As a parent of children in Lakewood Schools, I joined thousands of other Lakewood parents in driving our children to school today.
As per the instructions that we were given, we didn’t send our children on their regular busses and instead drove them ourselves to school.
The roads were a mess, to put it mildly. Streets and intersections were filled with vans, minivans and cars. Traffic was backed up for miles.
We do not know whether this drill will serve as a wake-up call to those who can change the situation for next year, although we certainly hope that it will.
As I sat in the standstill traffic, I had plenty of time to observe the hundreds of cars around me. And what I saw was amazing:
No one was beeping. Nobody was cutting around other cars. Drivers were allowing others to pull ahead of them at intersections.
Yes, people looked frustrated, but they all sat calmly and waited patiently.
The Kiddush Hashem that was displayed today was tremendous. Firstly, the fact that everyone listened to the p’sak given by the Roshei Yeshivos, and didn’t send their children on the busses. Secondly, how everyone remained calm and respectful through the difficult commute.
Sometime, it’s easy to make a Kiddush Hashem. This time, it was harder. Yet, Lakewood residents rose to the occasion.
In the great Z’chus of today’s Kiddush Hashem, we Daven and hope that the situation will be resolved quickly.
i was on the roads several times today. they were not that bad. a little more crowded then normal but not a big deal. I think we will handle it just fine come the fall.
yes, I agree that it was great that no one cut in front of others cut them off etc. A point that I want to make is this: how come on regular days when kids use the buses and just generally through out the day the driving is totally impossible? I would say at least 75% of drivers drive VERY dangerously. Honestly. my husband is not learning in kollel and going out between the hours of 915 and 1000 am, 145 and 230 pm and 645 and 730 you are totally taking your life into your hands being cut off, going from one side of the strteet to another{ going over the double yellow lines}and all sorts of other very dangerous things. I am sure you have all seen the bumper sticker” pray for me I drive in Lakewood” well the cars that have that bumper sticker are driven by lo yehudim being that they always have something to say about is this is the lowest that we can go as chilul cHashem. As the saying goes” wake up and smell the roses”
Jason: No, we will not be able to handle it come September. Drives to school that normally take 15 minutes were taking 45 minutes to an hour. Children were late for school due to the congestion. Also, extra police personnel, including deputies from the Sheriff’s Department, were deployed at key intersections to keep things flowing. Can we afford to pay all these extra people on a daily basis? I think not. Should they be pulled from their regular patrol duties to direct traffic? No again.
and you can show hakaras hatov to your bus driver, go out and give him a treat in the morning, even if you are not sending your kids out.
To Bubby to Be: Leave earlier so your children will not be late..or walk. Problem solved.
Have you noticed that almost every Saturday night TLS has a story about a major accident that happened over the Sabbath when those **** jews who endanger every ones life with their driving are not even on the roads. Don’t buy into all the garbage spewed by the haters unfortunately you’re not the only one whom they got to believe that we are dangerous. Of course we can all be more courteous but we have hectic lives some of us have to work two jobs in order to pay the 12k or more a year in property taxes for the privilege to live in lakewood.
There will a lot fewer cars come next term and you can’t call today a success when you’re over loading the streets with drivers or parents that it won’t affect. It should have been done only with those who will be affect andnot carried out like a vendetta. Someone dropped the ball and with fewer busses next season it will be less congested even more. Do it the honest way.
Kudos to every one who listened. Thank you LPD for giving it your all.
I agree with Charlie