Harold Scruby is a name I've come to know and loath in recent times. He is the Chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia and it seems if he had his way speed limits would be reduced so much that it would be quicker to walk.

The Mosman Daily ran a story about a toddler running into the street outside a cafe at Balmoral and being hit by a 4WD. It wasn't a call for better care of children, safety around roadside cafes or even a call for more sensible motor vehicles in urban areas.

No, it was a call for lower speed limits. Apparently reckless children prefer to be hit at 40Kph rather than 50Kph.

In the same issue is a story about a young girl being struck by a car whilst trying to retrieve her dropped chips on Military Rd outside McDonalds at 2:50am.

I wrote a response and have already been informed it is to be printed. THought I would share it with you guys first:

 

I think the sarcasm and wit will wash off over his feeble mind.

 

If everyone drove around doing 30-40km/h I would be more inclined to try to play frogger with traffic as it is safer/easier to do so. I would dare not do it on a 80km/h+ road and would have a hightened sense of alertness at the same time.

 

Good point Robert.

Aus, I was reading your post and after I got to "4WD" I was expecting to see some typical backlash against 4WD owners again, kind of suprised it was not mentioned.

I agree with Blackie, I think your Pommie sarcastic humour will wash over most people.

 

LOL, a friend's response: "The bitterness is strong in this one".

Everyone knows you need a 4WD in Mosman. To get over all Harold's speed humps.

 

kids will be kids , looking out for motor vehicles is not one of their priorities . So calling them reckless is abit harsh .Try babysitting some 2-5 yr olds for an afternoon, you'll know what i mean . Sure you can say the parents are to blame, but i dont think anyone would intentionally put their children in harms way .

As for the speed limit being dropped from 50kms/hr to 40kms/hr, the reason is that if you get hit at 40kms you are more likely to survive than at 50kms . RTA have all the stats on this .

 

You're even more likely to survive an impact at 5kph. But I don't see you driving that slow.

 

Lowering the speed limit to 40kph is not going to help the matter. It's like enforcing power restrictions on p-platers. They are still gonna crash if they're a d!ckhead. Doesn't matter whether they're in a Corolla or a V8 Commodore. The unfortunate fact of the matter is, it is much easier to pass bills on stricter laws than it is to educate and change behaviour.

 

Kids will be roadkill if parents let them run wild by roads.

My issue here is not that 'kids get what's coming to them' it's that every time there is an issue the call goes out to lower limits. Yet the incidents still keep on happening.

Perhaps councils should reconsider granting footpath dining by busy roads. Or fencing.

Or perhaps parents should not have children at footpath cafes. I mean, kids will be kids right.

Nah, just lower the speed limit.

According to the report the driver didn't even know the kids was there until she heard the thud. And it was only a CRV. Had it been a Prado or something I expect the driver would have mistaken the kid for yet another speed hump and kept driving.

 

BTW, I think the reason this resonates with me is that I was very nearly in a similar situation many years ago. I was driving my Datsun Fairlady along a road marked 60Kph between two playing fields. There were cars parked on either side of the road and people about so I was going quite slowly (probably about 40kph).

Suddenly a kid in a nappy ran out in front of me from between two parked cars. I hit the brakes and narrowly avoided hitting it.

I pulled over as I was extremely shaken. I got out and found the child clinging tightly to it's mothers leg and I expect badly in need of a fresh diaper. I told the mother what very nearly happened and watched her physically crumple. I think she'll take a tad more care of junior in future.