WTF parents.

[progressoid]

I have a job to do at an elementary school but I have to wait for end of the school day.

So here I sit in my 11 year old car waching new SUV after SUV pull up and wait to pick up thier kids. they've been here for 10 minutes and almost all of them have their engines on. School doesn't end for another 20 minutes! It's 68 degrees outside! Roll down your tinted windows and shut off the car!

grrr

OK, rant off. Back to work.

[RiffRandell]

1. Do you live near me?

My kids take the bus, but if I get caught in the line of minivans and SUVs (hey I drive a Ford Escape Hybrid) coming home from running errands I get so pissed. I usually run my errands early just because of it.

I've seen women balancing their checkbooks waiting in line....the school is abut 2 minutes from my house.

It's worse in the morning because people are trying to get to work and I've been having to bring my son in early to a different school (he's in middle) for extra help in algebra 3 days a week and it drives me crazy because I get caught in the traffic of the last minute parents dropping of their kids right before the bell rings.

I'm glad my kids like riding the bus. I'm sorry for you....hell, it's been in the mid-70's here and I have the windows rolled down in my car.

[progressoid]

7. A hybrid?!?

You one of them hippie tree huggers?

[RiffRandell]

13. My husband drives one too.

A Ford Fusion....tree-hugger yes, hippie no...although I have started listening to the Dead recently....just a few songs.

[orleans]

2. go to a board meeting & say you want the school to adopt a "no idling zone" policy for

pick-up and drop-off; tell them it will be great for the environment & a good example to set for the kids.

the rules could include if the temperature is between ___ and ___ they cannot sit there and let the car run. you could even have 5th or 6th grade monitors who take down license plate numbers, and the drivers can be ticketed or fined a small amount, and their plate numbers appear in the school newsletter!!!

[progressoid]

5. That's a good idea.

Alas, this isn't my town, or even my state. I'm just working here for a couple days. This is a pretty red area (South Dakota), I doubt they would even consider it.

[In_The_Wind]

3. In some states there is an anti-idle law. Perhaps that exist where you are.

[progressoid]

6. Yeah, I just told orleans ^^^ that this is South Dakota.

That's crazy talk around here. I saw a billboard that said something like, "eat meat, wear fur, keep your guns".

Turning off our car to save gas sounds like latte sippin' liberal talk.

[csziggy]

4. How about the parents that don't slow down for the school zone?

The rural road out to where I live is 45 mph except for the school zones - one small private school and a public middle school. Every time I am driving home in the afternoon around school release time, I am almost rear ended when I slow down for the school zones. About half the cars that don't want to slow down turn into one or another of the schools.

This bugs me - First, don't they care about the safety of the kids - theirs and the kids that walk to and from school? Second, they should SLOW DOWN in general! The entire road is only fifteen miles long and most of these people are not driving even half the length. A lot of these people are driving 60 mph - that only "saves" them a few minutes if they were driving the entire road. It's a lovely canopy road, why not lower their blood pressure, slow down and enjoy the area? Why do they live out this way if they don't want to appreciate it?

And you are right - many of these people are driving SUVs. So they should slow down to conserve gas!

[progressoid]

8. Yep.

We don't live in a school zone but the city had to put up signs in our neighborhood after a school bus was rear ended by someone speeding about 50 feet from out house. Luckily nobody was hurt. could have been much worse if kids were getting off the bus.

[csziggy]

9. OMG - how do you rear end a school bus?!

They're bright yellow and - ummm - the size of a fucking BUS! That's just nuts!

Thank goodness no one was hurt.

I'm kind of mean about our 45 mph road - 99% of the time I set my cruise control right at 45 and ignore all the people who pile up behind me. There is only one place to pass between where I turn onto it and where it gets into town proper. You'd be amazed at how pissed people get.

It's under ten miles from where I get on that road to town. At 45 mph it takes 15 minutes. At 60 it takes 10 minutes. For 5 minutes, people are willing to endanger themselves and everyone else on the road. What's really fun are the people who pass me in the one place with a passing zone who are sitting at the traffic light in town when I get there. I like to wave at them and smile.

[AwakeAtLast]

10. You won't believe this

but the state of Indiana has a "No Idle" rule. A car cannot keep their engine running within a certain distance from a school.

On edit: That's what I get for not reading all the replies.

[U4ikLefty]

11. I used to work as a math tutor in my 20's at an education center & picked up kids for extra money.

After about a month doing this job, I told my boss "no way!" I needed the money, but I was going to get an ulcer if I continued to drive around that madness.

[kath]

12. I've often wondered how much pollution and wasted gasoline result from drive through lanes

At fast food restaurants.

And given the obesity rate in this country, people would benefit from getting up off their butts and expending a few extra calories by walking into the place.