| Author | Message | ||
     Barb Citizen Username: Flannery Post Number: 227 Registered: 8-2002  |
Our 3-block long street is experiencing a neighborhood (generational) evolution. The result of this is that as retirees leave and young families begin to mature, children play in or near the streets (as we all did). Many drivers in our fast-paced society aren't paying close attention as they hurry along their way and there have been a few close calls recently. Can someone please advise who to contact in our city gov't to request signs like this be placed along each of our 3 blocks?   | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider  Post Number: 14868 Registered: 1-2003  |
I don't know, and I'd like to know. But I have to ask: do drivers heed these signs? I fear they are so oblivious that the signs won't have any or much effect. It's clear to me they ignore most signs anyway. Sorry to be a pessimist. I'd love to hear I'm wrong. | ||
| Barb Citizen Username: Flannery Post Number: 228 Registered: 8-2002 |
I don't know, Tom, but I do. I figure it's at least worth a shot...my hubbie thinks nothing less than a catapult will work. Maybe if we load it with ripe bananas... | ||
| The Libertarian Citizen Username: Local_1_crew Post Number: 2042 Registered: 3-2004  |
maybe parents should take a little responsibility for their children and stop them from playing in the streets. keep them in the backyard or the many parks in the area. | ||
| Jersey_Boy Citizen Username: Jersey_boy Post Number: 1279 Registered: 1-2006  |
I've seen many of these store bought signs put in the street by parents. http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-9685887-8463036?asin=B0002KWTHK&AFID=Ya hooSSP&LNM=B0002KWTHK|Caution_Children_Playing_Signs_-_2_Pack&ref=tgt_adv_XSY10001 I slow when I see them. J.B. | ||
| combustion Citizen Username: Spontaneous Post Number: 181 Registered: 4-2006  |
Many, many years ago my father was driving, with me in the car, down a residential street. A young boy on a bicycle came out from between two parked cars and collided with the car we were in. My father jumped out to see if the boy was okay. The kid was fine, just a little shook up. Suddenly the boy's father came running up and started smacking the kid for riding his bike in the street. If that happened today, my father would probably have found himself in court defending a lawsuit. My point? Kids shouldn't play in the street, but putting up signs makes them think it's okay to do so. | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 12016 Registered: 5-2001 |
This isn't a new problem here. It was always a fight to keep our kids and the neighbors kids from playing in and crossing our street, which was between Wyoming and Ridgewood and many cars were driving at 50mph as they got to the bottom of the mountain. The best way to assure safety is to keep your kids out of the street and in the yard. With that said I have seen quite a few signs that people put out recently. The most effective is a little dayglo lime green man with a flag. I don't know where to get these, but they always get ones attention. | ||
| Barb Citizen Username: Flannery Post Number: 229 Registered: 8-2002 |
Just asking a simple question, not advocating how parents should raise their children or where it's appropriate for children to play. Basketballs find their way down driveways and into streets. Skateboards jump off of sidewalks. Frisbees cross over residential streets and into neighbors yards. Baseballs don't know they should stay on their side of the street. The point is that kids of all ages will chase the toy/ball/mode of transportation that gets away from them without any thought of traffic or consequences. I assumed that putting up these signs meant installing a very tall iron post on which to attach the sign and that the city had to do it. | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 7729 Registered: 5-2001 |
Barb: Ask the police department about the signage but I have to agree with others who have posted that putting up such signs, should they be approved, will not solve the problem. Streets are for motor vehicles not kids. The kids have to be taught how to play safely and their parents have to be willing and able to provide a little supervision. | ||
| mrmaplewood007 Citizen Username: Mrmaplewood007 Post Number: 114 Registered: 4-2003 |
There should be an officer in the MPD assigned to traffic saftey.That is where I would start.If there has been close calls they probably know all about it. | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1732 Registered: 7-2004  |
On Summer Ave (between Valley and Prospect) I guess someone puts out a sign to slow drivers down. I just wish they didn't put in in the street. Several times I have had to come to a complete stop to avoid hitting the sign. One of these days I won't stop. And I won't feel bad either. It serves them right for leaving a sign in the street that block traffic. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14873 Registered: 1-2003 |
Mayor McCheese, that sign is floppy and will spring right back after you run over it. I'm sure the owner is happy for you to run over it, if it's a choice between the sign and his kids. | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1735 Registered: 7-2004 |
Tom, I don't hate the sign. I hate the placement of the sign. Sometimes it is on their property. Other times they leave it in the street. Sometimes they leave it pushed well into the street. Perhaps you are right and my running it over will have no effect. Maybe instead the next time I am forced to make a complete stop in the middle of the street due solely to that sign, I will take the sign with me. (Although I am pretty sure that this sign sits on a V style stand. Because I have been stopped in front of it I have had a few good looks at it.) Perhaps if these people have to continue to purchase new signs on a regular basis they will learn to keep the sign on their property, and out of traffic. And I wonder if it would be considered stealing if the sign were out in the street. Is it stealing when you find something in the street and take it with you? I suppose it might be for me because I know which house the idiots live in. Oh well... I guess I will have to take the risk. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14880 Registered: 1-2003 |
You're right in implying that they have no legal right to obstruct traffic with their property. But yes, it's their property, and you would be stealing if you took it, no matter where it was. Two wrongs don't make a right. | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1736 Registered: 7-2004 |
I don't know about that. By stealing the sign, I would be clearing a path for traffic. Otherwise someone may have roadrage over the sign being in the street. So, by stealing the sign and having two wrongs, I may be doing the right thing. Yes... that's it... I'm doing this to save those stupid people and their stupid sign... | ||
| red Citizen Username: Redy67 Post Number: 6205 Registered: 2-2003  |
I looked into it some years back, you have to get a petition signed and present it to someone in Town Hall (can't remember who) I don't know why anyone would think that having these signs would make a child think they could play in the street. I teach my kids to NEVER go into the street to play, get a ball etc. However there are times we are walking, or riding a bike, whatever. We cross the street, and a car goes flying down our street, sometimes 50 mph. I would hope that if one of these signs was put up it might help someone think twice about going that fast. | ||
| grw Citizen Username: Grw Post Number: 429 Registered: 12-2002 |
Does anyone remember the days of Stick Ball, broken windows, and running away?? | ||
| mrmaplewood007 Citizen Username: Mrmaplewood007 Post Number: 120 Registered: 4-2003 |
I remember just taping up a baseball and using it over and over again. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14900 Registered: 1-2003 |
I remember the pink ball labeled "Spalding" which, rumor had it, were rejects during the process of making tennis balls. We pronounced it "Spawl-DEEN". | ||
| Richard Kessler Citizen Username: Richiekess Post Number: 153 Registered: 11-2004 |
http://www.streetplay.com/photos/images/display/spalding.jpg | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 12043 Registered: 5-2001 |
Here is the link to the type of sign I mentioned earlier, although the ones I have seen have been a lime green. One way or another they stand out and are more effective than the standard signs. This one will really put The Mayor over the edge of sanity.  http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-5561807-4017400?asin=B00005RV4A | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1740 Registered: 7-2004 |
Oh my.... That looks very similar to the one that I will one day destroy. | ||
| Wendy Supporter Username: Wendy Post Number: 2678 Registered: 5-2001 |
Mayor, it's Sommer not Summer, btw. I should know - I live on that block. Our block is notorious for speeders using it to cut between Prospect and Valley and I can't blame the person for putting that sign in the street. As long as they put it where a car can legally park, at the least it will help slow down traffic. Up the block, where I live, we often leave our car on the street and sometimes the neighbors across the street do too. That helps calm things a bit. The best was when there was a really large pot-hole in front of our house. Traffic really had to slow down to the LEGAL limit then. I was sad when our street was re-paved. I'd rather see a big sign that says SLOW DOWN - PEOPLE LIVE HERE! - as opposed to the Children at Play sign. | ||
| KRNL Citizen Username: Krnl Post Number: 93 Registered: 9-2005 |
Rather agree with Wendy about the People Live Here notion. I find the Children at Play signs rather stupid--show me a block in Maplewood that doesn't have children. Or, does that mean the parents that put these signs up let kids that are too young to understand the danger of a car play in the street? Really part of this issue relates to traffic enforcement which seems to be lax in the area as relates to things like speeding, stopping at stop signs, signaling turns, etc. | ||
| Richard Kessler Citizen Username: Richiekess Post Number: 155 Registered: 11-2004 |
anyone have any idea what happened to the traffic calming study? For a while the town website said that they were preparing the results and would report back soon. A month of so ago, any mention of the study disappeared from the town website. I tend to think that if drivers adered to the speed limits, yielded right of way to pedestrians, and obeyed stop signs and red lights, that we probably wouldn't be having this discussion. | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1742 Registered: 7-2004 |
Wendy, I'm sorry that people speed down your block. I don't. One day I will destroy that sign that the people leave in the middle of the road. It is one thing if you put up a big sign on your lawn, it is another when you put a sign out in the street. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 14925 Registered: 1-2003 |
Three wrongs, committed by various people: 1. speeding 2. putting up an illegal sign 3. destroying the sign (this is just a proposal) Are you making a value judgement about which is worse and which is useful? | ||
| mjh Supporter Username: Mjh Post Number: 654 Registered: 5-2001 |
Wende and Barb: In one Maplewood neighborhood, the town recently added a speed bump (on Union near Irvington Ave). I have no idea how this happened........who pushed for it, who decided, etc., but I thought it interesting considering all the complaints about speeding. I've seen them all over residential neighborhoods in Chicago. Annoying as heck, but they definitely slow people down. Otherwise, you'll ruin your car in no time! I guess the jist of this is that people will speed regardless of the risk to others, but they will slow down if speeding might damage their car.  | ||
| Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1744 Registered: 7-2004 |
Tom, I would be happy to make a judgment on which is worse. In descending order the list looks like this: 1, 2, 3. | ||
| SO Ref Citizen Username: So_refugee Post Number: 1957 Registered: 2-2005  |
There is also a "movable" speed bump on Garfield near Boyden... Is it just a test or a quick, cheap alternative? | ||
| Tea Kettle Citizen Username: Teacup Post Number: 2 Registered: 7-2006  |
I like it when signs say please. "Please slow down!" What ever happened to manners? The yellow yellow guy with the flag is aggressive. Look out! I have kids! "Please slow down, children are playing" would make me go 25. "Pwease slow down! I wanna pway safwey" That one would make me go 15! | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 8300 Registered: 5-2001  |
"'Pwease slow down! I wanna pway safwey' That one would make me go 15!" Nah. I'd speed up. Zero tolerance for anything cutesy. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 5616 Registered: 1-2004  |
There is a family near where I live who think it's perfectly alright to put cones up in the middle of the street for their under five year old children (three of them) to ride their bikes between. Or should I say trikes? When you point out to them it isn't safe because cars coming around the corner might not see the chilren; they tell you it's fine they are thre. Even if you tell them a couple of times it isn't safe. There are only four houses on the block they do this. I know who lives in the one house and two of the others are for sale. We think they live in one of the houses that are for sale. | ||
| Dan Shelffo Citizen Username: Openspacer Post Number: 188 Registered: 6-2001  |
Drive 25 Keep Kids Alive is a national non-profit that had programs and products for communities, neighborhoods and individuals. I liked their lawn sign type product and tried (unsuccessfully) to get some local political campaigns to have signs made up with their "Vote for Me" message on side and the "Drive 25 Keep Kids Alive" message on the other side. This way, after the election, at least one side of the sign had a use and was not instant landfill after the polls closed. You could even tape two signs together and have the Kids message on both sides. If you were the politician sponsoring the sign I think it would demonstrate your commitment to kids, safety, the environment and the community. I thought that might translate into votes. Maybe if one side did it the other side would be shamed into it and the Kids would benefit from twice as many reminders to slow down. I actually had conversations with the founder and CEO of Drive 25 Keep Kids Alive. He was willing to give it a go but I couldn't talk any candidates into giving it a try. | ||
| ajc Citizen Username: Ajc Post Number: 5302 Registered: 9-2001  |
...in Scotland many streets have signs that say, "Twenty is Plenty" | ||
| letters Citizen Username: Letters016 Post Number: 688 Registered: 5-2005  |
Saw this one today up on Ridgewood Terrace. There is a whole website set up for this slogan, with other signs as well.  | ||
| Monster© Supporter Username: Monster Post Number: 4215 Registered: 7-2002  |
Keep Kids Alive, keep them in the yard. I'm all for all the signs, but when you stick it in the street, now if you were to put your car in the street, and put the sign on top of it, if you were to have better enforcement with cameras that recorded the speed, the license, the person driving, if.... I happen to have a speed bump practically in front of my house on Garfield, it's helped a little, the problem is that since it's on a public road they can't make it as high as one in a parking lot, and it's wide too, not exactly a bump, you can drive at a good clip over it still. | ||
| Nashira Citizen Username: Nashira Post Number: 40 Registered: 7-2006 |
I think the reason that so many children play in the street is because many of the homes in Maplewood have very small backyards that the kids outgrow by the age of 6 and 7. In a time when there is so much obesity (including childhood obesity)parents want to see their children active. I will admit that my children play in the street from time to time, but they have very strict rules about it and were not allowed to do so until they were about 10 years old. We live on a quiet street with little traffic. Our backyard is very small with not even enough room to play catch in anymore. They are only allowed in the street when there is a parent around to watch, and they are only allowed up to two certain houses on both sides which gives them plenty of time to see a car approaching or for a car to see them. They always move out of the way as soon a car approaches. I do bring them to the park frequently to play ball or just run around, but it is not always an option. I hate when I see young children out in the street without parental supervision and these same children not moving out of the way when a car is approaching. I also do not think it is fair for parents to put up cones or try to block traffic in any way. | ||
| Dreamer Citizen Username: Dreamingguy88 Post Number: 11 Registered: 3-2004 |
haha. upon reading a few of these posts i found myself smirking. can i say duh? when it comes to parents teaching their kids how to play outside its obvious that they should teach them to be aware of the street and its dangers but parents, or good people who are concerned for the youth, shouldn't be snapped at when they just want to add a little proactive solution, and extra security if you will, to their lives. if a person online here wants to leave all the blame to the parents whose children had a misfortunate accident because a teeange driver was possibly going too fast in the car that their parents just bought for them (new or used) or an adult driver just wasn't paying attention while on their cell phone and driving their $80,000 SUV in suburbia. smart kids dont always equal good drivers. a driver should stay as aware, and at or under the speed limit (or the ten mile gap way above it on main streets) as a child should be cautious. if its on a none busy intersection or not a main street then drivers shouldn't be going fast enough to be unable to put the breaks on and stop. (btw turn signals are important...not enough ppl in this community put them on and then become an ••• once somene tries to cross the undesignated street). also a parent should always be present if they have a young child playing outside. | ||
| combustion Citizen Username: Spontaneous Post Number: 419 Registered: 4-2006 |
"I will admit that my children play in the street from time to time, but they have very strict rules about it and were not allowed to do so until they were about 10 years old." Wow. I was NEVER allowed to play in the street as a child, and we had a tiny back yard and lived on a very quiet street. We played in the back yard, the basement, the attic, the neighbors yard, the park, even the cemetery, but NEVER the street. If my parents or grandparents had ever caught me playing in the street, I'd probably still be grounded today. | ||
| hch Citizen Username: Hch Post Number: 355 Registered: 8-2002 |
I was fortunate to have a big yard growing up so we never played in the street unless we were being idiots. However, one time I rode my bike into the street without looking and was almost hit by a car. My mother ripped me a new a****** and promptly punished me. Times have changed. | ||
| John Citizen Username: Jdm Post Number: 117 Registered: 3-2006 |
We use the little plastic green man holding an orange flag, and that actually seems to work - to my surprise. | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 12444 Registered: 5-2001 |
I posted earlier that the little green guy always gets my attention. Regular traffic signs tend to be ignored, unfortunately. As more and more people get green guys, again unfortunately, their effectivemess will probably suffer. | ||
| John Caffrey Citizen Username: Jerseyjack Post Number: 509 Registered: 11-2005 |
I believe the speed bump on Union is in near proximity to a sheltered group home. The bumps certainly help but how about some on Prospect, Irvington Ave and Parker? I believe multiplying the number of green signs will have the same effect as "Baby on Board" signs. | ||
| John Caffrey Citizen Username: Jerseyjack Post Number: 510 Registered: 11-2005 |
I believe the speed bump on Union is in near proximity to a sheltered group home. The bumps certainly help but how about some on Prospect, Irvington Ave and Parker? I believe multiplying the number of green signs will have the same effect as "Baby on Board" signs. |
