The danger-mums of Montpelier

Look at these women. They are pushing their children down the middle of some Montpelier roads. First, Upper Cheltenham Place.

Next: Cobourg Road.

Some readers may complain that although they are walking down the roads, they are not wearing high-viz clothing, and none of the babies in the push chairs have helmets.

But it is worse than that. These mums are actually pushing their children around the city! On foot! They would be much safer driving them in a family-friendly 4x4 vehicle.

You would never see mothers this irresponsible in Clifton.

Greenery of the inner city

Contributor "A" sends in this picture of Bright Street, Redfield, which apparently forces the push chair of their little one into the vegetation.

Last month a paper was published claiming that children don't get exposed to nature -inner city children especially. The driver of golf P601LKP must have read this, and decided to make their personal contribution.

Contributor "A" -next time you push your child through the hedge, take a moment to look down a it and see their eyes light up in joy and wonder at the greenery which is in their face, as their little hands reach out to try and grasp those child-friendly branches. And cherish that moment!

Demi-Drives of Montpelier

Contributor KL sends in this snap of a mercedes SUV on St Andrews Road, Montpelier, parked in the entrance to Montpelier Park, sticking out into the pavement. Apparently this space "belongs" to this car, despite a sign on the wall behind warning that cars parked here will be towed.

When you compare the other vehicles on on this pavement, this car, Y529KTF, is actually taking up less of the pavement than most of them. It is possible to get a push chair up this part of the hill. The only way it could be interfereing with pedestrians would be if it stopped those parents-with-babies from taking their little one into Montpelier Park itself. But given that urban park is not "area for small children to play" as "place to take your dog for its bathroom duties" for everyone who lives near, this vehicle is actually protecting children. It is a valuable contribution to child safety in this part of town.

Incidentally, one reason why anyone who parks here gets as far on the pavement as they can is that there is a "St Andews Road Avonmouth" which is the right size and shape for HGVs. If the driver taps in "St Andews Road Bristol" to the SatNav by accident, this is the road where their truck ends up.

Barriers to push chairs in Montpelier

Consultations with someone who walks and pushes their multiple offspring from Montpelier to Cotham every schoolday revealed that two areas they have trouble with are bikes running the pedestrian crossing on the arches, so endangering the children, and bins on the road.

Bins. Not looked at them yet. Let's see. Yes, on Cobourg Road, they are out today (a Monday), and keeping the pavement busy

Further along, there are more bins out

So stopping anyone from pushing a push chair down here. This helps the owner of the golf, who knows that nobody will accidentally bump a small child into their vehicle.

Colston School: parents not getting the message

Here we have some mothers pushing kids home from Colston's school, the one that has now forbidden bikes and scooters.

Clearly the purpose of the banning was to make it easier for the school run by car, yet here we see two families recklessly blocking Richmond Road to passing cars. How much more selfish can they get?

Montpelier mixed-use area

Here's a lovely shot of evening Montpelier. Three kids cycling round the street; two adults pushing the bikes up the hill. Further down Richmond Road there are some more people walking in the middle of the street, carrying shopping bags. A taxi will nudge its way up the hill, but carefully, rather than the 35+mph that is their ideal speed.

This street effectively makes Montpelier Bristol 's first people-first-cars-second area. And to achieve this, the residents didn't need any contributions from Bristol City Council. Instead they came up with their own goal - a safe place to walk and play- and a simple strategy to achieve this.
What did they do? Well, if you look at the edges of the picture, you can see it. Along each side of the road, completely blocking every pavement, is a near-continuous line of cars. This forces pedestrians into the street, but the cars are positioned such that the road is too narrow to drive fast. If the parked cars were not here, through traffic would speed, and the children would be constrained to the pavement, rather than being able to enjoy the whole width of the street. And, as they are cycling, that would increase the risk of pedestrian/cycle collisions, which as we all know, is the greatest danger facing this city.
It is contributions to innovative road design like this that make Montpelier a leading part of "Cycling City Bristol"