Received Thursday, January 24, 2008
In all liklihood the woman I saw was not a nanny but a grandmother.
Yesterday, (1/23) at Visitation Catholic School, Farview Avenue in Paramus,NJ at approximately 2:25 pm. An elderly woman and her female passenger pulled into the lot driving a champagne colored Lincoln Town Car. The license plate holder said Towne Lincoln. They pulled in wide and nearly hit my car. The driver paid no attention to adults and children in the school lot at the time, neither slowing or stopping to give right of way to pedestrians. She drove in the out lane and parked taking up two spaces. She picked up a red-haired boy about 9-10 years old He got in the back seat, no seat belt. Then the really scary stuff began! She swung out wide and almost hit another parked car. She took about 5 minutes to see-saw out of the space with me and other parents cringing and expecting impact at any moment. Again, several parents and children had to scramble out of her way. She then drove out the in lane. She never stopped at the exit of the lot onto Fairview Avenue, but instead cut off traffic, almost causing a car pile up while she chugged away going about 5 miles an hour. For the safety of your little boy please don't have this woman drive him any more and for the safety of the rest of us with kids in that school, please get her off the road. I would guess her to be in her mid to late 80's. She had short, permed grey hair and wide blue glasses. Her companion wore her hair very short and dyed red.
LOL
ReplyDeleteSorry, its not funny. I know that area, its a very busy road.
Why are people driving at that age??
I'd talk to the head of the school about this. With all those witnesses, it seems he could easily be identified and the parents or guardian contacted.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the drivers in a retirement town that I used to work in. Driving in that town was somewhat like being part of a demolition derby.
ReplyDelete###
Why can't you just go to the school administrators and tell them about it? Surely the identity can be revealed this way, and surely the administrators can help. That seems like it would be far more effective than posting here (although you can certainly post here too). Please bring the issue to the school tomorrow. Thank you. Let us know what happens.
ReplyDeleteIf her driving was really that bad, why didn't you just take down the License plate # and report it?
ReplyDeleteAfter an Investigation, if they find she's a hazard on the road, they will just take her License away ...
end of story.
Great Granny needs to stop driving!
ReplyDelete9:11 yep take Granny off the Road..
ReplyDeleteOlder people should have to take the driving test again after they turn a certain age.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I never thought of going to the school! Sometimes we miss the obvious! LOL1 I feel dumb. If I see her agin, I will definitely get her plate # and talk to the pricipal.
ReplyDeletewow..OP and granny both need a little help!!!
ReplyDeleteYou mean to tell me an entire parking lot full of adults could not figure out..that they should take down a plate # and call 911..I am guessing that this story has been exaggerated quite a bit..com-on..really!!!
Granny may need a nother drivers test but I think our OP needs to retell the story and truthfully this time!!
No way a whole parking lot of adults would let that go..especially with children involved!
you would be surprised
ReplyDeleteTo heymommy,
ReplyDeleteIt's actually been proven in research that the more people around, the less likely someone will do something. Everyone passes the responsibilty onto someone else, thinking someone else had to of called 911 or whatnot. It's sad, but true. My psych prof. told us that if we're ever needing medical attention in public or being attacked, we better hope that only one person is around and that they are already feeling guilty over something. That is when someone is most likely to react.
Yes, MN nanny- you are correct. I think of that every time I read one of these posts because I identify with the author who most likely thinks she should have done something or that someone else was going to do something.
ReplyDeletePS Women are MORE likely to get involved, not LESS. And only 11 percent of women get involved (when passing d dispute, domestic violence, elder abuse) compared to 8 percent of men.
You can sit in judgment but until you have been there and done something, pipe down!
Two things: one, to the OP, don't just sit there waiting to see her again and get the plate # to tell the school administrators. Just go tell them now. Describe the car, granny and kid. They will know who it could be.
ReplyDeleteTwo, FYI everyone, the research was done in response to the case of Kitty Genovese who was beaten to death outside her apartment building in Queens while everyone inside her building could hear. Not one person called the police. They all figured someone else would do it, or already did it, so they did not call.
The moral of the story is CALL EVERY TIME, even if you think several other people already called.
It could be you next time, so call.
Heymommy, you are a little judgmental no?
ReplyDeleteFirstly, as bad as this might be it does NOT warrant a call to 911! 911 is for real life and death emergencies only and an old lady driving poorly will not be responded to if you call 911. (My husband is a first responder)
OP should talk to the school administrators ASAP! We have all had moments when we see something and don't react properly or not at all. It's called being human and making mistakes.
A few years ago I was driving behind a large sedan that turned down a very short dead end. when the man realized his mistake he backed out and into the the side of my car! The man didn't hear me beeping and never noticed me. He was 91 years old and deaf! Since it was a gorgeous fall day in a quiet residential neighborhood, my car could have easily been a group of children playing. I have seen horrendous drivers do worse than what OP described so I've no doubt it's all true.
The school my children attend is adjacent to a hall that holds bingo on Tuesdays. We parents have all complained to the local police, the school board and the people that run bingo about the eldely people who are leaving the hall as school is letting out. They are dangerous as hell.We have had many minor accidents of seniors hitting our cars and we are praying that nothing worse than the fender benders happen in the future. Our complaints have fallen on deaf ears despite being loud and numerous so OP should be warned that going to the administrators might yield no results.
I still agree with the others who said OP should talk to the admins though. And heymommy needs to chill out some.
so i guess you think it's o.k. to mow down an entire parking lot full of children??
ReplyDeleteGranny needs her license taken away PRONTO!! ... if she's as dangerous as OP said why didn't she do anything?!
stop judging.
ReplyDeletemaybe she thought someone else would intervene then and there.
yeah. It's always someone elses business when it comes to the safety and welfare of kids.
ReplyDeleteEverybody needs to make it their business, then maybe we wouldn't have so many children getting hurt!!
4:04 & 8:23 (same person?)
ReplyDeleteWhat's with calling the comments judgmental? They are just giving their opinion.
The last time I looked, they were allowed to do that.
What is with this place?
ReplyDeleteAnytime someone posts the same ideas or thoughts they are accused of being the same person?
I saw this happen on other threads on this blog and now here. You guys need to stop it or we are going to run the risk of becoming the same few people posting over and over because anytime someone new or with a different opinion happens along we will scare them off.
1031-
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. There are trolls on every board on every internet site. Best to ignore them. To continue talking about them and wasting time trying to "profile" them is foolish.
I say add what you want to the pot. Dissent with who you want but stop trying to guess who is who.
Proudly and only,
Ro
Well, it so happens that some of the same people posting over and over are easily detectable -- they usually give the same thought or argument and tend to become irate if it looks as if nobody else is going to agree with them.
ReplyDeleteI also happen to notice some of the regulars coming to the rescue to (sometimes new) people and they end up getting jumped on themselves. If new people show up and get attacked for their (mostly innocent) opinions and nobody backs them up, then they may not come back.
This happened to me awhile back and I was a victim myself and almost didn't return. Thanks to a couple of nice posters that stepped up, I came back.
Some of you people are really mean and belittle every little thing, including someones grammar. What's up with that?
Anyway, I really like this Blog and I really like some of the stories by some of the posters, so it was worth coming back.
:)
I, too have noticed a distinctly negative vibe at times. I am fairly new here myself and have been put off by some of the things I have seen. For instance, when 8:48 made the statement about being able to post opinions, well isn't that what 4:04 and the other person were doing about Hey Mommy's post? And why attack the OP for not doing what we thought is right. At least the OP did something, maybe not what some think was the right thing but hey, some action was taken.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is, Ro is right. There is no way of telling who is posting what so commenting on the presumed identity of bloggers should be eliminated. If it is a troll, it's only going to egg them on and give them pleasure and if it's not you may just be turning off a potentially insightful, worthwhile future blogger who may have just happened to give a bad first impression.
People tend to want to argue their point if no one agrees with them and that can make them seem irate, especially on the Internet where vital insights to a persons mood like tone and facial expression are lost. But standing up for what they think doesn't make them bad or a troll.
Thanks for coming back, 1:12. The more posters like you on this blog the better for all. I've been attacked more than a few times myself and I just blow it off. It comes with the territory. I admit that I may not always be right but I have the right to be wrong!
ReplyDeletesprak
ReplyDeleteYou're so funny:
"I admit that I may not always be right but I have the right to be wrong."
1:12
Thanks.
I don't know about NJ, but in CA, there is an anoymous tipline to report elderly drivers whose skills have deteriorated. They are then required to retake their driving test, and must retake it every (I think) 6 months or so.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the parents must be aware of Grandma's driving. Maybe they are just scared to approach her or can't afford to hire someone to pick the kids up.