Parental Advisory Warning!

This week, a very disturbing thing happened in our city. According to reports, several children pushing a grocery cart in and out of traffic on a busy street appear to have caused a major wreck that caused not only physical harm to those in the vehicles involved, but damage to the cars themselves and the property in the area.

There are people locally who would have you believe that the children were simply doing a good deed, attempting to return a shopping cart to the store it was taken from, and that they should not be blamed in this accident as the area is transitioning from rural to retail.

Apparently, it is now customary for pedestrians to walk in the street itself instead of using the sidewalks designated for foot traffic. It would also appear that shopping carts provided by businesses are also meant to be used as a means of transporting one’s purchases from the store, to one’s home or pick up point for a ride.

When I was a child, I wasn’t allowed to walk in the street for ANY reason. I also understood that shopping carts were to remain on the businesses property that provided them.

As a parent, I teach my children the correct way to cross a street and the importance of being careful as to not only keep yourself safe, but to ensure the safety and well-being of others.

My parents took the time to teach me the correct way to walk down the street and how to look both ways before crossing that street. I also was taught that it was polite to return your shopping cart to either the designated shopping cart stall, or to the store front for another shopper to use.

I knew that if I wanted to cross a street, that I should do so at the corner/end of it and not the middle of that street. I was taught that although pedestrians had the right of way legally, that I should take care to cross where oncoming traffic could see me which involved crossing at the end of the streets and not in the middle or at my convenience or whim.

I understood that cars were bigger than I was and that I could get hurt if I was hit by one. I also understood that I might cause injury to others if I didn’t follow these rules. I was taught and understood that my actions had consequences. I understood that it was my choice that determined whether these consequences were good or bad. My actions could affect those around me and their well-being as well.

What I do not understand is why, in today’s society, people do not seem to understand this anymore. Today, on the way back from dropping off my son at camp, I observed a group of adults pushing a stroller down the oncoming lane of traffic on a major and very busy street.

What if that car in the oncoming lane crossed the center line of the street? There were other cars in front of and behind us. I would have the choice of trying to avoid the impact with that car head on, slamming on my brakes and risking getting rear ended and not being able to control where my car went after the impact, or swerving into the only available space which was currently occupied by the family walking in the street, occupying part of the lane I was in. None of those choices seem like good ones to me.

Anytime that I take my children out for a stroll, I make it a point to plan my route around the placement of sidewalks. If there aren’t any, I make certain that the route I plan on taking doesn’t include busy high traffic streets. I know and understand how hard it would be for someone to try and miss hitting me and my stroller in the event of an accident.

I also know that my stroller is very large and very cumbersome and heavy and is not conducive to sudden movement and would be next to impossible to maneuver out of the way of a speeding car or an accident in time to avoid injury to my children. I understand that it is my responsibility to take care of myself and my children, and that my actions could very well affect others and the environment around me. This makes me cautious of my actions, even if it’s something as simple as a quick walk to the park.

I really wanted to stop and ask these people (seriously) what was wrong with the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Aren’t they worried that someone might accidentally drive to close to them and hit one of the children that were toddling along beside that stroller? Why don’t they realize how dangerous walking in the street can be?

As a child, I remember walking to the park with my Granddaddy and being made to walk on the inside of the sidewalk, the part furthest away from the traffic just in case someone ran up on the sidewalk while driving down the street. I always thought that he was being overprotective of me, but after seeing all of the accidents lately, I am so very grateful that he cared enough about my safety to make me do that.

Further down the same street, I observed a lady using the middle turn lane as opposed to the sidewalk. She was literally walking at her leisure, down the center of the street. This was on a busy street right in front of the mall, too. She reminded me of the children and that shopping cart for some reason.

I passed one of the busy bus stops along my route home and noticed that there were several shopping carts abandoned around it. These carts were from businesses that are blocks away from this particular stop, too. I had always been under the impression that the carts weren’t supposed to be taken off of the property of the business providing them. After all, that is what the signs posted in the parking lots say.

If adults today don’t find anything wrong with walking in the street as opposed to the sidewalk, what are our children going to think? What sort of example is being set by a parent removing a shopping cart from a parking lot that has specifically posted that it is illegal to do so?

Even my twelve year old knows that the shopping carts should be returned to the store or put into the bins in the parking lot allocated for them. He always walks the cart back to the correct place to return it after we load the car with our purchases. He is always courteous and respectful of the traffic in the parking lot while doing so, and takes care to look both ways and is mindful of his surroundings.

Rules are the foundation of a successful society. Children learn the rules that we teach them. What we don’t show them is typically learned through example and from supposed role models that they observe in the community around them. If the adults cannot follow rules, then how can we expect our children to do the same?

What sort of example are we setting for them? Wrecks are being caused by people failing to utilize something as simple as the sidewalk. I understand that in some places there aren’t sidewalks, but in the areas where sidewalks are present, we should USE THEM and often!

They really are there for a reason. Sidewalks are not there for us to learn to ride our bikes as children, or play with our toy cars or wagons in front of our houses. They are there so that we do not have to walk in the traffic and potentially cause accidents and harm to ourselves and to others.

People are going to the hospital with serious injuries because today’s society has forgotten the importance of using a sidewalk correctly and the fact that walking in a busy street is dangerous. Not only are our drivers at risk, but our children as well.

Rules that we are taught as children are a foundation that is set by our parents so that we grow up to be good, law abiding citizens. How can we expect our children to survive in a place where rules mean nothing?

How can we, as a people, expect our society to survive if, as we grow up, rules become synonymous with the law and nobody feels a need to abide by that law anymore? If following general rules becomes obsolete, how long before basic law is phased out as well?
Let’s stop and remember that even the simplest rules can be very important in keeping our children safe. Teach them the importance of using the sidewalk and how to safely cross a busy street. Lead by example. Remember that the future of our society depends on our children and the rules that they are taught to follow and learn to acknowledge as important