School run and run...

In this Sunday's Observer Phil Hogan's column concerned itself with the school run:

"Car trouble"

"The school run certainly causes grid lock for motorists, but why blame it on the parents?"

"[...] As for cycling to school, calculations by amateur mathematicians reveal that, given the
average family size, a million school-run cars will translate into 2.3m junior Raleighs wobbling all
over the place, transforming peaceful market towns into Tiananmen Square twice a day. The grown-up
ones on bikes are bad enough (don't they know how busy the roads are at this time in the morning?),
expecting you to have eyes in the back of your head as they come up on the inside or outside (or
perhaps over the top - who knows where they are!) when you're busy second guessing whether the
cheery old lollipop man is about to step out and send us through the windscreen. "

Full column at:

<URL:http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1050868,00.ht
ml>

Colin

Colin Blackburn wrote:
> In this Sunday's Observer Phil Hogan's column concerned itself with the school run:
>
> "Car trouble"
>
> "The school run certainly causes grid lock for motorists, but why blame it on the parents?"
>
> "[...] As for cycling to school, calculations by amateur mathematicians reveal that, given the
> average family size, a million school-run cars will translate into 2.3m junior Raleighs wobbling
> all over the place, transforming peaceful market towns into Tiananmen Square twice a day. The
> grown-up ones on bikes are bad enough (don't they know how busy the roads are at this time in the
> morning?), expecting you to have eyes in the back of your head as they come up on the inside or
> outside (or perhaps over the top - who knows where they are!) when you're busy second guessing
> whether the cheery old lollipop man is about to step out and send us through the windscreen. "
>
> Full column at:
>
> <URL:http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1050868,00.ht
> ml>
>
> Colin

without bothering to read the article, do the writers take into account the lack of cars in the mely
of the town squares heaving with kids on bikes.

--
Pete

interchange 12 for 21 to reply

It's the male version of Polly Filler from Private Eye....

They say life imitates art but it's sort of sad when a writer sounds that much like a parody...

"Colin Blackburn" <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:MPG.19e21498cc95ba25989ce9@localhost...
> In this Sunday's Observer Phil Hogan's column concerned itself with the school run:
>
> "Car trouble"
>
> "The school run certainly causes grid lock for motorists, but why blame it on the parents?"
>
> "[...] As for cycling to school, calculations by amateur mathematicians reveal that, given the
> average family size, a million school-run cars will translate into 2.3m junior Raleighs wobbling
> all over the place, transforming peaceful market towns into Tiananmen Square twice a day. The
> grown-up ones on bikes are bad enough (don't they know how busy the roads are at this time in the
> morning?), expecting you to have eyes in the back of your head as they come up on the inside or
> outside (or perhaps over the top - who knows where they are!) when you're busy second guessing
> whether the cheery old lollipop man is about to step out and send us through the windscreen. "
>
> Full column at:
>
> <URL:http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1050868,00.ht
> ml>
>
> Colin

Colin Blackburn <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:<MPG.19e21498cc95ba25989ce9@localhost>...
> In this Sunday's Observer Phil Hogan's column concerned itself with the school run:
>
> "Car trouble"
>
> "The school run certainly causes grid lock for motorists, but why blame it on the parents?"
> amateur arithmatic snipped , expecting you to have eyes in the back of your head as they come up
> on the inside or outside (or perhaps over the top - who knows where they are!)
.... or perhaps expecting drivers to look in their mirrors ....
> and send us through the windscreen. " ........ or perhaps anticipate the need to brake and slow
> down early..... Full column at:
>
> <URL:http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1050868,00.ht
> ml>
>
> Colin

In article <3F783737.7030602@talk12.com>, pete.whelan@talk12.com says...

> without bothering to read the article, do the writers take into account the lack of cars in the
> mely of the town squares heaving with kids on bikes.

To be honest Phil Hogan's columns could be described as containing humour. However, as it is humour
based on his own family life I assume there is a grain of personal truth in it and that he is as
clueless as many when it comes to these issues.

Colin

"Pete Whelan" <pete.whelan@talk12.com> wrote in message news:3F783737.7030602@talk12.com...
> >
> > Full column at:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magaz...050868,00.html

> without bothering to read the article, do the writers take into account the lack of cars in the
> mely of the town squares heaving with kids on
bikes.

I skimmed it. Mostly Bollox [tm] but the last couple of sentences made some since -- "This isn't
1958. If it were, we'd all be catching the bus. Now there's a crazy idea."

So in a Hoganesque eutopia some children will catch buses (what are they?) -- which will reduce his
2.3M wobbling Raleigh's.

Presumably some will walk and some will (still) be driven.

So 2.3M children could break down into, say:

1.M pedestrians .5M cyclists .5M bus passengers .3M car passengers

(Don't hold me to the numbers -- for illustration only).

Hardly Tiananmen Square but one hell of a lot better than the current situation.

T

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 11:07:02 +0100, Colin Blackburn <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote:

>In this Sunday's Observer Phil Hogan's column concerned itself with the school run:
>
>"Car trouble"
>
>"The school run certainly causes grid lock for motorists, but why blame it on the parents?"
>
>"[...] As for cycling to school, calculations by amateur mathematicians reveal that, given the
>average family size, a million school-run cars will translate into 2.3m junior Raleighs wobbling
>all over the place, transforming peaceful market towns into Tiananmen Square twice a day. The
>grown-up ones on bikes are bad enough (don't they know how busy the

<SNIP>

There is a grain of truth in all this. I've just started riding with my 7 yr old to school. As the
roads are narrow, we can generate quite a queue behind us.

"[Not Responding]" <not_responding@dev.null.invalid> wrote in message
news:raponvo5243l6p7asonvv06iv6j5ecd3kc@4ax.com...

> >"The school run certainly causes grid lock for motorists, but why blame it on the parents?"

Undoubtedly we should blame it on the Government, along with everything else ;-)

> >"[...] As for cycling to school, calculations by amateur mathematicians reveal that, given the
> >average family size, a million school-run cars will translate into 2.3m junior Raleighs wobbling
> >all over the place, transforming peaceful market towns into Tiananmen Square twice a day. The
> >grown-up ones on bikes are bad enough (don't they know how busy the

> There is a grain of truth in all this. I've just started riding with my 7 yr old to school. As the
> roads are narrow, we can generate quite a queue behind us.

By the age of 8 my son was well past the wobbling stage, and those much below 7 will be on trailer
bikes or in trailers. Or tandems.

As usual with cagers defending their lifestyle choice this is an excuse based on prejudice, rather
than a valid reason.

--
Guy

My other .sig is amusing

[Not Responding] <not_responding@dev.null.invalid> wrote:

> >"The school run certainly causes grid lock for motorists, but why blame it on the parents?"
> >
> >"[...] As for cycling to school, calculations by amateur mathematicians reveal that, given the
> >average family size, a million school-run cars will translate into 2.3m junior Raleighs wobbling
> >all over the place, transforming peaceful market towns into Tiananmen Square twice a day. The
> >grown-up ones on bikes are bad enough (don't they know how busy the
>
> <SNIP>
>
> There is a grain of truth in all this. I've just started riding with my 7 yr old to school. As the
> roads are narrow, we can generate quite a queue behind us.
But if they are all heading to the same place ( school) for the same time ,then there shoudn't be
a problem.

--
Marc. Please note the above address is a spam trap, use marcc to reply Printing for clubs of all
types http://www.jaceeprint.demon.co.uk Stickers, banners & clothing, for clubs,teams, magazines
and dealers.

On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 11:13:08 +0100, marc@jaceeprint.demon.co.uk (marc) wrote:

>[Not Responding] <not_responding@dev.null.invalid> wrote:
>
>> >"The school run certainly causes grid lock for motorists, but why blame it on the parents?"
>> >
>> >"[...] As for cycling to school, calculations by amateur mathematicians reveal that, given the
>> >average family size, a million school-run cars will translate into 2.3m junior Raleighs wobbling
>> >all over the place, transforming peaceful market towns into Tiananmen Square twice a day. The
>> >grown-up ones on bikes are bad enough (don't they know how busy the
>>
>> <SNIP>
>>
>> There is a grain of truth in all this. I've just started riding with my 7 yr old to school. As
>> the roads are narrow, we can generate quite a queue behind us.
>But if they are all heading to the same place ( school) for the same time ,then there shoudn't be
>a problem.

Quite.

leaving aside that it is a non-issue because:
1 there is no absolute right not to have any other road user travel slower than you wish to travel.
2 it makes no difference to their journey time anyway since that is (almost always) determined by junction capacities.

it is still not a fair assumption that everyone in the queue is either going to the same destination nor want to arrive at the same time

best wishes
james

__________________
best wishes
james