Children are an old problem that we have struggled to entertain for generations to stave off their boredom and retain our sanity and now they have another several months off so parents must find ways to entertain them.
One of the simplest ways is to let kids go out and play as they have vivid imaginations and can find endless hours to entertain themselves by drawing on the road, bike riding, playing ball games and so on. Their imagination is vast and untapped. The hard part of this is most people live in an urban environment, which means kids and vehicles are bound to mix it up often with miserable results for the kid and the driver.
Parents try to do their best by putting out signs stating "Kids at play" and "Slow down, children playing.” These are good visual aids for drivers and will often do their best to slow down and watch out for children playing. Drivers however are under no obligation to slow down for those signs as they are not official government signs which we as drivers are bound by law to obey but the bright little signs stating children at play or slow to 30 km that are placed in the yards or street are not official road signs and there is no obligation to comply with them.
We as drivers are required by law to comply with rules of the road and have to be able to decide if it is safe to drive the legal speed of 50 km/h on residential streets or if going slower is warranted as is required of us as licensed drivers and we follow all legal posted road signs. We also as drivers have to look out for the unexpected as kids do not know what damage a vehicle can do to them and have a tendency to run out in front of vehicles often with dire consequences. Parents have a moral and parental obligation to explain to their children about vehicle safety and what to do when they see a vehicle approaching them and parents must also understand that the sign they placed in their yard warning drivers about children playing may not be adhered to by the driver as they are under no legal obligation to do so.
Everybody pays a price when there is a child versus vehicle accident.
Dean Soiland
Prince George
