The Wicked Witch of the West Syndrome.

[Wild-Woman]

The amount of cars on the road doubled when the rain set in. I'm sure they think the droplets will melt them!

In case you wonder about the title, watch the Wizard of Oz.

[naturelover]

have you ever noticed they seem to go faster when its raining as though there getting wet ha ha.

[matt_xyz]

I'm always amazed how many more cars there are on the roads when it rains - my journey to work took forever this morning, just because it was raining.

There must be a lot of people who only take other forms of transport when it is dry. Not like me, I commute by car rain or shine

Matt

[nightshade]

I always find the most nervous driver slows to a snails-pace
and the rest rush up to take station behind giving the effects you both describe

[G0NYM]

I agree .
I went to work this morning and I thought the traffics bad today .
I also thought it was my imagination maybe not . LOL

By the way I go back-wards and for-wards to work on a bike "my wife has the car" its supposed to be getting my fit .LOL

[Paul mabbott]

I thought this referred to the continuing effect of M*rgaret Th*tcher on British transport and politics in general. Sorry for the bad language.

[demicav]

The traffic is always worse in the rain. It's particularly bad taking the kids to school, infact it's quicker to walk in the rain than drive.

[Paul mabbott]

Suggests that they should be walking all the time then? What is this national obsession with motoring children to school?

Getting back to the original point: I also have the impression that people do motor faster in the rain. Is this because you seem to be going faster because of the splashing &c or is it like youngsters running and splashing in puddles - "fun"?

Originally Posted by demicav

The traffic is always worse in the rain. It's particularly bad taking the kids to school, infact it's quicker to walk in the rain than drive.

[paulchandler6]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

I thought this referred to the continuing effect of M*rgaret Th*tcher on British transport and politics in general. Sorry for the bad language.

You know the rules about using bad words on WAB.

Paul

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Suggests that they should be walking all the time then? What is this national obsession with motoring children to school?

Sadly children just don't walk like they used to. We've taken groups out and got a few hundred metres into an outing and they start complaining that they're tired. Quite worrying really.
Get 'em a pair of wellies and a mac. Let them splash in the puddles all the way to school. They love it and it does no harm.
(You can tell what I got up to when I was a sprogg!)

[Paul mabbott]

I know what you mean - used to take groups of primary school children up to St Pauls or whatever from Leyton: 1km from school to tube station .... after one street: 'Oh, Miss [That included me] can we have a rest ... where's the station???' &c.

Up here, our late primary school children go on five (or more) mile walks over the moors without complaint (except for the ones wearing tight skirts and high heels); and even the reception class travels across the city - mainly by bus or tram but with a couple of kilometres walk involved.

So it isn't children in general - it's how they're brought up and the assumptions that are made - by parents, teachers &c..

My children were never driven to school whether in the Midlands, London or Yorkshire except under very exceptional circumstances - in general it is not necessary.

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

Sadly children just don't walk like they used to. We've taken groups out and got a few hundred metres into an outing and they start complaining that they're tired. Quite worrying really.
Get 'em a pair of wellies and a mac. Let them splash in the puddles all the way to school. They love it and it does no harm.
(You can tell what I got up to when I was a sprogg!)

[Duke of York]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Suggests that they should be walking all the time then? What is this national obsession with motoring children to school?

I quite agree. The difference in the traffic between when the kids are at school and when they are on their hols is unbelievable

and when you then throw in rain it is even more unbelievable even the motorway was stationary

[galanthus]

Don't even get me started on the huge, fuel-eating 4 wheel drive vehicles containing generally 1 adult female and 1 or 2 children for the school run I saw hardly any during school hols on my work run, now they're every other car

[Blackbrook Eye]

It is unfortunately a necessity now to drive children to school, if you dont they are in very real danger of getting run over by people driving children to school. With regard to 4x4s, a friend of mine who has a vehicle repair business got a phone call from a lady who had got the front wheel of her range rover stuck in a drain, after somone had removed the cover, he suggested that she put the vehicle into fourwheel drive and just reverse out,to which she replied " How do I put it into fourwheel drive". It makes me wonder what the next essential fashion accessory will be.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by galanthus

Don't even get me started on the huge, fuel-eating 4 wheel drive vehicles containing generally 1 adult female and 1 or 2 children for the school run I saw hardly any during school hols on my work run, now they're every other car

Well to be fair they cant have the precious little princesses getting messy hair/wet clothes/smudged make up and risk showing mummy up by being unfashionable

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

So it isn't children in general - it's how they're brought up and the assumptions that are made - by parents, teachers &c..

Yep.You've probably hit a large percentage of the nail on the head.
Think some children are horrified at the prospect of walking as they been carted everywhere in a car from birth.

[m1.carson]

Hi,

Just read in the papers, a high percentage of children do get run over on the way to/from school, what it didn't say was, was that a percentage of all school children [which is what I suspect] or the percentage of those who travel by foot, which would be a much much higher figure.

They were talking of making the children wear hi-vis clothing, good idea but I can't see many using it, not fashionable/look like an idiot etc.

Anyway, we always have a half road sized puddle on the corner, and what has to be seen to be beleived is the number of people that drive AROUND it, i.e. across the other side of the road into the on-coming traffic, obviously they haven't a bottom to the car and will get their feet wet. .

Max.

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, I've heard this at planning meetings &c. I recall one woman who shamefacedly said, "I have to drive my children to school because there are so many cars on the roads."!

I think councils and other authorities could do something about this - banning stopping/parking within 1 km of schools (other than for residents, of course). On the other hand, where we lived in East London, most houses were well within 1km of the school and some still used the car!
There was a lot of complaint (actually, not a 'lot', just a few very noisy drivers who seemed to regard a ban on parking near the school as an affront to their civil liberties!) when such parking restrictions were proposed.

It also needs pedestrian parents to set an example - I used to organise my day around walking my sons to school, collecting them and walking them back - I would certainly not have wanted to let them go on their own. After a few years, I had quite a gang doing it and some other parents would sometimes take over when I wanted to extend my working day ...

Originally Posted by Blackbrook Eye

It is unfortunately a necessity now to drive children to school, if you dont they are in very real danger of getting run over by people driving children to school. ........

[Jez]

I thought it was our new adult responsibility to reduce driving. How deluded i have been!

[demicav]

I have to say that my children are excellent walkers and will regularly accompany me on long walks. They don't mind walking to school and do walk probably 99% of the time. However there will always be the times when for one reason or another they have to go in the car.
One thing that annoys me though is all the dog waste on the pavement but that's another subject for a different thread.