Kambah Superschool Road Accident?

Jim Jones said :

Damn straight it would have been your fault – it’s a school zone ffs, there are obviously going to be children around, so slow down, keep your eyes open and be careful.

I can’t believe that anyone would be so self-absorbed to say something like this.

Be real……some kids are a$$holes on the roads…
I made complaints to police and local school and everyone about a bunch of kids playing chicken on a crossing near a local school..
They would hide and wait until cars were right at the crossing then run out onto the crossing. I watched this for a few days…Told the school..but they had no idea who the kids were. Told police but they could not go watch at that time of day were too busy.
A few days later they did it,,,,and the guy stopped suddenly and the car behind him hit him up the butt…
THEN I went to the newspaper..Funny as after it was posted in the paper I noticed the same small kids being walked with adults.

If adults allow their childen to be d*ckheads on the roads,,,,then so be it.
Drivers cannot be held accountable for the silly kids who run out from between cars, cut through traffic on bikes and scooters, or play chicken with traffic even in 40km zones.

Something strange going on here. I have re-checked. The lad was hit by a car driven by a lady, who stopped, and with other people, waited for the ambulance.

The boys condition is grave.

I don’t agree that vigilant and attentive driving (although necessary) in school zones will prevent all accidents.

For example the school adjacent to my house has a pathetically small carpark that caters for about a quarter of the cars present on any given day. This means there are urban assault vehicles spilling out onto a busy street, parked in no parking areas, inside a t-intersection for the local shops, across footpaths and verges. Even driving slower than 40kph and paying full attention I have barely missed rogue kids as they blindly step out between cars.

borizuka said :

It’s not always 100% the drivers fault. Even when they are doing 40km/hr.

The other day I had a primary school kid ride out straight in front of me onto the main road on his scooter thing, not even at a childrens crossing. He then proceeded to ride in the middle of my left lane, and then cross to the otherside 30 meters later… (p.s. no helmet either…)

If I had hit him, and had no witnesses, it would surely been completely my fault..

A few years ago, a friends son basically did exactly this.. he came out from a footpath and straight into the side of a car.. he was 14, riding without a helmet.. sadly its not only the young kids you have to worry about, but shouldnt parents be teaching their kids the basic road rules (look both ways before crossing, etc) before theyre anywhere near this age?

I remember as a kid, we had yearly trips to the police bike centre in deakin, where all these things were drilled into us. Maybe the road-ready program used in high schools can be extended to bike-ready program for young primary school kids.

EvanJames said :

Hope it’s not true too, but the way people sail through school zones, it would not surprise me. The queanbeyan cops patrol Qbn East Primary on Yass Road very regularly, and they are so busy booking people

I was travelling along the parkway through the roadworks around the new school the other day, most vehicles were travelling at 60 except the one officer who ‘sailed through’ (to use your phrase) obviously in excess of the 60km/hr roadworks limit. At least in those instances, when I report the numberplate I feel it gets more of a response than if someone was to contact them about a member of the public speeding. I do have to wonder though, exactly what they were doing with roadworks at the intersection that took so long to complete, it seems finished but Im unable to see any difference other than the old footpath having been replaced with new concrete.

Jim Jones said :

borizuka said :

It’s not always 100% the drivers fault. Even when they are doing 40km/hr.

The other day I had a primary school kid ride out straight in front of me onto the main road on his scooter thing, not even at a childrens crossing. He then proceeded to ride in the middle of my left lane, and then cross to the otherside 30 meters later… (p.s. no helmet either…)

If I had hit him, and had no witnesses, it would surely been completely my fault..

Damn straight it would have been your fault – it’s a school zone ffs, there are obviously going to be children around, so slow down, keep your eyes open and be careful.

I can’t believe that anyone would be so self-absorbed to say something like this.

Whilst I agree that you should (and I am) vigilant around school zones, but if you have a child that does not know the road rules and is not cabable of crossing the road in a safe manner, the blame should not rest on the motorist alone. Again I ask, “Where are the parents”?

The parents are the ones to blame, for a) not teaching their child how to cross the road safely b) not supervising thier child in potentially dangerous situations.

Jim Jones said :

Damn straight it would have been your fault – it’s a school zone ffs, there are obviously going to be children around, so slow down, keep your eyes open and be careful.

Jim Jones said :

Nonsense, even the best of drivers, driving slowly and with full attention, could be unable to react in time to avoid to a kid shooting out of a concealed drive or from behind a car on a scooter or skateboard, etc.

Jim Jones said :

I can’t believe that anyone would be so self-absorbed to say something like this.

I can honestly believe you are so self absorbed as to say that.

I

borizuka said :

It’s not always 100% the drivers fault. Even when they are doing 40km/hr.

The other day I had a primary school kid ride out straight in front of me onto the main road on his scooter thing, not even at a childrens crossing. He then proceeded to ride in the middle of my left lane, and then cross to the otherside 30 meters later… (p.s. no helmet either…)

If I had hit him, and had no witnesses, it would surely been completely my fault..

Damn straight it would have been your fault – it’s a school zone ffs, there are obviously going to be children around, so slow down, keep your eyes open and be careful.

I can’t believe that anyone would be so self-absorbed to say something like this.

This stuff makes me sick. Then we get idiots singing “well kids run out all the time out of nowhere, they must bear some responsibility”

It’s a bloody school zone in a suburb. There will be children present at any time… weekends for sport, after 4pm for after school activities. As adults with a driver’s licences, we’re all WELL aware of this. Why then do so many continue to act utterly offended when a child appears on the road near a school?

The 40 limit should not be necessary… as any driver in their right mind with an ounce of competence or common sense should be too terrified to exceed 30km/h thanks to the far from impossible threat of a child unwittingly wandering onto the road at any moment.

Are we really that complacent? Opt to operate a 1-2.5 tonne machine near an area with kids who are not old enough to realise the danger of wandering into your path, and you have to be completely vigilant… it’s really that simple.

If you’re in an area rife with kids, who are well known to be bloody stupid at the best of times, you have to drive so that you CAN avoid hitting them no matter where they pop out. It’s not good thinking “oh well the law says I must do 40 so if I hit them, it’s their fault”. Scraping a kid’s teeth and flesh out of your radiator is going to be unpleasant even if it was their fault.

Kids up to a certain age have no/little peripheral vision, poor spatial judgement and poor ability to track the speed of moving objects, and many kids have very poor risk awareness.

If I’m driving along and there’s dogs running around on the roadside, or something of that nature, I slow down in expectation that I’m going to have to avoid killing them at some point.