Kids in the road... and why they anger me!!

Actually Yes I do! Every day going to work I go down this road where I pass three groups of kids waiting for the bus. First thing, I don't get why they don't all just wait together. They are 3 different bus stops on the same road (and these are not in front of individual homes it's 3 groups of kids from different row homes grouped together) and they're less than a quarter mile from each other. Why does that bus have to make 3 stops instead of one? I've been stuck behind the bus before and all the kids ride the same bus. Bah! Anyway. The first group is about 3 girls and a boy. The girls are typically crossing when i'm going down the road and they always walk out right in front of me. fortunately there are cops on that road sometimes so I always drive the 25 mph speed limit. The second group is about 6 kids... they're usually far from the road so they never bother me. the last group though.. They like to hang out in the road. Mind you at this point in the road it's 4 way road. if you're going the way i'm going or the opposite direction you have no stop sign. the other roads have the stop. This is a fairly busy little intersection. the kids like to dance around IN THE ROAD. When they see a car coming they start cursing and yelling at you (they're about middle school aged) because YOU'RE interrupting THEM by driving in the road where they want to be dancing and carrying on. It ticks me off to no end! Then on the way home from work I'm inevitably right behind this school bus dropping off elementary school kids. there are parents to pick up some kids and other kids just walk alone. I can't tell you how many times the PARENTS w/ their child have walked out in front of my car, drove out in front of my car or just watched kids themselves walk out in front of my car. I always try to beat the school bus, but that school bus drives really speedy down the road and I can never pull out in front of them!

Just reading this I feel for you!!! It makes me soooo angry! It's really easy to teach your child that a car is a big piece of dangerous machinery that can kill them when they aren't cautious around them. There are so many incidents where there is NO way that a driver can yield to a pedestrian that isn't following traffic signals. And a person who is walking or riding a bike should be very wary of what is going on around them and not assume that they have the right of way just because they aren't in the car. I teach my kids this stuff all the time. Cars are big and dangerous and they need to be careful around them. What really makes me mad is there is a traffic light right at one of the new dorm buildings near the local college. Right across the street they built a Rutter's and added a traffic light. The majority of the students don't even bother to use the crosswalk there even though it is a 4 lane road (not a highway though). The speed limit is 35 there but people usually drive faster because it is a straight road with very few intersections. The students are constantly disregarding traffic and the crosswalk signals when they do use the crosswalk. They cross whether cars are coming or not! In the city kids are constantly crossing without looking for traffic. There the speed limit is 25 but does it really matter that the speed limit is that low when a 1000 lb vehicle is bearing down on a child that ran out without looking? I have to say that many drivers really need a lesson in defensive driving and handing such a massive machine because there are so many times that I have seen something stupid happen that was totally preventable, had the parties involved been aware that they are not invincible and that people don't need to bow to them! It's a shame that there are more people who think those things than not!! Oh and another complaint...Rehobeth Beach, Deleware! I'm sure it isn't all of it (and I am sure there are other states that have it bad too..!) and it's not everyone but we were at Rehobeth beach last year and were driving around a lot to go here and there. We were in a parking lot driving down in front of the stores trying to find a specific store. A woman darted out of nowhere (ok it wasn't nowhere- she came out from between two cars really really fast) and even though we were going about 10mph and the front of our car had already passed where she came running out from, she started screaming at us that we were supposed to stop for pedestrians. I didn't think that applied to crazy women jayRUNNING through the parking lot!! And another guy walked out of a shop that had a door almost right in front of the curb. He rounded the corner going out the door and stepped right into the road without looking. Had our car been 2 inches closer we would have hit him. There was no way we could yield when we were there first and he didn't show up til we were passing him. I am all for yielding for pedestrians but there has to be a point where our car is allowed to actually MOVE through the parking lot!!!

I hate seeing children in the road. I'm always terrified that I'm going to hit them, and they're so unpredictable... One minute, they're pedalling on their bikes on the side of the road, then they're in the middle of it. I don't like seeing young children playing near the road with no adult in sight. I always think that they're going to just wander into the road in front of me.

Im with you on this one. Many times youths ride bikes along the roads with no lights. But my biggest bugbear is when herd of lads on bikes are on and off the pavement in the estates, again no lights and usually dressed in dark clothing

i feel the same way. children should be supervised until a certain age on a bicycle or any other kind of toy that involves traffic. if my daughter were to do something like this it would surely be the last let me tell you. i was very responsible when i had my days doing things like this.