Post by DontDentMyCar on Jan 23, 2014 18:46:46 GMT -5
Okay regarding driving around New York City schools.
There are during pickup and drop-off mini traffic jambs around our schools. While there's a good and bad regarding this situation almost everyone can agree that having children get out of vehicles when it's parked in the street isn't a good idea, especially when they sometimes get out on the traffic side of the vehicle, let alone having to walk between parked vehicles to get on the sidewalk. But, all the double parked vehicle can result in slower street traffic, so that's good, except that getting past all those double parked vehicles results in very close passes.
So this is what I wish:
1) I wish there was ample room for parents to safely pull up to a school and drop of their children without being close to regular street traffic.
2) I wish that school buses had a specially marked curb side area (in school bus yellow on the pavement) that would prevent busses from having to double park and allow for easy loading/unloading of students, because they can be the worse vehicle to have to try to pass if double parked, and driving a bus close to parked cars isn't exactly safe which was proven by the injury of a 6 year old from PS 372 in 2010 who was run over by a school bus.
3) That teachers have ample parking available so as not to fill up available parking spaces away from parents who may need them for their pickups/drop-offs. This means on-site, under building parking structure. Why schools seem to be exempt from parking requirements is beyond me… that is, who would allow a school to ever ignore zoning and code requirements, thus allowing them to break the law. It is outrageous!
4) That school zones were clearly marked directly on the road by a permanent material like cobble stones so as to not ever wear out (essentially) thus warning drivers no matter what part of the city they are in to slow down to 20 mph, and have this reinforced with red flashing speed limit 'school zone lights' as is readily used in even small towns and villages. There's no excuse for NYC not to have these signs no matter how many schools there are. The problem here in a dense city is that a school building isn't always easy to spot architecturally and therefore one can proceed past a school at speed without ever knowing they were driving past a school. That is just crazy because we all know how children will act when getting out of school.
5) There should be ample space for parents to get their children out of their vehicles without being double parked.
6) There should be ample and clear cross-walks around schools to help warn drivers to the presence of children. This means not allowing vehicles to park 30 feet next to a cross-walk on both sides… yes the city will have to sacrifice some parking.
None of this should be interpreted as encouraging driving versus the use of school buses, walking or riding a bike.
this is a start...
There are during pickup and drop-off mini traffic jambs around our schools. While there's a good and bad regarding this situation almost everyone can agree that having children get out of vehicles when it's parked in the street isn't a good idea, especially when they sometimes get out on the traffic side of the vehicle, let alone having to walk between parked vehicles to get on the sidewalk. But, all the double parked vehicle can result in slower street traffic, so that's good, except that getting past all those double parked vehicles results in very close passes.
So this is what I wish:
1) I wish there was ample room for parents to safely pull up to a school and drop of their children without being close to regular street traffic.
2) I wish that school buses had a specially marked curb side area (in school bus yellow on the pavement) that would prevent busses from having to double park and allow for easy loading/unloading of students, because they can be the worse vehicle to have to try to pass if double parked, and driving a bus close to parked cars isn't exactly safe which was proven by the injury of a 6 year old from PS 372 in 2010 who was run over by a school bus.
3) That teachers have ample parking available so as not to fill up available parking spaces away from parents who may need them for their pickups/drop-offs. This means on-site, under building parking structure. Why schools seem to be exempt from parking requirements is beyond me… that is, who would allow a school to ever ignore zoning and code requirements, thus allowing them to break the law. It is outrageous!
4) That school zones were clearly marked directly on the road by a permanent material like cobble stones so as to not ever wear out (essentially) thus warning drivers no matter what part of the city they are in to slow down to 20 mph, and have this reinforced with red flashing speed limit 'school zone lights' as is readily used in even small towns and villages. There's no excuse for NYC not to have these signs no matter how many schools there are. The problem here in a dense city is that a school building isn't always easy to spot architecturally and therefore one can proceed past a school at speed without ever knowing they were driving past a school. That is just crazy because we all know how children will act when getting out of school.
5) There should be ample space for parents to get their children out of their vehicles without being double parked.
6) There should be ample and clear cross-walks around schools to help warn drivers to the presence of children. This means not allowing vehicles to park 30 feet next to a cross-walk on both sides… yes the city will have to sacrifice some parking.
None of this should be interpreted as encouraging driving versus the use of school buses, walking or riding a bike.
this is a start...