General Chat

That sees danger here? Twice today passed young mums, on mobile, texting while her toddler (2 or 3 years old), wanders along behind her. In both cases the child could have been distracted and run into the road.

Funny you should say that Ann.

Today I watched a Mum taking her 2 children to nursery. First a little girl was way ahead, next came Mum reading her phone and behind a little boy wandering along.

A little while ago there was a film on Facebook covering this very topic. The outcome was horrendous and should have been a lesson.

Mind you yesterday I saw a woman driving along reading a document draped over her steering wheel and her mobile phone in one hand. :-0 :-0 :-0 :-0
Beggars belief

Oh yes Von, on Wednesday we were in the outside lane of a local dual carriageway which crosses a roundabout with four lanes in one place, on our left was a van driver drinking coffee,in front of him was another van driver reading whatever he had spread across the steering wheel.

Yesterday I drove passed a young mum with a little one in a pushchair. She was waiting to cross the road, on a mobile with only the back two wheels on the pavement and the front a little in the air above the road. I dread to think what could have happened had a car was being driven close to the curb :-| :-| :-|

This follows on from the post I put in the other day about screaming.
We all notice it...and not just oldies..
The idea is to give the child what they want to keep quiet while they are texting,on their iPod or some other distraction.
I always liked a pram or buggy with the child facing me so you can interact with them.
Afraid it is a sign of the times.
I do believe that gadgets have their place,but they are distracting and it isn't good to use them when driving or walking along,especially when you are in charge of a child or a disabled person.

... And I still see drivers with mobiles to their ears. I thought it had been made illegal.

A young lady was using her phone and her son ran out in front of our car
Good job my Butler is a good driver

and was only driving slowly :-(

Aren't these parents who are not interested in their children making them far more easily available to those who might have a particular interest in them?

That thought crossed my mind Sharron

Another danger is the way mothers have children on the outside where if a car mounts the pavement the little body is most vulnerable. I always made sure I was closest to the road when walking with children.

All the other points made concern me too. The trouble is we are now coming to the next generation who will/do treat their children's safety so casually, learned from the way their parents treated them.

Lizx

We slowed down to go around a corner only a couple of days ago, mum, pushchair and two little school age children, one holding the pram and the other little mr johnny come lately was strolling along behind with his woolly hat on and one earflap was on the front of his face. The mother did look around at us and then he had to stop and look at us from either side of his woolly earflap, it took me all my time not to laugh.

I have noticed my daughter when she walks with Stellan in the pushchair, August who is 4 has to hold on to a strap from the hand rail of the pushchair and that can be slid along so it is always on the inside of the footpath. She amuses me because the top of the pushchair also has a coffee cup holder. The strap came from the people who make the push chairs. The strap has a loop for his hand to go through.
:-) :-)

When the grandchildren were young they were invariably attached to one adult or another by an expanding strap with a loop both ends, I think you can still get them, little ones are so unpredictable, nothing on a mobile phone can be more important thanyour child's safety.