, and Ruby is all too familiar with pushing the button and waiting for the green man. This morning however, we were nearly bowled over by some idiotic woman who decided to jump the red light. She came belting through the crossing while the green man was up, and by the time it was safe to cross, it was back on the red man. Great.
You may think I'm going over-board here, but I took a photo on the way back because I intend to complain to the council/Highways Agency or whoever about their rubbish road layout/traffic lights.
We were crossing from A-B. The car came through the lights at C. The trouble is, when turning right here, most cars end up stuck in the middle of the junction waiting for a gap in the traffic to turn. Often they are way beyond the light when it turns red, and so end up going over the crossing when it's showing as safe to cross.
Next up. Walking down the street, we walk past a stationary car. The driver flung open her door to get out, nearly bowling me off my feet. She didn't even look. She did at least mutter a cursory apology.
So we carry on our way. Only to be met with this.
Forced to walk in the road by selfish parking is a very common occurrence and it makes me so mad. When Ruby was tiny and in her pram, on a few occasions I did ask the drivers to move rather than walk the pram in the road. They were none too pleased, but tough! Paths are for people. Roads are for cars & bikes. Simple.
Four hours later, on our return, the van was still parked like that. I wonder how many people had been pushed onto the road in that time?
Besides the obvious danger of these idiots, it really annoys me that their behaviour undermines what I teach my child about road safety. I mean, I tell her to wait for the green man - and cars continue to drive. I tell her it's not safe on the road and drivers give you no option but to walk on the road. I tell her she's safe on the pavement and people try to brain you with their car doors.
Here endeth the rant. Tell me I'm not alone. I'm not the only one who gets mad by this...or am I just turning into a grumpy old woman?
