Should truck drivers have their licences suspended for using mobile phones?‏

[theclaud]

it's a fair point.. but i reckon the safe speed limit would a lot less than 20mph.

and yes, it is going off topic.

IMO... all drivers should have their licences suspended for mobile phone use, regardless of whether they drive for a living, drive to get to work or just drive for leisure..

If the 5 or 10mph suggestion was not facetious, why follow it with the quilted bumper thing?

And I quite agree about mobile phone use.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Ignoring the facetiousness for the moment, why should a speed limit for an area where children play be higher than the speed at which one can confidently state that they will be able to stop if a child runs out from behind a parked car? Usually that means 20mph or below in residential areas where there are parked cars. Personally, I'd do away with the parked cars too, but that's straying even further off topic...

Sounds reasonable to me (apart from the parked car bit, but then I live in an Edwardian terrace. You can't safely do more than about 20 here anyway...) Maybe we need to look at the Dutch idea of roads and streets. We need to balance a child's reasonable desire to get an ice cream outside his house with an adult's reasonable desire to get somewhere.

 

[MontyVeda]

If the 5 or 10mph suggestion was not facetious, why follow it with the quilted bumper thing?

And I quite agree about mobile phone use.

Neither is facetious... but the suggestion of the flag waver was.

I'd rather be hit by a vehicle at 15mph that had a much softer surface on the front than a rigid metal or plastic surface.... in fact I'd rather stop, look and listen than be hit at all.

 

[summerdays]

Studies have found that children under the age of 10 (sorry I can't remember the exact details but @Cunobelin can I suspect), can't actually judge the speed of cars correctly at all above certain speeds. Doesn't matter if they know to look out for traffic, if they can't judge the speed correctly then they won't be able to gauge whether it is a safe distance away or not. Either we accept that children don't have responsibility for their safety or we only drive at speeds at which they can judge the speed.

 

[MontyVeda]

Studies have found that children under the age of 10 (sorry I can't remember the exact details but @Cunobelin can I suspect), can't actually judge the speed of cars correctly at all above certain speeds. Doesn't matter if they know to look out for traffic, if they can't judge the speed correctly then they won't be able to gauge whether it is a safe distance away or not. Either we accept that children don't have responsibility for their safety or we only drive at speeds at which they can judge the speed.

so teach them to wait until it's passed... it's not rocking horse science.

 

[summerdays]

so teach them to wait until it's passed... it's not rocking horse science.

How do they cross the road in a busy town/city where there can be almost constant traffic, especially near their school at the time they are travelling to school?

 

[ufkacbln]

Studies have found that children under the age of 10 (sorry I can't remember the exact details but @Cunobelin can I suspect), can't actually judge the speed of cars correctly at all above certain speeds. Doesn't matter if they know to look out for traffic, if they can't judge the speed correctly then they won't be able to gauge whether it is a safe distance away or not. Either we accept that children don't have responsibility for their safety or we only drive at speeds at which they can judge the speed.

Link to summary

link to full paper

 

[ufkacbln]

so teach them to wait until it's passed... it's not rocking horse science.

But it is entirely inappropriate and impractical.

I can think of may roads around here where a child would never, ever be able to cross!

 

[MontyVeda]

How do they cross the road in a busy town/city where there can be almost constant traffic, especially near their school at the time they are travelling to school?

lollipop person... they had them in my day, regardless of whether or not there was also a zebra or pelican crossing.

I've managed to never get myself run over and i think that's largely due to being taught some road sense at an early age... but this is all off topic and should really be on a thread of it's own.

 

[summerdays]

Lollies are only there for set times, usually about 15 - 30 mins at specific crossing points. There is a shortage of them and many schools don't even have one.

 

[MontyVeda]

Lollies are only there for set times, usually about 15 - 30 mins at specific crossing points. There is a shortage of them and many schools don't even have one.

well you did quite specifically single out the time when they are travelling to and from school... if a school doesn't have a crossing assistant, then it needs one.. but again, all off topic.

 

[theclaud]

so teach them to wait until it's passed... it's not rocking horse science.

Streets are social spaces. For many children in urban and suburban areas, the street is the centre of their social lives. Why should they be constantly pushed to the sidelines?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

so teach them to wait until it's passed... it's not rocking horse science.

Perhaps it is just that, rocking horse science. Adult consciousness cannot be foisted onto children. So you have to look at how things work at the rocking horse level. Here's a little article about inattentional blindness that I just bumped into - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27538195

It's down to how children develop not how development can be forced onto them. While the UK has a comparatively good record on KSIs on the roads, it's worth remembering that we do badly at killing children on and by the roads.

 

[ufkacbln]

lollipop person... they had them in my day, regardless of whether or not there was also a zebra or pelican crossing.

I've managed to never get myself run over and i think that's largely due to being taught some road sense at an early age... but this is all off topic and should really be on a thread of it's own.

The lollipop person is actually a superb illustration of the real problem facing these areas.

They are difficult to recruit and retain

The most common problem being the abuse from motorists, being driven at and forced to get out of the way and threats from drivers.

Which really raises the question about the attitudes and behaviour of motorists around children and schools

The behaviour is so bad that in some places such as Exeter they are now considering the use of cameras to record the abuse, threats and bad driving


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[theclaud]

The lollipop person is actually a superb illustration of the real problem facing these areas.

They are difficult to recruit and retain

The most common problem being the abuse from motorists, being driven at and forced to get out of the way and threats from drivers.

Which really raises the question about the attitudes and behaviour of motorists around children and schools

The behaviour is so bad that in some places such as Exeter they are now considering the use of cameras to record the abuse, threats and bad driving


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Lollicam! Brilliant!