… but more specifically, those parents who use the ‘Kiss & Drop’ lane at my local school. I have seen some questionable and incredibly unsafe driving practices there lately. Despite being a patient and even-tempered driver, I have found myself tested to the limits of late!
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Just a few observations:
1. The actual name of this practice – Kiss & Drop – should be the first clue for all users. You kiss your child goodbye and drop them safely at the kerb in a safe and timely manner. It does NOT mean ‘Get out of the car, smooth down child’s hair, straighten their uniform and then stroll slowly to the school gate with said child before kissing them goodbye.’
2. Kids are of school age now so that means that they are perfectly capable of exiting the car BY THEMSELVES. This is not asking too much of them. Kids can use computers better than many adults so surely they can manage to exit a stationary vehicle on their own. Then it’s simply a matter for them to reach in and grab their bag, say goodbye and close the door. See? Done and dusted.
3. Queue in an orderly fashion, one car behind the other. Believe it or not, there is a system trying to work here. Don’t be tempted to push in two cars ahead when you ‘think’ you see a space. This is the equivalent of changing lanes several times on the freeway. Gets you nowhere. The only time you’ll save will be negligible and you’ll end up with the arse-end of your car sticking out into traffic (creating more issues for the rest of us) because that space you thought you saw? Wasn’t actually a space.
4. Kiss & Drop is NOT the place for an extended chat with other parents. I love a chat just as much as the next person, but believe me, there are far better venues available to do this i.e the nearest quality cafe. Plus these have the benefit of serving actual coffee to drink and comfy chairs to recline in while you’re chatting so why wouldn’t you rather go there? Just sayin’.
5. Please, for the love of God, do NOT attempt to chuck a U-turn from the Kiss & Drop Bay. Seriously, this is like playing russian roulette with real bullets. I saw one woman try this manoeuvre the other day and whilst in the midst of her 5 point turn, she nearly took out three people crossing the road. Scary stuff.
6. Once you’ve dropped your kids at the kerb, whack that indicator on and drive! Don’t be a Slow Coach! There will be at least five other cars waiting for your space, so to keep things running smoothly move away from the kerb promptly. That moment is not the time to send that text or check your Facebook account. Slow Coaches create chaos because other drivers will retaliate by jumping the queue – in protest – which defeats the whole purpose of using it in the first place, right? See Point 3, above.
And these are just the ones I thought of. I bet there are a whole stack of others out there. So tell me… what are YOUR experiences of using Kiss & Drop? Share your stories here!
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