What we have in Common: the School Run, whether Urban or Rural

Not so long ago we lived just round the corner from a popular primary school. Nice for property values, but bad for a quiet life and one’s faith in human nature. I thought that parents might not only care about their own children but might just have a thought for the safety of their child's class mates, not to mention other road users. It would seem that this is a thought which will never be fully fulfilled as I have recently noticed two recurring themes.

Firstly, that a late parent is a menace. They will have no qualms about approaching bad bends at speed and in the middle of the road, nor will they pay much attention to avoid driving in the middle of the road when they are trying to give an impression of a being a champion drag racer. Luckily there are not many other road users coming in the other direction so most seem to survive.

The second thing I have noticed is the way in which the zig zag lines which indicate a dangerous place to park outside a school are universally ignored. Should any unfortunate toddler forget the perils, even of a minor road, and step out from behind such an illegally parked car, then I think a manslaughter ( child slaughter?) charge should be brought against such a parent as well as against the 2 brain celled driver who can't manage to observe a 30 speed limit, let alone engage the limited brain power quickly enough to avoid a post school hyperactive child.

Both these steps of misdemeanors seem to be practised whether the parents live in the countryside or the town. The only difference seems to be is that there are more 4x4s in the town and the urban dweller has a great talent for continuing to turn into a narrow street, even though it is clear that fifty other cars are now stationary due to a badly parked 4x4 owned by a parent who is still gassing with other parents back at the school gate, oblivious of their child’s frustration and the mega traffic jam that has developed. This happened when we lived in Worcester and I took the trouble to walk round the corner and inform the parent of the consequences piling up out of sight. ‘Oh, it’s my husband’s car really; I’ve never learnt how to park it’. I politely advised that this was probably not the best comment to make should a policeman be taking the details of the obstructing vehicle when she got back to it. An idle thought of course because should such a thing have occurred, it would have been as rare as the last sighting of a sword fish at Worcester, as reported in ‘Rural Sports' published in 1812 by the Rev. Daniel. As though that was not rare enough, it is reported that a hapless swimmer fell victim to the fish and died. The fish itself was captured as proof of these events. Such a conclusive outcome cannot be guaranteed with road fatalities, a fact of life which those on the school run, whether in town or country, would do well to remember.

Dacier

Country Driving: (Pt.II)

Having recently endured the thrills of Devonshire sunken lanes and the rock faces of the descent into Lynmouth I am even more puzzled why people drive as though they are the only people likely to be using the so called country road they are on. The hazards round the corner are many and dangerous. Take your pick from a straw trailer, horse box, stock lorry, heating fuel tanker, feed lorry, pre-mix cement tanker, and sludge emptier.

The white van driver trying to hit all his delivery targets also awaits. Those who send these poor souls out into the unknown think that the timings can be the same as in town. As we have few streets there are no street names, house and farm signs are not guaranteed, and in any case, the houses and farms may lie hidden down even narrower lanes and tracks. We can now spot a lost driver of this type. The most frustrated could have been driving round in circles for an hour or more with little help from Sat Nav which has no qualms in sending articulated lorries by routes where wing mirrors become hedge trimmers. Other road users include riders, pedestrians and cyclists. Often these are unsuspecting holiday makers who are unprepared for the petrol head holiday maker or youngster who has no fear.

On the other hand pedestrians are no better. Of course this is an oversimplification because most pedestrians are in fact drivers but their mental partitioning is impressive. As we approached the Lynmouth cark park under the cliff at a stately 10 miles an hour the worst hazards were drivers making their way into the town by walking in the middle of the road, sometimes backwards whilst beckoning other members of their party, or spread right across the road while trying to read the parking charges. Tempting though it was to sound the horn this was thought inappropriate as some of the obstructions seemed more than capable of staging a heart attack.

There is still some good driving to be had but it has to be done in the more rugged terrains such as on the moors or higher parts of Wales. With the school holidays and the inexplicable demise of the reverse gear we shall soon be grounded until September when school goes back and only the grey market holiday makers have to be guarded against, until autumn really kicks in with a few westerly gales.

Dacier

Country Driving: (Pt.1)

The bank holiday over, things have calmed down on the traffic front. Not so long ago some joked about a passing vehicle being the rush hour, but it is much busier now, especially at holiday times. Some of our visitors get a bit nervous as they enter the network of narrow lanes to visit us. This is not unjustified as many drivers on country roads can make one dangerous assumption. That there wont be anyone about.

This might explain why some drivers on the wider roads drive in the middle, even round bends, or go too fast round blind bends. The second assumption is that normal urban speeds can apply. To do even 30 mph on our lane is very hazardous because someone else coming in the other direction might think that there will be no one else about and not even realise that they are doing 40mph or more. After all, the national limit of 60 mph applies! Perhaps current moves to lower speed limits might eventually filter through to us, but whether ‘twenty is plenty’ will be applied to country lanes generally, seems unlikely. A 30 mph limit might be good for starters as an improvement for the amenity of visitors and locals alike. A 50 mph limit on the B road in the valley would be a good idea for both safety and fuel saving reasons Unfortunately the bikers who have discovered the joys of cruising border roads won’t observe it nor the Hay Festival speedsters.

Dacier