Page 8 | Electric scooter kid went flying after hitting my car door

LoveMyPiano · 2024-12-26T18:06:01+00:00

I was just about to get out of my car - door opening onto the pavement - this afternoon, not dark by any stretch of the imagination, although the car door does have a light that stays on even when ignition off. I had seen a girl (I think I know her, she's 8 or 9) go zooming past "up" the road - wearing black, on her no-doubt Christmas present, large electric scooter. I pushed the door open, not fully, an was about to get out when I heard a skidding sound and she hit the car door and went flying onto the ground. When I look afterwards, the tyre marks were about 2/3 of the way across the pavement, closer to my car. Had the door been fully opened, it would have been badly damaged, I think - or she might have been. She rolled on the ground but didn't hit her head (no helmet) and seemed to want to check her scooter thoroughly herself. I didn't say sorry - more like "Oh God!" - and checked she was OK, briefly saying that she was very difficult to see, but that's all, even though I think a whole lot more. This will no doubt come back to me as "she was knocked off her scooter by that woman up the road" etc - but AIBU to think it was her own fault, even allowing for the fact she is a young child?

Marblesbackagain · 26/12/2024 22:11

LoveMyPiano · 26/12/2024 19:49

The child was NOT hit with a metal door - her scooter hit the door, she fell off.
I am sure she has fallen over plenty of times, if anything, the door slowed her down!
And I did "cop on" to look properly. She should not have been where she was really.

Edited

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Blaming a child. Calling her indelicate you sound delightful. Victim blaming what a peach.

BigAnne · 26/12/2024 22:07

Might also be a good idea to park on the correct side of the road in future.

Original poster

LoveMyPiano · 26/12/2024 21:51

I'm back - thank you for informative responses.
Just been out on my bike for an errand. In the fog - but lit up like Dynamo (and picked up for a lift home).

I tend to be over-cautious really - I do what I called the Dutch reach wrongly, when I set off, turning my head every which way like Regan in The Exorcist; I also use reflections, shadows and sound to let me know when it is safest. (These scooters aren't much help with those methods though. Obviously.) I am also that annoying driver who actually does leave the inner bike lane and bike box clear at my closest crossroads, which intersect a B road with a busy A road. This mean often that a car really wants to squeeze up the outside to turn right, but if I leave the bike lane clear, that cannot be done.... I also check again as I get to the lights, and before I turn left there. It is quite a dangerous junction, notorious for accidents.

As far as the scooter rider is concerned, I cannot say for sure that i know where she actually lives - so knocking at the house I think it is could be futile, and seen as maybe creepy. Like I said, she and her friends have been shockingly rude, but I wouldn't wish her any harm. IF it's her - as there are several who look alike.

I shall be ringing 1010 tomorrow, as it is preying on my mind; this is not to drop anyone in it though - including, and especially myself!

OP posts:

samarrange · 26/12/2024 21:34

Violinist64 · 26/12/2024 21:12

I really feel for you @LoveMyPiano. A couple of years ago, I was driving home on a pitch black early winter evening. There were a lot of parked cars and it was up a slight incline so l was driving at a very slow speed. Suddenly, around a blind corner and as if from nowhere, a boy aged around twelve or so came speeding down the road on one of these e-scooters. He was also dressed from top to toe in black and only had a very faint bicycle lamp at the front. Had l been driving any faster, I would almost certainly have hit him and he could well have been killed. I was in a state of shock for quite a while afterwards as I thought of what could so easily have been. I think that these e-scooters should be banned for under eighteens and that parents who allow their fairly young children to have them are very irresponsible.

>>I think that these e-scooters should be banned for under eighteens
They already are, except on private land. But the importers know that 99.9% of them will be used on the roads, and they don't care.

There is a case to be made for banning their sale altogether, but then there would probably be a media campaign led by Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson, financed by Elon Musk, saying "Here is little Chardonnay Smith who only ever rides her scooter at the track and will now be unable to compete for GB at the Olympics in the 400m underwater electric scooter event, why is Keir Stalin's nanny state infringing on an Englishman's freedoms in his castle, the police should go and catch some real criminals instead". 🙄

randomchap · 26/12/2024 21:33

Dahliasrule · 26/12/2024 20:37

I agree the girl should not have been riding the e-scooter on the pavement, however, OP did not use due caution before opening the door.
Rule 239 of the Highway Code.

you MUST ensure you do not hit anyone when you open your door. Check for cyclists or other traffic by looking all around and using your mirrors
where you are able to do so, you should open the door using your hand on the opposite side to the door you are opening; for example, use your left hand to open a door on your right-hand side. This will make you turn your head to look over your shoulder. You are then more likely to avoid causing injury to cyclists or motorcyclists passing you on the road, or to people on the pavement

Notice the last part where you are supposed to turn your head.

It's called the Dutch Reach and is a safer way of opening car doors

https://www.cyclinguk.org/dutchreach

I've been teaching DC to do it. It could prevent injury

The Dutch Reach | Cycling UK

35% of drivers admit to not looking for cyclists before opening their car door. We're working with police, driving schools and road safety groups to teach drivers the 'Dutch Reach' and put an end to car-dooring - and you can help

https://www.cyclinguk.org/dutchreach

AlmostAJillSandwich · 26/12/2024 21:31

Could this count potentially as a hit and run, or failure to report a collision/incident?
If i were you i'd at least call 101 and report the incident. Better that, than her parents report it and police show up at your door with her side of the story to go on.

SinnerBoy · 26/12/2024 21:30

HoundsOfHelfire · Today 20:12

You’re in a car, you have a duty to give way to pedestrians and others on pavements and roads.

It's not about giving way, it's about someone riding illegally on a pavement at high speed, ,exacerbated by being both on the pavement and not legally entitled to ride the machine, as well as the device being illegal to use on the public highway.

She didn't door a cyclist in the road, she is not to blame in any way. The irresponsible parents and to a lesser degree, the girl are to blame.

Violinist64 · 26/12/2024 21:12

I really feel for you @LoveMyPiano. A couple of years ago, I was driving home on a pitch black early winter evening. There were a lot of parked cars and it was up a slight incline so l was driving at a very slow speed. Suddenly, around a blind corner and as if from nowhere, a boy aged around twelve or so came speeding down the road on one of these e-scooters. He was also dressed from top to toe in black and only had a very faint bicycle lamp at the front. Had l been driving any faster, I would almost certainly have hit him and he could well have been killed. I was in a state of shock for quite a while afterwards as I thought of what could so easily have been. I think that these e-scooters should be banned for under eighteens and that parents who allow their fairly young children to have them are very irresponsible.

stargazerlil · 26/12/2024 21:03

LoveMyPiano · 26/12/2024 19:22

I am definitely thinking of the Police, as an Incident - but it could open a horrible can of worms. As I said, the girl (and her friends) can be, and have been, quite rude, to put it mildly. Who knows where it could end up; that's quite a worry.

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Then probably even more important to report it to the police. Don’t be scared.

stargazerlil · 26/12/2024 21:00

Nogaxeh · 26/12/2024 19:59

This happens to cyclists a lot. People not looking properly and opening doors into their path.

Does the OP think the girl on the scooter should have anticipated her opening her door?

Moot point cyclists should be on the road. The girl was on the pavement.

MyrtlethePurpleTurtle · 26/12/2024 20:47

Raindropskeepfallinonmyhead · 26/12/2024 18:27

How awful OP - are you ok? Must have shaken you up a bit

How awful for the little girl - is she OK? Must have shaken her up a hell of a lot

Galatine · 26/12/2024 20:42

Irrespective of blame and even if you don’t know the identity of the other person, you should report this to the Police within 24 hours.

”When should I report an accident to the police?
You should report the accident to the police if:

Anyone is injured
You didn’t exchange details at the scene
You believe a crime has been committed

You need to report the accident to the police by dialling 101 – the non-emergency police number – within 24 hours.” (Confused.com website).

Daisybuttercup12345 · 26/12/2024 20:40

I'd tell the police just for your own peace of mind.

Dahliasrule · 26/12/2024 20:37

I agree the girl should not have been riding the e-scooter on the pavement, however, OP did not use due caution before opening the door.
Rule 239 of the Highway Code.

you MUST ensure you do not hit anyone when you open your door. Check for cyclists or other traffic by looking all around and using your mirrors
where you are able to do so, you should open the door using your hand on the opposite side to the door you are opening; for example, use your left hand to open a door on your right-hand side. This will make you turn your head to look over your shoulder. You are then more likely to avoid causing injury to cyclists or motorcyclists passing you on the road, or to people on the pavement

Notice the last part where you are supposed to turn your head.

MissRoseDurward · 26/12/2024 20:34

Two teenage girls were dressed in dark clothes,....

Why is it that they're always dressed in black or dark clothes?

I once saw boy/young man in black on an e-scooter on a bright sunny day, on a road with overhanging trees. When he went from the sun into the shade under the trees, he was invisible. If I hadn't seen him go in there, I wouldn't have known he was there. (I was a pedestrian on the other side of the road, so I was no threat to him, or him to me.)

purpleblue2 · 26/12/2024 20:30

LoveMyPiano · 26/12/2024 18:12

I couldn't wait for her to pass, she came zooming down behind me.
I didn't deliberately open the door into "her path"... I had seen her go past and out of sight; she must have turned round to come back.

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Oh that’s not clear in the first post but either way I don’t think your unreasonable she should have some what road sense.

Pickles2025 · 26/12/2024 20:30

LoveMyPiano · 26/12/2024 20:01

I'm not clear on your post....
I ride a bike, as I have said, daily ---- and always take great care passing parked vehicles, for fear of someone getting out of their car and maybe they haven't seen me approaching. I give a very very wide berth, and slow down, and even look for movement in the car, or brake lights/indicators etc. I can do all of this because I am an adult, old(er) and a road user.

(And I got my Cycling Proficiency Test! - back when there was such a thing...)

The kid on the scooter is none of those things, and if she does not have the awareness, should not be on the scooter - and certainly not near me I hope.
And definitely not, when they are illegal, and there was not a parent in sight.

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the point im making is either look ahead to see whats coming towards you if possilbe, then your mirrors to see anything on approach from behind then open the door.

sometimes i cannot go wide when on roads due to other drivers on the other side so therefore to me as its the drivers getting out their cars onto a road, then they should look first,

like the advice at lights, stop, look, listen etc

ButterCrackers · 26/12/2024 20:28

No helmet. She was lucky. Fast scooters etc should not be on pavements.

excelledyourself · 26/12/2024 20:25

Bit too close to saying Sorry though - which could be seen as admitting fault.

If I even just witnessed an 8yo have an accident like this, I'd be checking in with the parents that she was okay.

It's nowhere near an admission of guilt, just the right thing to do.

Nogaxeh · 26/12/2024 20:25

LoveMyPiano · 26/12/2024 20:20

I'll sit in my car - and all passengers too - until ---- when, then..? Because she came at speed out of nowhere.
Shouldn't be there.
The fact remains that my car door was not fully opened, the pavement is quite wide. She had room (but not the ability?) to steer around; the problem was the speed she was going.

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She can't come out of nowhere. You're excusing your failure to check for her properly.

The same as every driver who has knocked down a cyclist and said, "Sorry Mate, I Didn't See You."

I'm sick of that attitude.

Original poster

LoveMyPiano · 26/12/2024 20:20

Nogaxeh · 26/12/2024 20:16

If the government doesn't want e-scooters to be used in the roads or the pavements then they should ban their sale.

I can't blame kids for riding them on the pavement when the government permits them to be sold. Where else are they supposed to use them?

Anyone opening a car door has to check properly. I'm not going to provide absolution to the OP for their failure to do so.

Sometimes everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them. The OP made a mistake and should check more carefully next time.

I'll sit in my car - and all passengers too - until ---- when, then..? Because she came at speed out of nowhere.
Shouldn't be there.
The fact remains that my car door was not fully opened, the pavement is quite wide. She had room (but not the ability?) to steer around; the problem was the speed she was going.

OP posts:

Nogaxeh · 26/12/2024 20:16

If the government doesn't want e-scooters to be used in the roads or the pavements then they should ban their sale.

I can't blame kids for riding them on the pavement when the government permits them to be sold. Where else are they supposed to use them?

Anyone opening a car door has to check properly. I'm not going to provide absolution to the OP for their failure to do so.

Sometimes everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them. The OP made a mistake and should check more carefully next time.

HoundsOfHelfire · 26/12/2024 20:12

You’re in a car, you have a duty to give way to pedestrians and others on pavements and roads.

CaptainBeanThief · 26/12/2024 20:07

I'm fucking sick of seeing these, they are a nuisance especially amongst teenagers up to no good and adults going to work ( get a fucking bus)
They pull out of junctions, undertake you, they just cause chaos and they don't have a clue how the roads work,
Two teenage girls were dressed in dark clothes, it was a dark night, they pulled out of a junction just on a bend, I had to slam on and then over take when safe and then when I bleeped they had the cheek to flash at me and give me a load of shit.
Why parents buy these their kids is beyond me either that are they are being nicked 😬

JohnofWessex · 26/12/2024 20:06

The parents could be prosecuted under the 'cause or permit' legislation.

The OP could have been a passenger and to be honest unless you were on a busy road I doubt that the Police would be bothered about which side you were on unless they really really wanted to do you for something