My worst nightmare nearly happened this morning 😞

[purrswhileheeats]

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.

@sunglassesonthetable
OP got an appropriate telling off because of the general vibe of holding the parents totally responsible for the near accident, which she later explicitly confirmed (“I will not be made to feel responsible for what happened today…”)
Sometimes we feel bad and still are totally in the wrong…

Feel for you OP, you drove carefully, noticed a young child and stopped and felt shaken up as you don't have telepathy to see under the window line.

It appears that some want you to suffer for daring to assume that the child's parents could have ensured that he was not hanging about behind a car.

The exact same post by the OP (on page 10 - long after most of the posts giving the advice about reverse parking) subsequently says "I'm not being made to feel guilty or responsible for what could have happened"

So the OP doesn't accept any responsibility on her part at all. It's a strange kind of doublethink - she apparently accepts that it would be safer to reverse park, but accepts no responsibility for the potential consequences of not doing so.

Yes - the parent should have been more careful, absolutely. But the OP was also at fault. And the onus is always on the person who is in charge of a ton of moving metal to ensure they drive safely.

(It's a bit like saying "I'm not racist, but...". The 'but' invalidates everything that precedes it.)

Anyway, I'm done with this thread. I just hope that some of those reading are now better informed about the safety issues around reversing off drives than they were before, and maybe choose to park differently in future as a result. Because that will potentially save some lives

Nah you jumped in like a ton of vehement bricks. @BFrazzled

I expect you're a bit of a keyboard warrior.

Anyway, I'm done with this thread. I just hope that some of those reading are now better informed about the safety issues around reversing off drives than they were before, and maybe choose to park differently in future as a result. Because that will potentially save some lives

Hilarious. Hope we're all totally grateful for your input.

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand

I am entitled to go into my driveway anyway I want

Actually @BFrazzled I think you'll find there is indeed no law against people driving into their own driveway however they want. Jesus wept.

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.

Yeah, because there's never the chance of anything being stopped to the left is there? My nearest roundabout has zebra crossings so you'd be a bloody idiot not to check left before blithely accelerating off.

Looking to the left to quickly check is not undue hesitation.

Sounds awful. Glad everyone is ok.

Don't go round there. What are you hoping to achieve???

I remember reading, years ago, a newspaper report of a lorry driver who committed suicide because he was haunted by the fear of crushing a cyclist.

We all do what we can, OP [flowers}
Please take no notice of the batshit comments on here.