THERE are certain estates in Wycombe where people park their cars in the most outrageous places.

Around Castlefield, for example, where road space is scarce, I regularly see cars parked right next to junctions, across the entire width of pavements and even at the edge of mini-roundabouts so you have to drive over the mounds.

All this adds to the danger of driving around residential estates where most accidents involving children occur motorists can't see the kids for the cars.

I remember one lesson when a pupil and I were discussing the dangers of residential areas and how local people can become sloppy when driving around their own estates because they are so familiar with them.

We had stopped in Walton Drive in Totteridge and could see three parked cars with bashed in sides from where we were sitting.

I explained to Miss Learner that if you come home from work every day and your neighbours always park in the same place, the scene can seem so familiar that you might switch off and drive less cautiously than you would in an unfamiliar area.

As I was speaking, a black car drove past us, heading towards a corner that was lined with parked cars.

"He's going a bit quick considering the road is wet," I commented. (It can take you twice the distance to stop on a wet road than it would on a dry road).

A split second later we heard a loud SMASH!

"What was that?" asked a startled Miss Learner.

"Sounds like that car just crashed with someone," I said. And while I wouldn't wish an accident on anyone, I couldn't have hoped for a more timely illustration of my point!

"I bet he was on his way home, driving at the same speed as he always does, day in and day out, and just didn't account for the greater stopping distance he needed on a wet road."

A few minutes later an annoyed-looking driver, who we assumed was the other party in the accident, chugged past us in a silver car with a bent bonnet.

"I wonder if those two were neighbours," I said. "Imagine the long-term embarrassment of that!"

Infact, nationwide a large number of accidents happen close to the home of at least one of the drivers involved.

In 2001, a survey by Progressive Insurance showed that 23% of its 11,000 claimants had their accident less than one mile from home, with 52% less than five miles from home. Could that be due to over-familiarity?

And according to the government's Road Accidents Great Britain Report for the same year, far more car users were killed and seriously injured at 5pm on a Friday night than at any other time during the week. Could this be due to motorists switching off as they make their way home after a week at work, thinking perhaps about the weekend ahead?

If your neighbourhood is littered with dented cars then you are probably paying the price through your car insurance policy. When insurance companies decide how much to charge you, one of the things they look at is how often crashes and thefts occur in the area where you live.

But there is a far more important reason to pay attention when nearing your home than the risk to your insurance policy - and that is the risk to the children who play on your residential estate.

It would be nice if children only played in their gardens or in recreation grounds but that's not how it works. Kids like to meet up and play outside their houses. As a consequence, about 85% of accidents involving children in the UK occur in built up areas.

So, for the sake of the children in your neighbourhood, if not yourself, please don't switch off your brain until after you have switched off your car.