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Original poster

My worst nightmare nearly happened this morning 😞

460 replies

purrswhileheeats · 27/07/2021 17:51

I was reversing out of my driveway and almost ran over my neighbour's child, he was directly behind my car. He's no more than three years old and the only reason I saw him was he was waving his arms in the air and I saw them in my rear view mirror. He's so tiny I wouldn't have seen him otherwise as he was below the level of the back window IFYSWIM. My neighbour was loading stuff into his boot so I beeped the horn and shouted to him, he ran over, grabbed the boy and took him inside.

I was shaking and crying (sorry, that's so MN) when I got to work. They're a new family on the estate, only moved in a few months ago. The dad must've known the boy was playing outside while he was loading the car but didn't bother to check where he was.

I'm waiting for them to come home so I can go and speak to them. It's so horrible, I feel sick thinking about what could have happened.

OP posts:
MyMabel · 28/07/2021 10:30

Nobody is saying to stop look and listen at every drive entrance.

But you’d be a fool to walk across me without having a little extra vigilance as you go.

You wouldn’t walk across the entrance to a carpark without checking would you? What’s the difference.. cars park there, cars come and go.

BFrazzled · 28/07/2021 10:31

The amount of people aggressively entitled about their bad driving habits here is staggering.

Eye opening thread.

ThirdElephant · 28/07/2021 10:31

@SoupDragon

Maybe I should start checking both ways before pulling off in case some twat is coming from the left?

You should always be checking both ways anyway to ensure the way is clear. Confused

On a roundabout? My instructor told me that was undue hesitation because there won't be anything on the left. Look right. If it's clear, then go.
ThirdElephant · 28/07/2021 10:33

Nobody is saying to stop look and listen at every drive entrance.

Several people on this thread apparently have taught their children to treat driveways like roads. For me, that's stop, look, listen. Unless they're taking a pretty cavalier attitude towards crossing roads.

ThirdElephant · 28/07/2021 10:34

You wouldn’t walk across the entrance to a carpark without checking would you? What’s the difference.. cars park there, cars come and go.

Carparks have people coming and going repeatedly, rapidly, constantly throughout the day. Carpark entrances don't usually go across pavements- they're usually roads in their own right, with pedestrian crossings. Lots of differences.

BFrazzled · 28/07/2021 10:36

When you are driving a machine that has potential to kill someone you are required (by law as well as common sense) to exercise utmost caution at all times. It is not the childish game of “fairness”: those parents weren’t looking, those kids rode too fast with their scooters, that cyclist swerved, I am entitled to go into my driveway anyway I want…
Jesus wept.

BFrazzled · 28/07/2021 10:39

And yeah, by all means teach your children road safety the best you can. Just don’t ever assume other parents do, when you are driving.

Walkaround · 28/07/2021 10:39

@ThirdElephant - funnily enough, I am very aware of traffic potentially doing stupid things at a roundabout…

AlwaysLatte · 28/07/2021 10:39

What a ridiculous lot of replies on this thread. Yes reversing in is better, of course, where possible. I love how so many posters have intimate knowledge of others' exact driveway set ups so can educate them so scornfully on where they're going wrong.
Nothing bad happened. Relax.

Walkaround · 28/07/2021 10:43

There is a massive sense of entitlement coming from both drivers and pedestrians here. Personally, I take the attitude that a lot of people have a massively over-inflated sense of entitlement and that I should therefore proceed with caution whether in my car or on foot.

AlwaysLatte · 28/07/2021 10:45

NB I also have to drive forward into my drive otherwise the plug won't reach, although it's not an issue as the drive is completely private and there are reversing cameras anyway. More and more people will have to forward park with electric vehicles.
Good on the kid for waving, too. Maybe that's something their parent taught them. I've always told me children never to go round the backs of cars just like horses.

sunglassesonthetable · 28/07/2021 10:46

*The amount of people aggressively entitled about their bad driving habits here is staggering.

Eye opening thread.*

oh give over @BFrazzled Its your aggressive posting habitats that's an eye opener.

sunglassesonthetable · 28/07/2021 10:49

habits

sunglassesonthetable · 28/07/2021 10:55

Several people on this thread apparently have taught their children to treat driveways like roads. For me, that's stop, look, listen. Unless they're taking a pretty cavalier attitude towards crossing roads.

Yep didn't like my kids running in front of driveways where we couldn't see what was coming. If we could fine. 👍🏻 S, L, L not always necessary each time. Usually just Stop. Not going to argue about it.

AbD82 · 28/07/2021 11:07

Joined MN today for the first time after finding out I'm pregnant! First two threads I came across were full of lovely supportive people! Then I came across this one....wow! Original poster described a clearly terrifying situation which has affected her! Some comments are supportive but wow there's so many Judge Judy's! 😱

sunglassesonthetable · 28/07/2021 11:12

Joined MN today for the first time after finding out I'm pregnant! First two threads I came across were full of lovely supportive people! Then I came across this one....wow! Original poster described a clearly terrifying situation which has affected her! Some comments are supportive but wow there's so many Judge Judy's! 😱

Yep you'd think OP had run over the child.

Instead of driving so slowly and carefully she, thank god, saw them.

BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 28/07/2021 11:29

Original poster described a clearly terrifying situation which has affected her!

The OP described a situation that was terrifying, yes. But it was also a situation in which she had some responsibility for what occurred. Every post she made demonstrated that she accepts no responsibility and hadn't learned from it.

The fact that she was going to go round an remonstrate with the parents says it all.

DishingOutDone · 28/07/2021 11:29

@StormingNotNorming

Reversing on is not always better. A few days ago I was doing just that when a small child tried to cycle between my car and driveway on his bike. Small enough he was hard to see and had mostly been in a blind spot. It was only because I COULDN'T see him that I paused - ie I knew a child had been cycling nearby but couldn't see where he'd got to. He was behind me and had stopped just behind my car to do look at something so was bent down (his foot?).

It made me feel sick too, OP. Because I could have just checked my mirrors, seen them clear and reversed into him.

But its still entirely your fault for dangerously attempting to get in or ut of your drive Hmm

Your post just shows that this is how accidents happen its nothing to do with the OP being reckless. As many have commented, this thread is madness.

BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 28/07/2021 11:31

I don't judge anyone for a momentary lapse of judgement.

I do however judge, heavily, when people deny that driving a car places them in a position of having to take additional responsibility for safety, and completely ignore best practice safety advice even when the reasons for that advice are spelled out, multiple times.

sunglassesonthetable · 28/07/2021 11:35

I don't judge anyone for a momentary lapse of judgement.

I do however judge, heavily, when people deny that driving a car places them in a position of having to take additional responsibility for safety, and completely ignore best practice safety advice even when the reasons for that advice are spelled out, multiple times.

No tbh I don't think thats how OP came across actually. I think you and @BFrazzled were out for fight and came down like a ton of bricks and "demonstrated " your "superior knowledge " all over the place.

OP was frightened and upset. You were out for a rumble.

BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 28/07/2021 11:41

People were politely pointing out the safety issues around reversing off a drive on page 1. At no point in this entire thread has the OP said, "You know what, that's a good point, I'll reverse on in future even though it is a bit more difficult".

No. Instead, she thinks the way to ensure it doesn't happen again is just to have a word with the child's parents. She hasn't looked at her own part in this at all.

MillicentMaritime · 28/07/2021 11:43

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand Exactly!!

Babyroobs · 28/07/2021 11:45

My ds almost got run over by a reversing car when he was about two and a half, it all happened so quickly. We were walking and he was toddling at my side and a woman parked her car and I saw her walk off so thought it was safe to let him toddle into the pre school car park. Somehow she must have returned to the car very quickly and started reversing. It was only because a lorry driver across the road saw what happened and beeped his horn loudly and I was able to grab him. made me feel completely sick when I realise what could have happened. Despite having a baby in a pushchair and another child I was very aware and thought it was safe because the driver had exited the car. It was one second of taking my eyes of the situation. Hope you are ok op.

sunglassesonthetable · 28/07/2021 11:47

*People were politely pointing out the safety issues around reversing off a drive on page 1. At no point in this entire thread has the OP said, "You know what, that's a good point, I'll reverse on in future even though it is a bit more difficult".

No. Instead, she thinks the way to ensure it doesn't happen again is just to have a word with the child's parents. She hasn't looked at her own part in this at all.*

People weren't polite.

Have you ever seen OPs drive? How on earth can you comment.

OP dove so carefully she DID see the small child.

"you know what that's a good point..."
No she didn't stoke your ego.

She thinks the way to ensure... You have no idea what she thinks "will ensure it won't happen again" because she didn't say. Maybe she was speaking to them because she was upset.

I would bet OP will always be driving very carefully out of her drive in future as she was then.

sunglassesonthetable · 28/07/2021 12:03

*I accept that it would be better/safer to reverse onto my driveway and I will try this.

@purrswhileheeats *

Obvs you didn't see this @BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand . Not grateful enough to your input?