You Drive Like That With Your Kid?

[blas]

Looks like Britney Spears isn't the only person who drives carelessly with her children in tow.

On my way to the tanning salon, there is a day care. I'm going to go ahead and speculate that it's for all kinds of youngsters, but since school is in session, only the babies and toddlers are there in the morning.

Anyway, I'm approaching a four way stop. In the distance I hear that gosh awful noise that is a vehicle with either no muffler or modified so that it's that the muffler is that loud on purpose. Then lo and behold, I see one of those stereotypical hillbilly trucks, raised up several feet off the ground, multiple huge antennas (for CB or contacting the aliens, perhaps?) and massive tires, turning right from another street, then roaring up this particular street.

As I'm stopped at the stop sign, the person in front of me proceeds and the hillbilly truck decides he isn't going to wait to turn left into the daycare. Instead, the truck WHIPS a very tight and quick left into the daycare, totally cutting off the person who had proceeded before me, causing them to have to slam their brakes and they came within inches of hitting the truck.

I proceed through the intersection slowly and slow down even more to be nosy and watch.

Without a care in the world and no regard to the stunt he just pulled, the idiot came to a screeching halt into a parking spot (I love that ear piercing SCREEEECH! when people slam their brakes), gets out of the truck, opens the back door, and proceeds to get his kid out of its carseat.

What a way to drive with kids in the car.....reminds me of last Friday on the way home from doing laundry, when I got suddenly cut off (a few inches shorter and my car would have been shoved into the shoulder) by someone on the freeway who had one of those tags in the back window that says Caution: Baby on Board!

[lupo pazzesco]

And that's with actual STOP signs posted. Right now, there's still work being done to get power back to transformers in Houston, and in certain parts of the city, there are NO traffic lights. No big, treat every intersection like a 4 way stop, right?

The sheer number of almost accidents I've seen is staggering. Not to mention the number of times I've almost been hit while attempting to move across the crosswalk.

If I can see the color of your eyes through your windshield, there's something SERIOUSLY wrong here. PEDESTRIAN IN CROSSWALK, people!!

Sorry for the slight threadjack. Back OT, a good percent of drivers are buffoons...

[Chromatix]

I suspect that Americans treat driving as a right rather than as the privilege it is. So it feeds into the EW philosophy that many of them have.

But that is also reinforced by the way most of America is laid out, so that a car is almost always a necessity rather than a luxury.

[Mamadrae]

I suspect that Americans treat driving as a right rather than as the privilege it is. So it feeds into the EW philosophy that many of them have.

But that is also reinforced by the way most of America is laid out, so that a car is almost always a necessity rather than a luxury.

A car is only necessary in the backwoods where there are no buses. Even then you have your feet and bikes so a car (while nice for driving 10 plus miles to the store) is not required.

But that's my opinion.

1 thing I have noticed is parents seem to think cause they have a sign for baby on board they are now the queen/king of the road. Makes me want to slap them. Reproducing does not make you any better then others you idiots! You give us good parents a bad name!

[blas]

Unfortunately, vehicles are a necessity nowadays....we are beyond the days of small villages and everything you need right down the street.

Anyone on here who does survive on public transportation or a bike, I have nothing but the utmost respect for you. I cannot live without a car. I cannot function. Call me whatever you want, but I need my car.

[protege]

Unfortunately, vehicles are a necessity nowadays....we are beyond the days of small villages and everything you need right down the street.

There's not much in the way of shopping where I live. Sure, we have a grocery store, mall, various other stores, etc. But, to get to most of them, you have to drive. I don't know about you all, but as good as Sheetz subs are, they're a bit expensive and boring to eat every night Also, if I head to the grocery store, there's only so much I can carry, even if I take the wagon with me. I'm not about to attempt to carry things like 4x8 sheets of plywood on foot Plus, it's a bit dangerous crossing the main street (Route 51), because many drivers do not yield right of way to pedestrians at crosswalks...

For many of us in the 'burbs, we need our cars. Public transit (at least locally) isn't as developed in the 'burbs as it is inside the city limits. Right now, if I chose to take the bus to work, I'd have to take at least 2, possibly 3. Miss one of the transfers, and I'm SOL. Throw in the transit authority's current financial problems (cutbacks in service--several routes have been cut), and it's simply faster and more convenient to drive.

The problem with driving, is too many idiots see it as a "right" rather than a privilege, and come hell or high water, they're going to drive no matter what. These fools shouldn't have licenses at all, and are usually the ones who cause accidents.

Also, being a dumbass behind the wheel isn't limited only to Americans--plenty of tourists from Canada, Japan, Mexico, and even Europe...can't handle driving over here

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I suspect that Americans treat driving as a right rather than as the privilege it is. So it feeds into the EW philosophy that many of them have.

And for many people here that's true. Especially when I look at the police blotter in the Sunday paper and see scores of people picked up for operating after revocation, or operating without a license.

Or multiple DUI offenses.

However, it most certainly is not true for all Americans. Certainly not true of myself. Next time be a bit more careful about making sweeping generalizations.

[wagegoth]

I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area and to get to my job I have to take two buses and BART. Two buses and a train just to get to work. Right now I'm carpooling, but that probably won't be for more than three more weeks. So what does the Governator want to do? Cut funding to public transit, even though ridership is way up (60% or more).

It actually costs in infrastructure creation and maintenance about $3,700 a year per car. You would think that anything that would cut down the number of vehicles on the road would be a good idea, but Arnie seems to only listen to his rich friends.


Back on topic: Yes, yes, they do. We drop our kids off by car every morning (no bus service, too far to walk) and the complete insanity I've seen. One woman didn't even wait to make sure her 8-years old son was out of the car before she took off. Unfortunately, he was still caught in the seat belt and ended up hitting the sidewalk HARD. My husband and another father rushed over, apparently the child didn't hit his head, but someone called the principal and the mother ended up taking the child straight to the hospital (at least, that's what she said).

Today I saw three cars run a red light inside of five minutes because they were late getting their kids to school. If I had been blind, I would have been creamed by one pickup truck. Thankfully, I saw the stupidity glowing around the truck and didn't immediately step into the crosswalk when the light changed.

[Chromatix]

I did say "many", not "most" or even "all".

I do appreciate that there are good drivers there too, and some bad drivers even here. I'm just trying to get some insight into why there seem to be so many of particular types in America, specifically.

[protege]

Today I saw three cars run a red light inside of five minutes because they were late getting their kids to school. If I had been blind, I would have been creamed by one pickup truck. Thankfully, I saw the stupidity glowing around the truck and didn't immediately step into the crosswalk when the light changed.

They do that where I live too. There's an elementary school just around the corner. I've seen people come *flying* around the corner after leaving the school. Never mind that other kids walk along the street (no sidewalk, since the houses aren't set back far enough), along with people walking their dogs, the newspaper delivery guy, etc. Those idiots are careful enough to get their own kids to school...and then lay rubber because they're now late for work.

Several mornings, I've nearly been hit while backing out of the driveway. Quite a few times, I'll be in the middle of the street, only to see some idiot (usually some soccer-mom in an SUV, 99.9% of the time with a cellphone stuck to her head) come roaring to a stop and then hitting the horn. I mean come on--we have a 25mph speed limit for a reason!

I'm just surprised that nobody wrecked last year. With the broken water main (lots of ice) across the street. Let me tell you, it was interesting to see cars come around the corner...


...sideways Seriously, it was like watching the WRC! Surprisingly, nobody hit the truck across the street, the truck next door, or the cars parked down the street. Because of that, there are the remains of two stone lions (which I hate, BTW) on my yard right there...to keep the dumbasses off of my grass. Someone's already hit one of them

[smileyeagle1021]

Unfortunately, vehicles are a necessity nowadays....we are beyond the days of small villages and everything you need right down the street.

Anyone on here who does survive on public transportation or a bike, I have nothing but the utmost respect for you. I cannot live without a car. I cannot function. Call me whatever you want, but I need my car.

ditto what Blas said... I've tried the whole going without a car thing... the best I can do is to get it down to the only thing I use my car for is getting to and from work and grocery shopping... everything else I can get to on bus/train (and actually when I don't have class saturday morning I can use the bus for my friday grave shift, but that's about it... now if I had a sunday through thursday schedule the only day I'd need to drive would be sunday).

[PepperElf]

One woman didn't even wait to make sure her 8-years old son was out of the car before she took off. Unfortunately, he was still caught in the seat belt and ended up hitting the sidewalk HARD.

that's worth calling Child Protective Services over. If anything it might wake up her brain that yes she has to look out for her child's safety no matter what.

[Heatherina]

I've never seen anything like that but one time at Chuck E Cheese we parked beside a car that had a baby car seat---not a toddler one---not only facing the front of the car but also in the passenger seat by the driver. My sister was seething after that.

[Chromatix]

In some cars, you can disable the passenger airbag, precisely so that you can fit a baby seat there. If you're the only adult in the car, it makes sense to have your baby within reach, rather than in the back. (But do stop the car before taking your attention off the road.)

But I do agree that having it facing forward is a bad idea.

[Jack7957]

Sirius has a trucker channel (147) and I was listening one day while driving. The topic was some of the stupid things they see us 4 wheelers do while driving. The worst one I heard while it was one was a woman breastfeeding while driving.