Walking my grandkid to/from school, it absolutely floors me how many dangerous drivers there are around kids.
In a matter of maybe 10 minutes, I've witnessed:
- at least a dozen cars illegal parked. It's not the parking that bothers me, but the fact that these cars are often parked on turns or just before intersections, making it impossible for other drivers to see small kids.
- Several people not stopping at stop signs, including at the exit of the school parking lot.
- One car, who completely blew through a stop sign at the front of the school, made a left turn and nearly hit a guy walking his kid. The driver didn't even slow down.
- Super fucking huge pickup trucks parked in the school parking lot, but their long ass hangs well over the sidewalk near the kindergarden area, leaving very little space to use the sidewalk.
- Speeding. Obviously, you have to have speeding in school zones, right?
This happens every day, during drop off and pick up. I was told that bylaw were “cracking down”, but no, they aren't. If they were, our municipality would generate $5000 in fines each and every day at every school.
The other day, I rode my bike past another school as kids were getting out. Not only was their massive parking lot completely full, but they had blocked the bike trail (WITH PYLONS) to make space for more cars. Then as I entered onto the road, cars were illegally parked along the road and on a bridge for a like 100m. Making it extremely difficult and dangerous to cross because they blocked visibility for me and other drivers on the road.
I asked the cross guard if these students all lived out of town, requiring every parent to drive them home; he obviously didn't get my joke.
Seriously, fuck cars. All of them!
We walk our kids to school pretty much every day, and I 100% agree.
Almost exactly three years ago, at a school about four miles away from ours, a driver killed a seven-year-old girl on her way home from school, and the very next morning a driver ignored the signal and cut me off as I was trying to walk my own kids across the street. In the next couple of months, a city ordinance meant to improve pedestrian safety was shot down by the state because it was "anti-car." Since then, any efforts at traffic calming around schools has been slow-rolled and ignored at pretty much every opportunity. Car dismissal is prioritized at our kids' school (we've actively had to go inside and pluck our kids out of the car line at the beginning of every school year so far because they don't pay attention), bus dismissal gets second place, and this is the first year that the crossing guard has been there every day.
Literally the only positive thing that we've seen around our school is that they've reduced the road from two (very thin) lanes in each direction to only one; that has helped tremendously, but even just this morning a driver who wasn't paying attention almost hit the crossing guard as we were about to step out into the street.
I am shaking with rage even thinking about it right now. The situation is dire out there, and our elected officials are doing worse than nothing. Our school administrators are making it worse.
Talk about radicalizing. I want to start slashing tires.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Tyres are pretty amazing tech. Is there an easy way to drop something hard to see in the road that will cause tyre punctures?
Yes
What is it? I've run over broken bottles and nails with no issues.
Caltrops.
Thanks. What's the cheapest way to make these?
Maybe nails? Probably some good recipes in The Anarchist's Cookbook.
In general, the Anarchist Cookbook is not a good source of information.
Well then just do whatever. Good luck.
Some nails, a vice, a hammer, and a soldering iron
I really doubt the solder would hold
I've told this story before, but back in the 80s a kid was killed walking across a road. Instead of making the road safe for kids to cross, they simply started bussing kids who lived literally across the street from the school.
But the dead kid's parents donated his college fund to make a new library, so I guess that's good?