Electric scooter kid went flying after hitting my car door

I read it.

Idiotic parents buying their child an illegal electric scooter, why not just give her a knife?

I think you have been given a hard time OP.

If the child is not old enough/responsible enough/skilled enough to ride the scooter safely then she should have an adult supervising her.

Sounds as if the parents have bought her a gift which is firstly illegal to use on the road or pavement, and secondly have let her use it without any tuition on how to do it safely. They have then let her ride without any form of safety equipment - no helmet, lights etc to protect her. They are the ones most responsible for any injury to their child.

DD had a V scooter at 9. When she first used it, she had a helmet and one of us was supervising - we would go for a walk and she would scoot on ahead to a point and wait for us - we could see her most if not all of the time. However, she knew that if people were walking in the other direction, she needed to stop or slow down and would do that.

She only rode without us once we felt comfortable that she was responsible enough to do so.

We wouldn't have bought her an electric scooter anyway, but in the situation you described i would have blamed her for not being careful enough with how she was riding.

The girl should have only been going at a speed that she could control the scooter. If a younger child/animal had stepped on to the pavement, the girl would not have been able to stop, and things could have been worse. Who would the parent's blame then - the toddler, the animal? Probably not their child or themselves.

The way she got up and checked the scooter before leaving, makes it sound as if she has fallen off before, and falling again didn't faze her.

Not sure what you were supposed to do when you saw her go in one direction, You have already explained that you looked and could not see her coming back due to it being dark and her wearing black, What to people think you should have done differently - climbed over the handbrake and got out of the passenger seat, just in case she scooted back? Sat in the car all evening until there had been no sight of her for 10 minutes (she could have then still returned). Even if you had got out of the passenger seat, you would have needed to step on to the pavement from between cars, so would have still be difficult to see her approaching at speed in the dark.

People are focussing on you not seeing the girl, but are forgetting that if you should have been able to see her, then she should have been able to see you - especially seeing as cars light up when the door is opened.

Hope the girl was ok and there is no come back, but more importantly hope that you are ok. It is frightening when you start thinking what could have happended,

@LoveMyPiano I mean this in the kindest way but you alluded earlier to having lost a daughter and I'm wondering if you're struggling with this and this is showing up as anger and disdain towards others. You have my sincere condolences.

Wing mirrors are a thing FFS. Fancy blaming a child for your lack of ability to use one correctly. Shame 😔

That isn't true. In 'dooring' incidents, a cyclist etc. is at fault if they were negligent. This includes going too fast, being too close to the car, no night safety gear and using the pavement.

I voted YANBU but would say (as someone who passed recently) we as motorists have to take greater care to lower hierarchy road users (yes including illegal scooter users and anyone else in a pavement). If you do Dutch reach usually then fair enough. I assume she was in your blind spot when you opened the door? Otherwise she must have been in the wing mirror? If the child didn't seem in brutal pain or to be finger pointing at the time then that is a good start. You do have third party insurance obviously as well no doubt, in case anything comes of it. I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

I was told it is always the fault of the person opening the car door if someone then crashes into it.
Don't try to shift the blame to the child or their parents. Personally I think you should be extra aware if a child is anywhere in your vicinity. They are obviously less aware

People lesser than you that all look alike

Hmmmm 🤔

If someone ran out in between cars into your path it wouldn't be your fault.

Yes, but if an eight year old child did this and I hit them, I would rush to make sure they were OK and show concern for them, obviously.

I would not go on MN to call them pudgy and a brat.

If you don’t want people talking about your child then don’t speak so disgustingly about other people’s children. Seriously, grow up and take some accountability for your actions. You can’t cry about people being mean when you’re behaving like this.

You are suggesting that all accidents are the fault of the person who performed the action.

You don't seem to understand what accidents are.

If someone ran out in between cars into your path it wouldn't be your fault.

If someone is dressed in black in with no lights riding super fast and appearing suddenly on the pavement then similarly it's not the drivers fault.

I really wouldn't tell your insurers. It will achieve nothing but put your premiums up. It's not like it was a hit and run! Your car was still parked there and youve seen the kid in the street since and she's fine.

Be wary of kids on illegal scooters in future though. Where there is one kid with a scooter there are bound to be more arriving from the sales shortly.....

Yes you should. In spite of electric scooters being illegal on pavements. Around here there are electric bikes being ridden at speed on them and no stopping at crossings or lights. I am extremely mindful of this and very careful when out and about. You should anticipate possible scenarios and that is definitely one these days.

I’m shocked that you said you didn’t want to be responsible for this child. She is an 8 year old who was in collision with your car. In addition, you should report it to your insurers even if you don’t intend to make a claim and the damage is minimal. You don’t know if she has a hidden injury and that might come back to bite you.

Of course you did. I’m not the one who’s started a thread where I’ve hit a child with a car door then proceeded to call her a brat and “pudgy”. If you don’t like people being “so offensive” then check your own behaviour first. You are acting like an entitled weirdo. Report the incident to the police online if you don’t want to be waiting on hold and maybe think about taking some responsibility for your own actions. Oh, and I won’t shut up when you’re literally bullying a young child.

As is name-calling, sorry thought you’d be smart enough to infer that but clearly not. I’ll be extra precise going forward my love xx

Not all of them no. And I doubt any daughter of yours is an angel if you had any hand in bringing her up 👍