4 Comments
Jun 30Liked by Anna McMartin

We stopped letting out cat out before 7:30 because the same car screams down out street at 7:15 every morning. We’re on the same street as a primary school and the house next to ours does daycare. I don’t think we treat cars with the respect and frankly, the fear we should; it isn’t just boy racers, think of all the older people who complain about speed limits and who think speed cameras aren’t “playing fair.”

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Jun 30Liked by Anna McMartin

I live just down the street from that house that put up the concrete blocks. I heard the story from multiple neighbours, though it happened before we moved into the neighbourhood. And apparently the council put in the speed bumps not long after that. I think it helps, but cars still race down our street sometimes. When they have loud engines, I, like you, hate the noise. And the danger.

But when I heard about that person putting concrete blocks on the verge, I also thought about what concrete blocks would do to the next 'boy racer' who spun out of control and hit them instead of a fence.

And I had a cat who was killed by a car just a few months after we moved here. It was my 7 yr old son's cat. It was devastating.

I think it is possible to hate the behavior and be mad at the 'boy racers' and have empathy for them at the same time. They are also in danger. I am no expert, but I suspect the solutions are systemic. From urban design that does not prioritise cars over all over road users to things that support young people.

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I get scared by the sound of revving engines too. A couple of weeks ago someone burned so much rubber on the street outside, our house was engulfed in a fog of smoke and I had to put the line full of nearly dry washing back in for another wash. It stresses me, same as the sound of doof-doof music competing with Radio NZ in my kitchen, when the neighbours get their weekend pumping. I feel old, intolerant, and scared.I’m conflicted, too. I want to feel safe and I want young people to flourish and be able to make their mistakes and survive them. I don’t know the answers but I think knowing one another does nothing but good. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan have a lot to answer for. Before them, we spoke to our neighbours and looked after each other more.

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Jun 30Liked by Anna McMartin

I don't know either. I have two kids, 5 and 2, who love riding their scooters and bikes out on our cul-de-sac. People scream down it in their cars. We're the only family out on the street regularly and I can see why. I want to yell at people to slow down - and have had to teach my kids about looking down driveways, not that my 2 year old understands any of it.

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