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Your memory must be bad because I remember cars driving down my suburban street at highway speeds in the mid 90s. The lesson imparted as a kid was to always loo

Your memory must be bad because I remember cars driving down my suburban street at highway speeds in the mid 90s. The lesson imparted as a kid was to always look both ways, assume no one sees you, and get in and out quickly. If you haven’t taught your kids to not impulsively run after balls into streets, that’s on you. Even my 3 year old knows better than to walk into a street after a ball. I literally watched him stop and look both ways yesterday too before walking in to grab his ball. Yes, drivers should slow down in neighborhoods but an ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure. You have more control over your kids than the crazies that exist in this world.

kennethrc 3y ago
Ditto 70s
malermeister 3y ago
The ounce of prevention should be much earlier and much more preventative. It's the fundamental street design that needs to be changed so speeding is no longer an option.
gosub100 3y ago
I agree with this. I would argue that an even worse contributor to danger are the neighborhoods where everyone parks on the street, either because the neighborhood homes have no driveways or because it's such a high cost of living that most houses are rented out to 3+ individuals leading to overflow parking. I roamed the streets as a 90s kid and while I dont remember if people drove faster/slower then (I do remember there being less traffic, but that's subjective and fallible) I do remember being able to look down most of the block when I crossed the street. But in densely populated areas, going between parked cars (especially as a short child) greatly obstructs the view.
acdha 3y ago
It’s not just bad memory: in the 90s, cars were considerably smaller and less powerful – yes, people had 70s barges but those had much lower acceleration than an SUV and the driver was less insulated from the road and had better visibility. The other big change is Google Maps/Waze/etc. — most people did not know every possible side street and tended to stay on major roads more. To your other point, yes, people need to teach children to fear cars but that also means grownups should be thinking about how much public space we’ve taken away from everyone to remove responsibility from drivers. It’s not unreasonable to think that balance is unhealthy, just as most of us have decided that we shouldn’t have factories in neighborhoods any more.
black6 3y ago
Distraction plays a huge part these days. When I was growing up in the 80's and 90's, drivers drove. Now they're watching TikInstaXFaceTube and relying on lane departure warnings and brake assist to do the driving for them.
acuozzo 3y ago
> If you haven’t taught your kids to not impulsively run after balls into streets, that’s on you. I have. My children aren't perfect. They make mistakes like most children do. I'm glad to read that your three year old does not. That's awesome! I'd love for my children to never fall prey to their own impulsivity. The inner peace from having successfully imparted computer-like unwavering conscientiousness to your child must be unparalleled. I'm envious.
- freitzkriesler2 3y ago
  They’re pretty good. Maybe spend less time being a NIMBY and more time raising your kids and you’ll find they too can do impressive things.
  - acuozzo 3y ago
    Will do. I hope for the sake of those around you that your child(ren) never run afoul of your expectations as "My children would never…" parents are a special breed of annoying, nearly as much as "I raised my obviously-better-than-your-children child to…" parents. I think it's the mixture of a general lack of exposure to reality in addition to harboring the mistaken belief that their method of parenting is superior which makes them so annoying. It's almost as if they think their advice is universally applicable and failure to implement it is somehow a personal failing in every instance, much like those pig-headed folk refusing to acknowledge the systemic issues behind poverty, insisting instead that every poor person is poor from a lack or work ethic or gumption. Thankfully, many people grow up and eventually stop trying to use (not-so-)universally-applicable advice as a cudgel, preferring instead to interpret the complaints of those around them in the most charitable light since, after all, asking "Did you try raising your children right?" is as useless and demeaning as asking "Did you try turning the computer off and on again?".
    - freitzkriesler2 3y ago
      You wrote several paragraphs when what you said could be summed up as, “I’m lazy and look to shift the blame of my circumstances onto others because I can’t be arsed to take control of the hand I’ve got and run with it.” And PS, turning it off and on again solves almost every electronic problem. So yes, do try raising your children right.
Supermancho 3y ago
As little troublemakers in California, a friend and I used to play a prank. We would stand next to light poles on opposing sides of a neighborhood street, at dusk, pretending to pull an invisible line between us. The faster a car would drive through, the farther we would throw ourselves onto nearby lawns. Some of the cars were VERY fast (50mph) despite the short runway from the corner, a few houses down.
Mawr 3y ago
Teaching every single kid to be cautious doesn't scale. Kids are inherently irresponsible anyway and it's not like cars only kill kids either. > Yes, drivers should slow down in neighborhoods They shouldn't. If they need to consciously do anything in the first place then the street design is unsafe. Interestingly, humans have keen senses of danger. Think of crossing a wide and straight two-lane street with cars parked alongside it vs a narrow, winding one-way one with no street parking. For example, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh4H9qZ-_6Y&t=195s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh4H9qZ-_6Y&t=195s

kennethrc 3y ago

Ditto 70s

malermeister 3y ago

The ounce of prevention should be much earlier and much more preventative. It's the fundamental street design that needs to be changed so speeding is no longer an option.

gosub100 3y ago

I agree with this. I would argue that an even worse contributor to danger are the neighborhoods where everyone parks on the street, either because the neighborhood homes have no driveways or because it's such a high cost of living that most houses are rented out to 3+ individuals leading to overflow parking. I roamed the streets as a 90s kid and while I dont remember if people drove faster/slower then (I do remember there being less traffic, but that's subjective and fallible) I do remember being able to look down most of the block when I crossed the street. But in densely populated areas, going between parked cars (especially as a short child) greatly obstructs the view.

acdha 3y ago

It’s not just bad memory: in the 90s, cars were considerably smaller and less powerful – yes, people had 70s barges but those had much lower acceleration than an SUV and the driver was less insulated from the road and had better visibility. The other big change is Google Maps/Waze/etc. — most people did not know every possible side street and tended to stay on major roads more. To your other point, yes, people need to teach children to fear cars but that also means grownups should be thinking about how much public space we’ve taken away from everyone to remove responsibility from drivers. It’s not unreasonable to think that balance is unhealthy, just as most of us have decided that we shouldn’t have factories in neighborhoods any more.

black6 3y ago

Distraction plays a huge part these days. When I was growing up in the 80's and 90's, drivers drove. Now they're watching TikInstaXFaceTube and relying on lane departure warnings and brake assist to do the driving for them.

acuozzo 3y ago

> If you haven’t taught your kids to not impulsively run after balls into streets, that’s on you. I have. My children aren't perfect. They make mistakes like most children do. I'm glad to read that your three year old does not. That's awesome! I'd love for my children to never fall prey to their own impulsivity. The inner peace from having successfully imparted computer-like unwavering conscientiousness to your child must be unparalleled. I'm envious.

freitzkriesler2 3y ago
They’re pretty good. Maybe spend less time being a NIMBY and more time raising your kids and you’ll find they too can do impressive things.
- acuozzo 3y ago
  Will do. I hope for the sake of those around you that your child(ren) never run afoul of your expectations as "My children would never…" parents are a special breed of annoying, nearly as much as "I raised my obviously-better-than-your-children child to…" parents. I think it's the mixture of a general lack of exposure to reality in addition to harboring the mistaken belief that their method of parenting is superior which makes them so annoying. It's almost as if they think their advice is universally applicable and failure to implement it is somehow a personal failing in every instance, much like those pig-headed folk refusing to acknowledge the systemic issues behind poverty, insisting instead that every poor person is poor from a lack or work ethic or gumption. Thankfully, many people grow up and eventually stop trying to use (not-so-)universally-applicable advice as a cudgel, preferring instead to interpret the complaints of those around them in the most charitable light since, after all, asking "Did you try raising your children right?" is as useless and demeaning as asking "Did you try turning the computer off and on again?".
  - freitzkriesler2 3y ago
    You wrote several paragraphs when what you said could be summed up as, “I’m lazy and look to shift the blame of my circumstances onto others because I can’t be arsed to take control of the hand I’ve got and run with it.” And PS, turning it off and on again solves almost every electronic problem. So yes, do try raising your children right.

Supermancho 3y ago

As little troublemakers in California, a friend and I used to play a prank. We would stand next to light poles on opposing sides of a neighborhood street, at dusk, pretending to pull an invisible line between us. The faster a car would drive through, the farther we would throw ourselves onto nearby lawns. Some of the cars were VERY fast (50mph) despite the short runway from the corner, a few houses down.

Mawr 3y ago

Teaching every single kid to be cautious doesn't scale. Kids are inherently irresponsible anyway and it's not like cars only kill kids either. > Yes, drivers should slow down in neighborhoods They shouldn't. If they need to consciously do anything in the first place then the street design is unsafe. Interestingly, humans have keen senses of danger. Think of crossing a wide and straight two-lane street with cars parked alongside it vs a narrow, winding one-way one with no street parking. For example, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh4H9qZ-_6Y&t=195s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh4H9qZ-_6Y&t=195s