I don't have children so can't make any suggestions on possible ways forward.admin wrote:The fat commuter wrote:How often do these close passes happen? A one-off is bad enough but is it a regular occurrence?
Regularly, and seemingly more and more often. Some days we cycle to and from school without any incidents, but most days we have at least one unnerving pass. My wife also cycles to the same school (she's a teacher there in Year 6) quite often and she is also starting to think that close passes are getting worse for her too.
However, it would seem a very sorry state of affairs when inconsiderate drivers are getting so common and so inconsiderate they are scaring children off cycling. To me that would suggest the problem has gone beyond needing addressing. Have you thought about discussing the problem with your local Police (no as in "I want to report ... I demand ..." but more that as an organisation concerned about community policing it is something they could easily take action on. My local force has a couple of Police assigned as a "Community Team" or something (I don't think anybody has ever seen them, but they are listed in that role for my village). I have also come across PCSOs on bikes (so there are Police officers around who could ride in with you). Maybe suggest a police cyclist (in plain cloths) rides in with you for a few days (which might encourage your children ?) and if they can accept there is an issue, maybe ride in a few more days with a uniformed officer round the corner stopping inconsiderate drivers and giving them a strict talking to. I would suspect word will get around.
It would be interesting to see how a Police force reacts to such a proposal as it would be very different from "here is a video and you can prosecute the driver ...". I would hope that as it is a community issue, as it is a school route and young children are being impacted, as there would be no expensive time consuming court appearances, etc. then there might be a higher chance of them acting.
Maybe discuss with you Parish Council or some other community groups to get their support. Maybe even discuss with the school and see if they would support you - it all puts a bit more pressure on the Police to do something.
And, although I have no appreciation as to how children's minds work, often with adults, that something is being done can help alleviate concerns.
Ian