The Monday Roundup: Arrested for parenting, red lights for speeders & more

Jim Howe being handcuffed after deciding to make an
issue of his inability to pick up his kids on foot.
(YouTube screen capture by Howe Motorsports)

Here’s the bike-related news from around the world that caught our eyes this week:

Parent arrested: A Tennessee dad was arrested this month after being told he couldn’t pick up his children from school on foot; he had to wait in the line of cars with everyone else. For some reason, this upset him.

Red lights for speeders: If you’re speeding on this Philadelphia road (and almost everyone is) you’ll activate a red light up ahead.

Ride info on your glasses: “Strava for Glass makes it easy to track your rides, visualize your progress, and challenge your friends,” says Google, “all while keeping your hands on the handlebars.” It’s one of the first five apps for Google Glass.

Cars as prosthetics: A man walking across the world for National Geographic contrasts the “spacially crippling” effects of “Car Brain” with the experience of walking and its “natural, limbic connections that reach back to the basement of time.”

Fitness warning: “We are under-exercised as a nation. We look, instead of play. We ride, instead of walk. Our existence deprives us of the minimum of physical activity essential for healthy living.” That’s John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Bad traffic predictions: Private toll roads are in a slump around the country as projected traffic never shows up. (WSJ paywall)

Washington transportation priorities: Though the state’s new transportation bill is CRC-free, in general it’s the exact opposite of what people want.

NYC’s principles: The country’s most progressive transportation agency lays out five rules that guide its work.

Person-protected lanes: This cleverly protected bike lane in NYC, which has since been removed, doubled as public seating.

Oakland backpedals: Oakland has removed an NYC-style car-free plaza after its planning director, citing objections from “property owners and businesses,” said it had failed to attract people. Asked for data, she said she had none. A manager for the downtown association said a few businesses opposed the plaza but most liked it.

Gentrification and inequality: “Gentrification debates will go nowhere as long as they ignore capitalism,” writes Bill Lindeke in a piece reflecting on how to improve cities when investments like sidewalks are seen as a step toward displacement. “Gentrification is our word for how money controls our cities.”

Toronto mayor: Crack-smoking Rob Ford, brought to you by suburban perceptions of a “war on cars.”

Grim suburban future: “At best, suburbanites take a huge hit on depreciating houses; at worst, they’re stranded in decaying neighborhoods,” speculates Chicago Magazine in a nicely written piece that tries to explain some suburbanites’ fury about bike transportation. Added bonus: the photo captures an emotion on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s face that scientists have described as something akin to happiness.

Illegal parade: A former Portlander who dared to approach a Minneapolis police car on his bicycle and tell them that they’d turned in front of him at an earlier intersection says the officers charged him with “unlawful parading,” a moving violation, because he’d pedaled into the intersection on a green light.

Get off my lane: With some California authorities misapplying the state law that requires bikes to ride as far to the right “as practicable,” there’s a new push to repeal the “FTR” law.

Hope for Los Angeles: One good thing about our second-most-car-dependent city is that its obvious failure to move its people efficiently is inspiring interest in other ways to do so.

More distracted driving: As many predicted when we learned that traffic deaths increased for the first time in years, distracted driving is climbing fast — distracted-driving-related deaths of people on bikes are up 30 percent in five years. For people on foot, it’s up 50 percent.

Tall bike tale: Unfortunately for the Internet, this story about a New Orleans tallbiker getting tangled in power lines is satire.

Decentralized bikesharing: Social Bicycle’s free-floating, stationless bikesharing could bring outlying neighborhoods more of a good thing.

Let bikes ignore reds: That’s the most interesting of eight “radical” ideas for improving UK bike safety.

Biking language: The word “cyclist” may be making biking more unsafe,” writes Gizmodo’s Alissa Walker.

Constant danger: “When you are on the street, your life is in someone else’s hands,” Esme Brauer, 11, said at a Brooklyn safety rally last week to protest five NYC children dead in five weeks. “And most of those hands are on the steering wheel.”

“Bike Lane Wars”: There’s nothing quite like a funny takedown of an absurd anti-bike-lane argument. Wash Cycle provides.

Seattle bike lane sweeper: Not to be outdone, Seattle has jumped on the bike-lane-sweeper bandwagon.

Mayor helps biker: Incoming Seattle Mayor Ed Murray got out of his car to help a woman who’d crashed while riding her bike.

In your video of the week, one of the country’s most interesting urbanists interviews video visualization pro Spencer Boomhower, one of Portland’s most interesting transportation advocates, about 3-D models of street design concepts.

If you come across a noteworthy bicycle story, send it in via email, Tweet @bikeportland, or whatever else and we’ll consider adding it to next Monday’s roundup.

Correction 10 pm: The “person-protected bike lane” pictured above has since been removed, according to a commenter on the site.

Michael Andersen (Contributor)

Michael Andersen (Contributor)

Michael Andersen was news editor of BikePortland.org from 2013 to 2016 and still pops up occasionally.

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wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago

Re; the story of the Tennessee dad arrested for insisting it was his right by law to come to the school on foot, pick up his kids, and leave the school with them on foot as well. Through reading about the incident from story to which which the link is provided in this roundup, before everyone jumps to conclusions about who was wrong or right in this situation, here’s links to a couple other stories with more info about the incident:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/19/school-is-out-my-kids-are-to-be-given-to-me-dad-arrested-after-objecting-when-school-says-he-must-wait-to-take-his-children-home/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/20/we-arent-running-a-dictatorship-here-superintendent-backs-school-officer-in-dads-viral-arrest-over-student-pick-up-policy/

It’s an interesting situation. The school does appear to have a terrifically bad traffic situation to deal with, due in part to which the school does have a legitimate concern that led to their school policy about kids being picked up. The school seems to making an effort to work out the flaws in the policy. The dad seems like a smart, level headed guy.

Christopher Sanderson
10 years ago
Reply to  wsbob

The blog that covered this story has a story from back in July about why kids cannot walk to school anymore: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/why_johnny_and_joanie_still_ca.html

So many schools have been built on campuses that are far from many homes. I am always amazed when I go back to the Denver metropolitan area to see elementary, middle and high schools located in the middle of a freaking prairie, and all I can imagine is the parental rat race shuttling kids to school and back in their minivans or SUVs. I grew up in what is now Centennial, Colorado, and fondly remember walking to elementary school everyday. I liked taking different routes to school, and enjoyed the adventure of commuting by foot. Although my memory is not fully clear, I was making the 1/2-mile walk to and from school when I was in 1st grade, and I remember a lot of kids walking to school.

Todd Boulanger
10 years ago

…and a follow up news report (WAZE?) mentioned that this campus was the last to implement such a pick/ drop off policy primarily due to very poor facility planning: located along a higher speed highway with a single [motorized vehicle] entrance and exit.

Too bad there was / is not a rear pedestrian/ bike entrance…just like our grand parents used to design schools using the “Neighborhood Unit” layout of the 1930s to 1960s.

Dan Morrison
Dan Morrison
10 years ago
Reply to  wsbob

Someone needs to take Barney Fife’s handcuffs and badge. All the power of being a school security guard has gone straight to his head.

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  Dan Morrison

Maybe not so funny if school resource officer was your job to wrangle with a half mile line of cars driven by anxious parents, chomping at the bit to pick up their antsy kids…being repeatedly complicated by an annoyed parent in your work space, conducting a personal protest mission against a school policy he doesn’t agree with.

Not reported in the Blaze stories, was whether the parent, prior to conducting his protest at the pick-up location, did or didn’t, first take the issue to either a teacher possibly in charge, the principal, or the superintendent of schools. That would have been things the parent should have perhaps considered or have tried, first, before instead putting the problem on three different occasions, in the hands of the school resource officer to have to deal with.

BobBobberson
BobBobberson
10 years ago
Reply to  wsbob

What the heck,…

‘To prevent any potential accidents involving walking students, officials decided to keep “walkers” in the “holding area” until all students being picked up in cars depart.’

Very telling how car-centric their thinking is.

Dan
Dan
10 years ago
Reply to  BobBobberson

How about:

‘To prevent any potential accidents involving walking students, officials decided to keep cars lined up in the road until all students walking home have departed.’

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  BobBobberson

No sign from your remark, that you have any understanding whatsoever about the thinking of officials at the school. Sounds more as though you, as some others here have, are just indulging yourself in the luxury of criticizing a difficult decision someone else under the circumstances, had to make, without yourself studying the school’s situation, and attempting to offer some better alternatives.

I’ll give some credit to Todd Boulanger, for, in two of his comments to this thread:

http://bikeportland.org/2013/11/25/the-monday-roundup-arrested-for-parenting-red-lights-for-speeders-more-97667#comment-4479967

http://bikeportland.org/2013/11/25/the-monday-roundup-arrested-for-parenting-red-lights-for-speeders-more-97667#comment-4479965

…at least making some effort, though slim, to look at why the school may have felt it had to make the decision it did. Aside from having a good time making wisecracks and lofty presumptions, before passing superficial judgments, it may be of a whole lot more benefit, to try consider what options the school had.

Some questions:

What percent of the school’s students actually live within a walking or biking distance of the school…say, a mile or less, and up to two miles?

No mention in either of the Blaze stories, about school buses. Does the school district provide bus service for the students?

Do any of the school’s students walk or bike to school, and if so, what percent?

Do any roads or streets surrounding the school exist, that provide at least somewhat safe routes for kids to travel from home to school on foot?

davemess
davemess
10 years ago
Reply to  wsbob

Bob, none of those question matter when commenting on a father being arrested for picking up his son on foot. It doesn’t matter how many kids live close to the school. This is America and a parent still has a right to pick up their child, even if it involves skirting the dirt shoulder of a state highway on foot.

Think of the school officials? I have two teachers for parents and I think even they would agree that this is a silly policy and it needs to be reexamined. I agree that some on this site jump on many stories very harshly without knowing all the facts or with a (shocking on a bike-oriented site) bike-bias view. But you continue to take the opposite tact and just antagonize and are contradictory for arguments sake.

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  davemess

“…I have two teachers for parents and I think even they would agree that this is a silly policy and it needs to be reexamined. …” davemess

Fill them in on the details, or have them read the stories if they’re interested, and ask them.

“Bob, none of those question matter when commenting on a father being arrested for picking up his son on foot. It doesn’t matter how many kids live close to the school. This is America and a parent still has a right to pick up their child, even if it involves skirting the dirt shoulder of a state highway on foot. …” davemess

I think you would find that amongst people considering the type of situation relating to student safety that schools face, the types of questions I suggested as examples, matter very much towards making decisions that come close as possible to meeting everyone needs.

In this situation, the school didn’t deny the parent his right to pick up his child, but did expect him to do so in a manner that complied with policy officials at the school or district arrived at to insure safe pick up of students.

“…I agree that some on this site jump on many stories very harshly without knowing all the facts or with a (shocking on a bike-oriented site) bike-bias view. But you continue to take the opposite tact and just antagonize and are contradictory for arguments sake.” davemess

Some people commenting here do seem to love shallow thinking, bike-centric, cheap laughs, sometimes cued by bikeportlands staff. Whether people like it or not, I think it’s more constructive to make an effort to encourage people to think seriously, at least just a little bit, about some of the situations presented here at bikeportland, before they dismiss them with some standard wisecrack.

Sure, that’s going to upset some people here that would prefer hearing, instead of a balance of viewpoints, only the familiar micro-pc narrow alternative view they apparently draw comfort from, and no other. They’ve got no real complaint, because they’re under no obligation to read comments I present here.

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  davemess

And as an addendum, if you read the Nov 20th, Blaze story, you’ll read that the school apparently is re-examining it’s policy, exploring ways to improve on it:

“…When pressed on whether the school district is considering updating the policy to allow parents who walk to escort their children off school property without waiting, the superintendent was evasive but said officials are working to determine if the policy can be improved. …” The Blaze

BobBobberson
BobBobberson
10 years ago
Reply to  wsbob

wsbob, you seem to have a big ax to grind, but you make no real point. You don’t address the comment I made at all. Why does one group of people have to be negatively impacted by another group? Why do walkers have to wait for ALL drivers to pick up their kids before being released? Safety you say? Why not make the unsafe group (drivers) delay for the safe group as Dan said?

Cars have numerous externalities that other people are paying for.

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  BobBobberson

“…Why do walkers have to wait for ALL drivers to pick up their kids before being released?…” BobBobberson

Bobberson…Why don’t you read the Blaze stories, attempt to visualize, and do some thinking about the situation Cuberland school officials have to deal with…and you may start getting the point.

Ragging on decisions someone else had to make under apparently difficult circumstances, then with a one line reply, summarily presuming about and dismissing the values of people that had to make them: “…Very telling how car-centric their thinking is.”

…suggests very shallow thinking on your part and those of others commenting here that have expressed themselves similarly.

9watts
9watts
10 years ago
Reply to  BobBobberson

‘To prevent any potential accidents involving walking students, officials decided to keep “walkers” in the “holding area” until all students being picked up in cars depart.’

I’m sorry, wsbob, but I don’t need any context to recognize that the above is completely screwed up, & derives from the same mindset that spawned the problem in the first place. I don’t see anyone at the school asking constructive, probing questions such as ‘how did we get here and how can we dig ourselves out of this hole?’ Maybe the father who picked his kid up on foot should be commended, invited to the next school board meeting ‘at which we will discuss strategies for cutting the ratio of kids-picked-up-by-parents-in-cars in half.’

That, in my view, would be constructive. Worrying about hurting the feelings of unimaginative school officials isn’t high on my list of constructive ways to move forward. And the platitudes you quote don’t cut it. This is not a difficult problem at all. It just needs a bit of creative thinking and someone calling a spade a spade.

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  9watts

“…I don’t see anyone at the school asking constructive, probing questions such as ‘how did we get here and how can we dig ourselves out of this hole?’ …” 9watts

That may in fact be happening. That something to that effect hasn’t been reported in the three stories presented to Roundup readers, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

It’s most likely not the school having made sort of demand that kids be brought to and picked up from school in cars that’s caused the half mile line of traffic on the road and on the school grounds.

It apparently has been though, largely the responsibility of school officials to arrive at a way of being certain kids get safely picked up from school, without being run over from some anxious parent on the school grounds, or by traffic congestion created by the long line of parents’ vehicles.

There’s no particularly justifiable reason to assume or suggest school officials, parents, and the school resource officer, are ‘car centric’ or abusers of authority, on the slim report that the school created a possibly unusual parent/student pickup policy; and that a parent was eventually arrested for protesting the policy in a way that interfered with the school resource officer’s job of helping to ensure the kids were safe during the departure part of the school day.

Hey! Have a great T-day, 9watts…! Everyone else here too!

Chris Sanderson
10 years ago

Is the Tennessee thing for real? Wow! This is car-culture at its ugliest!

Todd Hudson
Todd Hudson
10 years ago

There’s more to the incident than The Blaze (a right-wing news source) is reporting. It doesn’t mention his previous arrests for disorderly conduct following two other times he protested the school’s pick-up policies. It sounds like both sides could have worked something out in a better way.

Dan Morrison
Dan Morrison
10 years ago
Reply to  Todd Hudson

Here’s a policy: school is out, give me my kids.

Donna
Donna
10 years ago
Reply to  Dan Morrison

Exactly. None of these details really matter to me, nor does his police record. Schools should have to release children ASAP at the parents’ request, any time and without question. If they don’t have to, who truly is the legal guardian of your own children? Not you. How they create a procedure for that is their problem.

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  Todd Hudson

“…It doesn’t mention his previous arrests for disorderly conduct following two other times he protested the school’s pick-up policies. …” Todd Hudson

What’s your source for the two other arrests you’re claiming he received?

The bottom link from my earlier comment, leads to a Blaze story with the following statement:

“…Andrews said Howe visited the school two other times protesting guidelines of the new pick-up policy. It was after Howe showed up for a third time that school resource officer Avery Aytes lost his patience. …”

From this report, it doesn’t appear as though he was arrested, or that his conduct was disorderly on two prior occasions at the school; he was simply protesting the policy.

Seems to me the arrest and the half mile long line of parents cars backed up, waiting to pick their kids from a single school, are symptoms of community growing pains, and very poor urban/suburban planning.

Reading about the incident here at bikeportland, I had a hard time believing a line of cars that long could be backed up, just due to parents waiting to pick their kids up at school, but the link to this picture…if it’s of the actual line of cars, seems to show it:

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/FirefoxScreenSnapz061.jpg

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
10 years ago

“Let bikes ignore reds: That’s the most interesting of eight “radical” ideas for improving UK bike safety.”

I think letting people who bike ignore reds is hardly radical. Shared space, however, is a truly radical idea that is increasingly being used in europe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vzDDMzq7d0

Traffic signals and separated infrastructure are often akin to waving a white flag of surrender to the dominance of motoring. I strongly believe that a primary goal of alternative transport infrastructure should be to discourage individuals from motoring. IMO, we need less “protection” or “segregation” and more shared space.

Chris Anderson
10 years ago
Reply to  spare_wheel

Great video and an amazing transformation via shared space.

AndyC of Linnton
AndyC of Linnton
10 years ago

The Bill Lindeke piece is pretty good. “Gentrification lingers over people’s heads like a fart in an elevator.”
I half-joked with some neighbors the other day, “Yeah, I’m thinking about doing some more activist approaches to making biking around here a little more pleasant. You know, so that eventually we can all be priced out of the neighborhood.”

Chris I
Chris I
10 years ago

The KOMO piece on the bike lane sweeper is classic local news “journalism”. They start with:

“SEATTLE — You could pay the Seattle mayor’s salary for about a year and a half; finance more than three new police officers for 12 months; even buy an entire town in California.

There’s a lot you could do with $225,000, including, city officials say, buy a special, slim street sweeper designed to clean bike lanes.”

And then they interview one local business owner (who conveniently happens to own an auto repair shop on the street) who, of course, complains about the new cycle track. And, of course, the article mentions nowhere that the sweeper will also be useful for narrow general purpose streets as well…

GlowBoy
GlowBoy
10 years ago

I could name a bunch of roads around here where we could use that “red lights for speeders” signal activation. Would be completely awesome.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
10 years ago
Reply to  GlowBoy

Everyone of the arterial roads in the Portland Metro area managed by ODOT.
But especially on SW Barbur between Capital Hwy and where Angela Burke was killed; and maybe another one halfway between there and the next traffic signal to the south.

CaptainKarma
CaptainKarma
10 years ago

RE: the person on the bike asserting his rights with the cops there; at least the cops didn’t shoot him. I wish I could mean this as a joke.

Indy
Indy
10 years ago

“Red lights for speeders: If you’re speeding on this Philadelphia road (and almost everyone is) you’ll activate a red light up ahead.”

I challenge anyone to find a street in this country where even 50% of cars obey the speed limit. As in, the exact limit, not one mile per hour above.

gutterbunnybikes
10 years ago
Reply to  Indy

They all do behind me when I drive single lane roads…..

I admit that I do get a certain perverse sense of pleasure out of it, especially if I see them shouting at me through the rear view mirror.

davemess
davemess
10 years ago

Are you one of those folks who drives 15 under the limit going to/from the coast as 25 cars back up behind you, and you continually pass (and don’t use) slow vehicle turnouts?

(Sorry but living in mountain states for years, this has become a pretty big pet peeve of mine, and I’m always very curious as to the psychology of the folks holding everyone up)

K'Tesh
K'Tesh
10 years ago
Reply to  Indy

Lombard St. San Fransisco, California

gutterbunnybikes
10 years ago

And for those in Multnomah county (that have a library card) that don’t wanna pay the NYT to read the article on toll roads you can visit the Multnomah library site and follow the links to “Research tools and resources”. From there going to “NYT 1980-present” then a search of the headline.

Doug B
Doug B
10 years ago

Thankyou!

Adam
Adam
10 years ago

I’m confused about the photo accompanying this article. It randomly shows somebody being handcuffed, but I don’t see a link to a story about anybody being handcuffed.

?

Chris I
Chris I
10 years ago
Reply to  Adam

The first link has a video that shows this.

Todd Boulanger
10 years ago

Yes, nice link to the forgotten side of JFK, school physical education…the effort that made sure all grade school kids had it even if they rode a bus to school…at least until the current generation of cuts.

Todd Boulanger
10 years ago

And the title for the NYC ped plaza buffered bike lane…the commenters wrote it has been removed.

Pete
Pete
10 years ago

I didn’t see the Cyclicious article describing any actual “push to repeal the FTR law”, I read Richard Masoner referring to the contradictory nature of the laws by pointing to an Orlando legal defense of a citation. I do encourage everyone to read and bookmark the CommuteOrlando article linked to by Cyclicious, though, as it makes excellent reference for the defense tactics in case of a citation like this.

From the same source, here’s an article on Menlo Park police opting to use the terms “collision” or “incident” to replace “accident” in their reporting system, just as CHP has done. This was pushed for using Twitter, but I encourage anyone involved with bike advocacy on any level to engage this same conversation with their police representatives.

http://www.cyclelicio.us/2013/menlo-park-pd-removes-accident-from-traffic-incident-reports

Todd Boulanger
10 years ago

I do in general have to agree in spirit wight he intent of the policy…to institute order and traffic safety for student pick up by parents. In my many years of traffic observations …the traffic situation at most schools is very chaotic and an almost logrythmic decrease in safety the more recently the site was developed as a school and the larger the school size.

I would hope that the school board and PTA revisit the policy to implement a more nuanced approach such as: allow walking and cycling kids to have an early release, then bussed students and then driven students. With additional resources to establish alternative walking / cycling routes away from the main car entry points…assuming such can be established.

Todd Boulanger
10 years ago

Here is the history of the elementary school facility in question:

In 1980, the new consolidated school called South Cumberland Elementary opened its doors to kindergarten through eighth grade replacing several smaller community schools. http://ccschools.k12tn.net/SouthCumberland.cfm?subpage=697725

—————–

From my analysis of Google Earth and Streetview…The South Cumberland Elementary School site (3536 Lantana Rd, Crossville, TN; ‎ (931) 788-6713 ) is pretty difficult to get to unless you are driven along the very narrow highways or bushwhack overland by foot. This school could have a great network of off street paths given the open land all around it..if the community vision were there. Perhaps now?!

School: 35°54’27.10″ N 85°03’49.89″ W

Versus the relatively walkable location of the Cumberland County School Superintendent’s office at 368 Fourth St, Crossville, TN ‎ (931) 484-6135

Todd Boulanger
10 years ago

And in the Alexandria VA opinion piece against a bike lane on King St there was a “salute” to “our Portland”, Mrs. Goldberg wrote,

“The upshot saw the defeat of Sam Adams, Portland’s radically pro-bike mayor in 2012. Defeats do not deter bike activists, however, for they are sustained by a sense of moral superiority and historical inevitability. As with the adherents of any belief system, such as environmentalism—and indeed liberalism—they are impervious to facts and uninterested in practicality and rational discourse. Despite their small numbers, their audacity knows no limits…”

And yes “we” did have hope when Sam was elected…too bad he was not as radically bike successful as the far [transportation] right wing thinks so. ;-(

davemess
davemess
10 years ago
Reply to  Todd Boulanger

Wouldn’t some actually have to run to be defeated?

Todd Boulanger
10 years ago

PS. Perhaps Sam’s third act at the City Club will be his best act! 😉

Chris I
Chris I
10 years ago
GlowBoy
GlowBoy
10 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

Oh wow, another fatal crash on Barbur. Geez.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
10 years ago
Reply to  GlowBoy

At what point should we be ashamed that we aren’t surprised that yet another person has been killed on Barbur?

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

As if a road diet would have presented or reduced the chances of this most recent fatal collision from having happened, which so far at least, nothing about the collision has been reported that would suggest this is the case.

El Biciclero
El Biciclero
10 years ago

Regarding the TN school student pick-up policy story:
A. Whatever happened to school buses? I know locally, I still get brushed by them on my way to work (some of my closest passes have been by school buses), and I often have to stop and wait for masses of kids to get on them, and I see other masses of kids waiting for school buses, yet if I pass a school at the wrong time of the morning, it is a mass traffic jam of SUVs dropping kids off at the front door. WTH? If my parents ever drove me to school, it meant I was in some kind of trouble. Has the “zone of ineligibility” to ride the bus expanded such that the majority of students now must find alternative transport to school?

B. Any school that refuses to release my kids to me is going to have its principal charged with kidnapping.

wsbob
wsbob
10 years ago
Reply to  El Biciclero

“Regarding the TN school student pick-up policy story:
A. Whatever happened to school buses? …” El Biciclero

Relative to this story, that’s a good question, which I raised in an earlier comment which the link below leads to:

http://bikeportland.org/2013/11/25/the-monday-roundup-arrested-for-parenting-red-lights-for-speeders-more-97667#comment-4480000

No mention of school bus service in the Blaze stories, or the one the Monday Roundup provided a link to. Seems like the district would have at least some school bus service. It’s expensive, making it the kind of thing school districts would consider cutting back on if possible. Cumberland County’s students number between 7000-8000, a small number compared to Beaverton’s 35,000. Other things like, how big the county is, and how spread out the population is, could figure into what level of school bus service there is, and why so many parents drive to drop off and pick up their kids at school.

esther c
esther c
10 years ago

the man is a horse’s ass. he got out of his car 2 days before and left it parked in the street and walked in demanding his kids, jumping the line and was refused. This day he came in demanding his kids ahead of everyone else and refused to sign the release allowing them to walk home.

I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that he parked his car around the block, and did not walk from home to pick them up.