Road and carpark safety/age questions?

[~Kim~]

Nah, I'm with you Lenny. Sometimes between my bolter (DS) and anything else I'm carrying, DD just holds onto my pocket ot cardigan or whatever she can. She's really good like that, but DS is such a lunatic, I wouldn't even entertain it with him.

My sister however is happy to let her toddlers run anywhere, including car arks, and was happy for her 5th to walk to school on his own around the block (roads, but no busy ones to cross, but alongside a main road).

[Nai]

I'm sure I read somewhere that the brain doesn't develop enough to accurately process distance information until after 8 years old which is why they say over 8 for walking to school and crossing roads unsupervised. Before that age they can't actually judge distance and speed well enough to determine if it is safe to cross a road with traffic.

I trust my 5yo to walk next to me in a carpark but I still make sure she holds my hand as I don't trust other drivers and I am also fully aware of how easily she can be distracted or lose concentration.

[Floweryfields]

Yep 8 years old is the age they say - children under that age don't have the ability to process how close something is to them, so whether they have time to safely cross. Also little children are easily disracted and should always hold a hand crossing a road incase they decide to take interest in something else! I see some parents allowing their 6 year olds go to school with older (maybe 8 and 9 yrs) siblings - often on bikes or scooters and it just terrifies me. I drive the pick up bus from a school and it's a hectic time of day with cars and kids everywhere and my heart is often in my throat when I see unsupervised kids.

[Cranky Kitten]

DD was about 7 or 8 when she started being allowed to walk to/from school or down to the park on her own. She's 9 and we're now gradually letting her start riding her bike on the road with minimal supervision, but only in quiet areas - when she's riding with us we get her to make the decisions about when to cross and what's safe to get her used to it in controlled circumstances.

She would've been 5 or 6 when I no longer insisted on holding hands in carparks etc. I think it's important to teach kids road safety by giving them the chance to make decisions about what's safe and what's not, to give them confidence in themselves when they get it right - but you're right there to keep them safe if needs be.

[Artechim]

Does everyone else seriously hold hands every time?? Surely I am not the only person that lets their 3 year old walk down the street without holding on to them? What do other people do when they are carrying a smaller kid and shopping?

What about riding bikes along the road? How do you get across the road when everyone is on a bike? DS has been riding his bike on the footpath with us on our bikes since Christmas, so 3y 4m. He stops at the road, checks if it is clear and then rides across. I now let him ride on the side of the road where there is a 3-4m wide gravel strip because it has puddles he likes to ride through.

[AnyDream]

Does everyone else seriously hold hands every time?? Surely I am not the only person that lets their 3 year old walk down the street without holding on to them? What do other people do when they are carrying a smaller kid and shopping?

What about riding bikes along the road? How do you get across the road when everyone is on a bike? DS has been riding his bike on the footpath with us on our bikes since Christmas, so 3y 4m. He stops at the road, checks if it is clear and then rides across. I now let him ride on the side of the road where there is a 3-4m wide gravel strip because it has puddles he likes to ride through.

Arte, I'm thinking there's less traffic where you are than most of us! LOL

[Gigi]

this is an interesting thread. i see lots of unaccompanied kids walking to school (from my window) each morning.

At bike safety school a few years ago, i thought i remembered the instructors saying kids need to be 12, before they ride to school alone, something to do with when peripheral vision kicks in. Maybe i remembered the wrong age.

We're near a busy main road, takes ages for me to get across in a car, and it's often a hairy experience for ME, as an adult in a car. Cannot imagine bilby navigating that, i think she'd need to walk her bike across a pedestrian crossing. So many hoons, stolen car activity around here, broken glass - punctures etc - keeping her safe is constantly on my mind (more than anywhere i've ever lived before). I drive her (and her bike) to safer neighbourhoods, just so she can ride her bike in parks and playgrounds. God, i will only be able to do that for a short time, the bigger she gets, i won't be able to put her bike in the carboot when she gets bigger. hmmm.