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No one seems to look anymore from kids to adults. I expect that as a driver and and wait.
When I was a kid they told us the whole look left, right, and left again thing. My dad used to talk about looking behind you for a car turning right before you cross a street, and it's been mighty helpful. Most people turning right only look for other cars and not pedestrians.
I agree. When you add people texting & talking on the phone to the mix I am surprised that there aren't even more pedestrian accidents.
I'm trying to teach this to my daughter at the moment (and about the green man/red man), I just have to remember to do it myself though as I've gotten really lazy with it (live in such a quiet town that most of the time there isn't a car coming so I just walk out)
Originally posted by Chiroptera
look right, look left and look left again was drilled into me as a kid in the 1960s
And me, too. IMO, the 60's/70's was more oriented towards parent/child interaction and teaching. Today, too many households are chasing the dollar, hence no parents in the home to guide.
How timely,I saw a kid hit by a car today, I didn't actually see it happen but I saw him get up and run to the sidewalk, it all happened very fast, he must have lived in the neighborhood because his mother was there hugging him, fortunately he seemed unhurt, I felt for the driver too who I don't think was speeding because there was no squeal of tires braking, I suspect he was running across the street to join another kid or perhaps with the other kid. Very scary but he was very fortunate. I remember hearing a sad story of a young girl whose dog raced out gf the house, she raced after it and was hit and killed by a car. Life can change in an instant, that's for sure
I'm not sure if it's taught much anymore, I don't remember being taught it when I was a kid but I do it so I don't know if it's because I did have it drilled into me and just don't remember or if it's because I walk across busy streets so much that looking both ways is just a reflex before I step off the curb.
My kids are very aware of cars, because we ride our bikes all the time. Other kids don't seem to have that same awareness, they'll be riding in the middle of the street, blocking traffic both ways, or dart out randomly on foot.
For the example given in the OP, a rural road with the school bus dropping off, you'd expect drivers to be alert enough to notice the school bus, they're not exactly small or painted to blend with surroundings.
It won't be a lost skill for long. Charles Darwin had something to say about that. When enough people dart out in traffic because they are on their phones or otherwise occupied, the relative frequency of darters vs. lookers in the population will change and looking will become a common skill once again. :-)
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