3 ms·

Not that it _should_ be this way, but me and my friends would scooter/bike to school all the time in elementary/junior high (~2002-2008) and it was easily a few

Not that it _should_ be this way, but me and my friends would scooter/bike to school all the time in elementary/junior high (~2002-2008) and it was easily a few miles each way in Western Washington (not rural). I don't plan on having kids but I wonder if I'd let them do that today. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I ever told my parents I did that.

geysersam 4y ago
Biking a few miles took 15-20 minutes I imagine. Why would you not let your 11+ year old kids bike that route? Sounds okay if there's not too much traffic.
- brailsafe 4y ago
  In car-centric suburbia, there's always traffic at the same times every day, and often poor infrastructure for biking.
  - john_the_writer 4y ago
    100% Most of the roads seem designed to prevent it. I grew up in a small town and we all took bikes to school or walked the ~2 miles. The drivers seemed more aware that they didn't dominate the road.
    - brailsafe 4y ago
      Yep. It would probably be fine and I'd let my hypothetical kid do it anyway, but the fact remains that the biggest risk along the way is.. car traffic. Parents stressed about getting their kid to school and then to work on time. Of course there's winter and that commute becomes even more insane by bike or car.
- another_story 4y ago
  Just let kids ride slower on the sidewalks and follow pedestrian street crossing rules.
  - _dain_ 4y ago
    That's treating the symptoms not the cause. The roads should be safe enough for kids to ride on.
  - II2II 4y ago
    Intersections are where many pedestrian injuries and fatalities happen, due to "inattentive" motorists. The reality is the motorists are probably attentive to other vehicular traffic, which poses a much greater risk to them but poses a huge risk to pedestrians. Then there are the agressive motorists. I have seen motorists intentionally[1] accelerate towards school crossing guards. People seem to get impatient when being held up in traffic, even when it is a product of their own decisions (like driving past a school on a residential side street when school is starting for the day). [1] Of course, I don't know their actual intentions. Yet I have difficulty interpreting a vehicle that is creeping slowly into an intersection then suddenly accelerating towards a safety vested person as anything other than a deliberate act.
  - darknavi 4y ago
    Very few sidewalks (at the time) in our area (unincorporated area of the county). Lots of should er space though.

geysersam 4y ago

Biking a few miles took 15-20 minutes I imagine. Why would you not let your 11+ year old kids bike that route? Sounds okay if there's not too much traffic.

brailsafe 4y ago
In car-centric suburbia, there's always traffic at the same times every day, and often poor infrastructure for biking.
- john_the_writer 4y ago
  100% Most of the roads seem designed to prevent it. I grew up in a small town and we all took bikes to school or walked the ~2 miles. The drivers seemed more aware that they didn't dominate the road.
  - brailsafe 4y ago
    Yep. It would probably be fine and I'd let my hypothetical kid do it anyway, but the fact remains that the biggest risk along the way is.. car traffic. Parents stressed about getting their kid to school and then to work on time. Of course there's winter and that commute becomes even more insane by bike or car.
another_story 4y ago
Just let kids ride slower on the sidewalks and follow pedestrian street crossing rules.
- _dain_ 4y ago
  That's treating the symptoms not the cause. The roads should be safe enough for kids to ride on.
- II2II 4y ago
  Intersections are where many pedestrian injuries and fatalities happen, due to "inattentive" motorists. The reality is the motorists are probably attentive to other vehicular traffic, which poses a much greater risk to them but poses a huge risk to pedestrians. Then there are the agressive motorists. I have seen motorists intentionally[1] accelerate towards school crossing guards. People seem to get impatient when being held up in traffic, even when it is a product of their own decisions (like driving past a school on a residential side street when school is starting for the day). [1] Of course, I don't know their actual intentions. Yet I have difficulty interpreting a vehicle that is creeping slowly into an intersection then suddenly accelerating towards a safety vested person as anything other than a deliberate act.
- darknavi 4y ago
  Very few sidewalks (at the time) in our area (unincorporated area of the county). Lots of should er space though.