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.

OP was driving safely

no she wasn't. You shouldn't reverse from your driveway.
I am glad that the OP managed to see the child, they 're tiny and it's

but people who reverse on the road really piss me off. Sympathy for the ones who live on very busy ones, where the traffic makes it near impossible, but the number of lazy ones driving into drives in residential areas beggar belief.

Bonus points when they live on the road of a primary school.
If you are confident enough to drive on the main road, you can manage your own driveway.

I don't care where they're from, I just want to make sure it doesn't happen again.

What exactly are you planning to say to them? You're seriously going to tell them off because their 3 yr old was on the pavement?

If you tell them off for poor parenting, you need to be prepared for them to tell you off for poor driving.

Maybe just leave it, eh?

I don’t think this was anyone’s fault

Of course it was people’s fault

1. the parent who failed to supervise their child on the road

2. OP for not making sure she had the best view possible of the space she was entering.

Surely if op reverses in it would be a worry when going in rather than out?
Anyway, well done for seeing him op. Not surprised you're shaken up.

@Terrazzo

Yeah but the point is you can't see a kid behind your car using just your mirrors, as if they're behind your boot you the mirrors can't see so nor can you. Just reverse in!

Because no one will be behind the car if OP reverses in?

@OnTheBrink1

How on Earth do you get the pram / buggy / shopping in and out of the boot if you are reversing into parking spaces or your drive?

by opening it?

How small is your drive if you can't manage to open the boot on it?

Telling OP to reverse in doesn't help at all as he still could of been there reversing in!

Stay calm, nothing bad actually happened, it was a near miss and could of happened to anyone.

Have a wine lol.

I have a limited range of movement through my neck which makes it difficult to reverse.

Once you have to reverse in (because reversing out with poor visibility is so dangerous) you soon learn that anything you can drive into, you can reverse into.

I'm sure there must be rare exceptions, but my neck was fused in 2009 and I honestly can't think of any time I've been forced to drive into a space. Yes, it might take (a lot) longer but at least driving out is smoother and safer.

@purrswhileheeats
It might be worth practising on a quiet day to find the knack for your particular space. Having moved house a few times, I've had to accept that each new driveway needs a bit of practice.

@MotionActivatedDog

Don't be so bloody patronising "do I understand"

I understand that you and those like you who have done nothing but talk to op like she's stupid think you're clearly superior and are doing the great British public a service by educating the rest of us idiots

@LubaLuca

Start reversing on to your driveway. Things like this are easily avoided.

Unless the child runs behind the car when she is reversing on.

@pleasedonttextmyman

Those peasants with their tiny drive ways

Just reverse in
Learn to reverse
fit sensors to your cars
buy a camera

God these comments.
We physically CAN’T reverse into our driver as you can’t get out of the driver side if you do. We’re also living paycheck to paycheck so can’t afford just to shell out for parking sensors or cameras or whatever else the MN massive can simply buy.

How about you don’t let your kids run around in the street or keep and eye on them… OP was checking mirrors and doing what she SOULD be doing as a driver (and she has already explained she physically can’t reverse into the drive due to the layout). Less can be said for the parent of the child tbh.

You almost killed a child is quite the hyperbole. OP was reversing off her drive, you can’t get up the speed to KILL a child ffs.

@BFrazzled

Crap, it beggars belief.

You almost killed a child and manage to make this sound about yourself. Nursing your shaken self and about to give a proper telling to those Romanian parents. Lucky you they weren't English - guess who would be told off for reversing into the street?

Reverse into your drive each and every time from now on. You cannot = you are unfit to drive, end of story. Like literally, today, before you are preparing to knock onto Romanians door, reverse into your drive. Or call your husband or other designated adult in your household to do it for you...

You sound like a smug arse!

Am I an entitled white British woman because I want to speak to my Romanian neighbours about nearly running over their child? I don't want to berate them fgs.

I don't live in the UK BTW. Our estate is a mix of Greeks, British, Russians, Cypriots, Romanians and Syrians and we all get along well.

@PaddleBoardingMomma

Everyone shouting YoU ShOuLd LeARn HoW tO rEvErsE and no one saying maybe those either people should responsibly watch their own damn children in a public open space with moving vehicles around?!

Honestly some days you mumsnetters really out do yourselves.

give us a break.

You are in the wrong if you are too lazy to reverse, full stop.

A pavement is not supposed to be a public open space for moving vehicles.

OP was reversing off her drive, you can’t get up the speed to KILL a child ffs.

That’s not true. She could have driven over him.

OP could just as easily reverse into toddler reversing into her driveways as reversing out of it.

No she couldn't! It's physically possible that it could happen, yes, but far more unlikely.

1. Just think about the physical manoeuvre you do when you reverse into a driveway (or any parking space for that matter). It involves driving past the space, which means that you can see into the space before you reverse.

2. Children are far less likely to be at the back of a driveway than innocently walking along the pavement, for obvious reasons.

3. The fact that a car has paused on the road by the driveway will alert slightly older children, and any adults in the vicinity, to the possibility that the car is going to reverse in. If a car reverses out, there is no warning until it starts moving.

If you don't believe all the posters on this thread, just google it.

Have a search of @BFrazzled other posts... they are pretty awful to everyone they interact with. Either a troll or a total scum bag I'm not sure

So can a child not get behind a car reversing int a drive? Interesting.

I always reverse in - it is much safer as you get a wider view of the pavement and drive entrance from the road in. I would practice, practice, practice so you are confident reversing in and you won't need to worry pulling out again.

[quote PaddleBoardingMomma]@BFrazzled

Are you ok? Genuinely I'm concerned you're really not doing so well... your posts are bizarre [/quote]
Momma, it's an anonymous internet forum. Really the last place to be "genuinely" concerned about people. Pretending that things "demented" or "stupid" when they make you feel insecure is childish. Just learn how to do confident reverse and you will start feeling better about yourself...

[quote PaddleBoardingMomma]@pleasedonttextmyman

Those peasants with their tiny drive ways [/quote]
I was more thinking someone with a ridiculously big car... not being able to open the boot, seriously? I don't buy it.

Lazy drivers will come up with any excuse.
Unless you have one of these drives with an entrance and an exit, you'll have to reverse out anyway!

(and she has already explained she physically can’t reverse into the drive due to the layout)

No she hasn't. She just said it's difficult.

Hope you are ok op, it was an upsetting incident and you don’t deserve the unkind comments.

It seems you can’t describe anything these days without someone accusing you of all sorts!

[quote PaddleBoardingMomma]@MotionActivatedDog

Don't be so bloody patronising "do I understand"

I understand that you and those like you who have done nothing but talk to op like she's stupid think you're clearly superior and are doing the great British public a service by educating the rest of us idiots [/quote]
Well why did you post like you didn’t understand?