Monday 9 July 2012

Buggies


Buggies. Some parents live by them, some detest them. I am the latter. I cannot bloody stand them! The second that the boy could walk more than four steps without falling flat on his face the buggy was put into retirement. Luckily for us he embraced this and like me, he is extremely stubborn. Even on the rare occasions it was offered he would insist on walking. If I was in a rush, he would be carried. Why don't I like them? Well, they take up so much room, they cost so goddamn much and when I wasn't using them they just annoyed me everywhere I went. They cluttered aisles in supermarkets while other mums chatted, they blocked my desired route while in shops and people seemed totally incapable of not driving them into my ankles everywhere I went. Don't even get me started with them on buses and trains or I will explode. From an ambulance perspective loading a mum and her 'ill' child onto an ambulance, complete with the bags, the other kids and a double buggy is a pain in the arse to say the least. OK, OK, they are a necessity but that doesn't mean I have to like them. The reason I am writing this blog though is one of safety and sheer stupidity. I see it every single day at work, I see it every day driving my car and if you haven't seen it you are clearly living in an area which isn't home to muppets!

"RTC Car vs Pedestrian, 2 year old male, injuries unknown"

Those words give a sinking feeling every single time. It is the sinking feeling of fear. A weird fear but a fear all the same. Obviously fear is usually associated with something that makes you jump; a moment of tension in a film or a phobia. It isn't that we don't know what to do, it isn't that we don't feel able to do what we need to do, nor is it the fear of working in front of a crowd; it is the fear of seeing a dead child. A dead child that will make me think of my son. A dead child in front of their mother. That is the fear. Each drive to these jobs is subdued; you are hoping it isn't as given, you are hoping a passer by has got it wrong, you are hoping you are cancelled 'No longer required'. We were not cancelled, instead we struggled to barge our way though the traffic caused by the RTC. As per usual with these type of jobs, it occurred on a pedestrian crossing on a busy high street with a high foot fall. We were first on scene and my heart sank as we ground to a halt. Lying in the middle of the road was a push chair. A contorted push chair. Contorted by the impact with the Land Rover sat at a 45 degree angle on the crossing with its hazard lights flashing. The usual sea of frantic waves greeted us but from where we stopped, all I could see was the pushchair.

I grabbed the bags, my crew mate grabbed the collars and a blanket and I tentatively made my way around the car. Lying on the floor was the little boy. He was wearing the same Thomas the tank engine t-shirt that my boy wears. At his head, kneeling on the floor was an off duty policewoman keeping his head still. At his side was his mother, crying and holding his hand. Surrounding them all was a 50 strong crowd, camera phones at the ready. This morbid practice has become customary every time there are blue lights in the vicinity. Could this be the next viral YouTube video, could it be the next malpractice story the Daily Mail would sink their teeth into? I just try to ignore it. I made my way over to the boy. His eyes were open. That was a good start! To cut a long story short, we checked him over from head to toe. Apart from dirty clothes and a small graze on one of his hands he was injury free. Thank god for kids being bouncy. We took the usual precautions but I was happy that he was going to be just fine. Now, what happened?

It didn't take long to establish the facts. The mum had walked up to the pedestrian crossing and pressed the button. Remember 'Stop Look and Listen'? This time she had! She had approached and waited until it was her time to cross at the edge of the pavement. The problem was, she was pushing the buggy and whereas she was on the pavement, the buggy was half in the road. The car, driven by another mum with her child onboard the Chelsea tractor (that's a rant for another day), had not been concentrating and had continued to drive in a straight line and failed to see the buggy in the road. Bang! Land Rover + Maxi Cosi buggy = Contorted mess + flying child. 

What... the hell... was she thinking?! Why do people do it?! It is your child, don't push them into oncoming traffic! Seriously! Like I say, it is not uncommon either! EVERY SINGLE DAY!! Walk down a high street, any high street and look at just how many buggies are edging out into the road! I have taken to stopping and ranting when I see it.  Most sheepishly reverse, some flip me the bird and some tell me to Foxtrot Oscar, but why take the risk?! Every time I see it, my hatred for them increases. Obviously, I am being completely unreasonable in my hatred for an essential item but that's just me! I see things at work that cloud my judgment and make me see red! Have you seen this happen?! Is it just me?! Do you hate buggies too?! Maybe it isn't the buggies, maybe it's the muppet in control of them but it is easier just to blame the buggy and be done with it!

23 comments:

  1. As a buggy-using mummy (my little one is only 10 months) - this drives me mad too! I wait at pedestrian crossings until the cars on either side have actually stopped. No way I'm pushing my little girl into the road on blind faith - you can never really predict how another road user to react.

    Just to add to your rant, I hate it when mums cross the road with their kids (with or without buggies) about 50 yards from a pedestrian crossing. I mean, is it really worth it?

    Loving the blog by the way, I'm a relatively new follower but I love to hear what you have to say :)

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    1. Thank you very much! I love new readers!

      Yep! Sets a bad example! Have a read of my Parenting 101 Stop Look and Listen! Never worth the risk!

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    2. As MissusGall said above - why wait four times as long by the side of the road than it would take to walk to the crossing, cross, then walk back to level with where you were? I've even seen people do this at a Zebra crossing, where you don't even have to wait for lights!
      I remember my Green Cross Code - "FIRST find a safe place to cross...." !
      What sort of example does it teach the kids, and even worse, I suspect drivers will be concentrating LESS if they've just been stopped at a crossing... Sorry - long one, but it annoys me!

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  2. I think maybe buggy 'drivers' should have to take a test! We had to swerve out of the way the other day when someone approached the edge of a pavement and stuck the buggy's front wheels a foot over the edge! So careless. Think, people!

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  3. Its not just buggies however! Its bloody mobility scooters too- and as this seems to be mainly lazy morbidly obese twerps.
    They kerb hang and then claim compensation when they get hit! Arseholes!!

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    1. I think maybe I need to do a post on mobility scooters!

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  4. I too have seen this, in utter disbelief. How can any responsible adult be so stupid. I've seen this happen on a blind corner near our dwelling, the child/buggy is half way across the road with mum craning her neck over the prone buggy to see if its safe?! Its beyond comprehension. Great blog Ella.

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    1. Thank you! I just have no way of understanding the way these peoples minds work!

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  5. I completely and utterly agree with you. It infuriates me that people push their most precious possesion out into oncoming traffic! You wouldn't stand there so why are you putting your little defenceless BABY there??! Grrr. x

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    1. Very true! Thanks for the comment! :-) x

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  6. I'm with you, a fellow buggy hater with an irrational fear of using them. I remember wheeling my newborn son around the streets for the first time and thinking it was a massive design flaw that we push our precious children ahead of us so they come into harm's way before us. Seems crazy, doesn't it! Of course I use one when I need to, but I piss everyone off by insisting on it being parralel to the road when I stop to cross at the lights. I have this fear that the brake will come off and it will go flying into the road, or that a car will mount the kerb and plough over it. God, reading this back, I think I may need help, I clearly have ishoos ;-)

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    1. Go team bugger hater!! Your ishoos are perfectly rational!

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  7. You don't have ishoos bluebirdsunshine, I do the exact same thing! :)

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    1. I don't have children, but the sheer stupidity and carelessness of these parents makes my blood boil, having been to a few of these now, including one where the mother was pushing her child out into the road from between two parked cars, one of which had its reversing lights on. Mum then wonders why said car reversed into the buggy, because he couldn't see it! It is jaywalking by proxy and should be an offence.

      Also, whilst we're ranting about things with wheels that bash into ankles... wheeled suitcases! Grr!

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    2. The ankles really winds me up! Every bloody time!!

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  8. This issue has always made me scratch my head in wonder. Why on earth anyone pushes their most precious cargo into the road first I do not know. I don't trust other road users when I am in a car nevermind when I'm a pedestrian - add to that my son in tow and my risk taking is nil. It's not worth it, accidents take but a split second but can cause a lifetime of pain and anguish. I have only recently discovered your blog but each post gives me something to think about.

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    1. It doesn't make any sense does it?! I just don't understand the mindlessness of it!

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  9. One thing I hate to see is people put the brake on pram/buggy and let go to rummage in a bag, brakes fail people!

    I always stood back and never let go of the handle, its not worth the risk. Sadly these people are the ones that shout loudest and point the finger of blame at the person who did no wrong!

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  10. I've had this exact same rant more times than I can count. One time while visiting a friend in a foreign, very cold, country I was amazed to see her push her 8 month old child's buggy straight out onto the road with a car coming at them both. When I questioned it she said "Oh it's ok, cos we had right of way there." I pointed out that right of way meant nothing when the roads were icy and the driver might not be able to stop even if they tried and she looked at me in total amazement and then said "Well I never really thought about it like that before."
    O.M.G!!!!

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  11. Another great post, I agree about the need for a parenting test/buggy test to make sure people having kids aren't idiots. I've seen so many mums nattering to their mates next to them, or on the mobile, push buggies into the road as if cars will stop because of some magic power. I always used to hold the pram back with my little girl while I checked it was safe to cross or used a crossing and waited for the green man. Now she's bigger she gets to press the button but we still wait and I've taught her to look both ways and at crossings to wait until the cars have stopped in both lanes. Twice we've had to step back quick, in the last 2 years, because some tool wasn't looking at the lights, the second one did and emergency stop and apologised the first just carried on through saying 'sorry' out of the window as if that would have helped had we not moved!

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  12. I think this is a brilliant post. As a pedestrian buggy user I always wait it lights to cross with our wheels pointed away from the road until it's safe to move. if it's a restricted view of the road then I walk out and drag said buggy behind me. Had an absolute melt down with a woman who had her TWIN buggy with all 4 wheels in the bus lane while she stood safe and sound waiting on the green man! I have had one close call though when halfway across a zebra crossing an ambulance went straight through missing my daughter by about 2ft. I assume they where not on emergency call as not speeding and no lights and music, just didn't see us!! (this was 7.30am in November with me and buggy all dark colours have fixed that now!)

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