Reply #29: Pass a law making it illegal [View All]

to sue schools for what happens off school grounds, including on the way to or from school (except for what happens on school district transportation.)

Who is "liable" for all the things that can happen out in public?

The kids, whose job it is to follow reasonable safety rules, the parents, whose job it is to supervise,

and the local law enforcement, whose job it is to make sure people follow laws intended to keep them safe.

The purpose of public schools is to educate; not to babysit, parent, or enforce local laws on the street.

I live semi-rurally; semi, because our very small town has blossomed in the last decade with the spreading fungus of housing tracts. Pastures and former ranches are being eaten up by the mile to make room for more houses on miniscule plots of land. Still, traffic is generally light, people drive slower, and there are plenty of kids out there. Most of our roads have bike lanes, and bicycling is a big sport and hobby late spring through early fall. It's much too cold for bicycling during the frozen half of the year.

I was on my way home the other day, on a main artery; one of the two local roads that will get you across the dry canyon that bisects the town. There's a sidewalk and a bike lane. Two local kids...middle school or high school age...were riding bikes down the bike lane. BMX bikes. They were weaving and hopping with their bikes. The one in the rear heard me approaching, and straightened his bike out to stay in the lane. The one in front looked over his shoulder, saw me, and jumped out in front of me to do a figure 8 and then spin.

It's a good thing I was driving 20 miles below the posted speed limit, having seen their antics from a good distance back.

Until you can figure out a way to make all kids ride responsibly, and to ensure that we aren't paying for off-campus accidents out of money intended to educate people, bans on biking to school will probably become more widespread.