How prevalent is this?

[cakadu]

I had an acreage owner call me and demand that the county put a stop to his neighbour hauling silage past his place because the trucks were going so fast his grandkids were going to get run over.
The trucks had to make a left turn 100 feet past his house so unless they were going to turn on two wheels with a load of silage on there was no way they could have been going very fast.
The sight distance was at least 1 mile from his house and when I suggested that perhaps it wasn't a good idea for his grandkids to be playing on the road he advised me that they were 13 and 14 and could damn well be on the road whenever they wanted to!!
I told him that if kids that age wanted to play on the road and couldn't get out of the way of a silage truck that they could see coming for a mile then there wasn't much I was prepared to do about it, because just as his kids had the right to be on the road so did the owner of the operation across from him have the right to haul silage !!! Needless to say I lost a couple of votes the next election !!

[grassfarmer]

Sadly some of these bright country living kids won't survive to adulthood. Was driving through Eckville recently and saw a kid on a large quad coming down a very steep roadside embankment above me, diagonally at high speed, standing up while pulling a wheelie! where were the parents?

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer, all too many parents think that giving the kids quads, snow machines, vehicles etc. equate to being a 'cool' parent.
A parent I know put his foot down and would not allow his 15 year old daughter to spend weekends with friends when he found out that the parents went away and allowed the kids allowed to quad and snowmobile unsupervised. He and his wife are separated and she alleged that his actions were cruelty to their daughter when she was applying for sole custody !!!

My neighbours leave their kids alone when they go away for weekends. They have been doing this since the kids were 13 and 10. It's none of my business but I worry that one of these days or nights the kids will either roll their quad or get hit by a vehicle.
One March another neighbour kid went through my fence and onto the ice on the creek. Another time the same kid came roaring out of their driveway on a dirtbike just as I was driving down the road, he rolled the bike on top of himself, got a few scratches and was out doing the same damn thing the next day.
I called his mother and told her what he was doing and explained that because they had a tree lined driveway it was impossible to see him until he was almost in front of a vehicle. Her answer was that people in the community should be aware that teenaged kids are out on motorbikes etc. and drive accordingly !!!!!!

[cowman]

Well kids will be kids! I guess none of us ever did stupid things when we were young, right?
A quad can be a very dangerous thing if you don't know what you are doing...and sometimes even if you think you do! I cracked a couple of ribs this fall when I rolled one on myself...that sure puts a crimp in your style for about 6 weeks!
Still they can be a very useful machine although I sure wouldn't ride one for pleasure...sort of like a horse!

[cowman]

sad to say that there was a fatality over the weekend involving a quad. At least this winter the snow maching fatalities are a lot less thanks to no snow !!

[cswilson]

I just thank god every day that the neighbor kids aren't as bad as I was at their age-I get mad at the plow jockeys turning our gridroad into a racetrack during harvest and they aren't impressed when there's some Angus speed bumps out there lol but we manage to get along. My neighbors across the road raised three boys that liked to quad was there some contoversy but it all came out in the wash. Remember when bitching about your neighbors what goes around comes around-my closest farming neighbor has two boys getting into cows-I can't imagine the celebration we'll have wnen their cows finally get out onto my place.

[cswilson]

cwilson, there is a vast difference between bitching for the sake of bitching, but when the neighbour that complains when my cows bawl when the calves are weaned doesn't mind that their kids roar up and down the road all night then I have difficulty with it. I raised two sons, they had snow machines and dirt bikes but were not allowed to ride anywhere other than our own property, and they certainly did not roar around all night.

I don't know how long ago you were a kid but nowdays some kids aren't just out having fun. This community has had vandalism, breakins and theft, vehicles stolen, gates left open and livestock out etc. Parents used to instil some sort of respect in their kids,and lead by example, and heaven help the kid if the neighbour ever called with a valid compliant.
Things have changed but in my view everyone has the right to quiet enjoyment of their property within reason.

[cswilson]

Welll I have two teenagers and coach several more and every generation thinks the kids are bad-but hate to say kids are no worse now than my generation was-or is it I haven't sugarcoated my memories of my younger days. In fact I think teenagers are alot more responsible than we were at their age-there's alot of 40 somethings neeed to be taken out behind the woodshed.

[cswilson]

I spent years volunteering with 4-H, and still do. There are many super young people that have their fun but are still courteous and mindful of laws in place for driving vehicles, etc. I agree that there are a lot of adults that don't set an example. The point I am making is not that kids are all terrible but that in areas such as mine where there are small country residential parcels interspersed with ag operations, there are conflicts. The potential for kids to be injured is certainly high, and who do you think is responsible for the safety of kids 10 or 12 when they have access to ATV's, no supervision and are driving on public roadways when the laws say they can't. I would be surprised if you would slough that off as just kids being kids....if so, its a sad day when mature adults condone lawbreaking activities....because if any of these kids or others are stopped by the county constable their parents will be charged, becaues the kids are too young to be held accountable at 10 !!!!!

[cswilson]

Well if that is the case maybe they should be charged I guess-our RM has the highest number of acreages I think of any in Sask. and there are conflicts for sure.

[cswilson]

The rural landscape is certainly changing but there does need to be some sort of 'code' that all people who live in rural areas live by.