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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:
BobbidyBob · 27/07/2021 19:22

@MagicSummer

Why should OP and other people have to watch out for someone else's bloody kid? YOU keep watch on them - we have better things to do. Why should she reverse into her drive if it is inconvenient? You people are sometimes rather silly.
The only one sounding silly here is you. It’s not just about “watching for someone else’s bloody kid”, it is hazard perception when driving. A massive part of your test. You are the one in charge of a moving vehicle, you need to be on the lookout for hazards. Parents also need to look after their children. BOTH parties have responsibility.
Benjispruce5 · 27/07/2021 19:23

Wow some very stupid people on this thread. Pap saw the child and stopped. If children don’t understand road safety, they shouldn’t be unsupervised.

Benjispruce5 · 27/07/2021 19:24

OP not pap.

Motnight · 27/07/2021 19:24

There are some horrible posts on this thread

DrNo007 · 27/07/2021 19:24

You have my sympathies and apparently the popular ‘high set’ design of many of the larger modern cars like SUVs has made this problem worse as the little kids vanish below your sight line.

Benjispruce5 · 27/07/2021 19:25

Pap did look out for hazards and spotted the child but the small child should not have been standing behind a car unsupervised. No amount of care would make him visible if he had been waving his arms

Ohfuckitall · 27/07/2021 19:26

@zaffa

I understand OP. We live on a busy road with foot traffic and parents give no thought to letting their kids run or scoot ahead across people's entrance to their drives without checking. We all have six foot fences out front due to traffic noise and I have had to stop sharply more than once as a child suddenly shoots out in front of me on a scooter.

The worst are primary school children cycling to / from school who use the pavement (not a cycle path) and don't check who is coming out.

Its YOUR job to check before you pull out. Pavements are for people. It is YOUR job to check the pavement is clear before you drive your car over it. If the fence YOU chose to have is obscuring your view then that is a problem YOU created and need to deal with.
Benjispruce5 · 27/07/2021 19:26

Hadn’t

Benjispruce5 · 27/07/2021 19:26

She did check!!!!

MotionActivatedDog · 27/07/2021 19:26

Why should OP and other people have to watch out for someone else's bloody kid?

This can’t be a serious question? Please tell me you don’t have a drivers license!

bringincrazyback · 27/07/2021 19:27

@flapjackfairy

Well presumably you could run over them just the same when reversing onto the drive.
I was just thinking the same thing.
zaffa · 27/07/2021 19:27

@Ohfuckitall pavements are not for bicycles though

Blamelesscars · 27/07/2021 19:29

The op doesn’t actually say if the child was on the pavement or had run into her actual drive. The parent should have been aware of where the child was especially if he was on her actual drive. Completely irresponsible to let your child run around peoples driveways and yes I would blame myself if my child was hit on someone else’s driveway because I wasn’t paying attention

LublinToDublin · 27/07/2021 19:29

MagicSummer do you not understand what a pavement is? It's for pedestrians.

It is illegal to drive on the pavement except in a few circumstances, one of which is access to and from a driveway. But the responsibility for safety still lies with the driver - because the pedestrian has primary right to be there.

Original poster
purrswhileheeats · 27/07/2021 19:29

Oh and in reference to 'my worst nightmare'. I watched an episode of Oprah or Dr Phil years ago where a workman left a customer's house in the USA and killed their child when he reversed out of the driveway. The parents never blamed the driver but that story haunted me.

OP posts:
INeedNewShoes · 27/07/2021 19:30

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

Yes you can. Exactly this happened to a toddler here not so long ago. Absolutely awful. The driver was related to the child who was killed.

I would never reverse out of a driveway. I always reverse into whatever space/driveway I’m parking in on arrival. You have a much better idea of potential hazards having just arrived somewhere rather than blindly just reversing off a driveway. Very very occasionally you’re faced with a situation where a driveway is only able to be driven into due to the angle. The only time I’ve experienced this, I asked someone to stand by the road as I reversed out to check for kids.

Certainly there are cars with such stupidly huge bonnets that you can’t see much driving forwards either but I personally wouldn’t buy one.

Mummyoflittledragon · 27/07/2021 19:31

I love this update on the demographics of your estate as it shuts up the people saying you think you’re superior.

Just as a word of thought, idk where you are but police in some countries don’t treat people as well as in the U.K. when they cause a rta, especially if they hurt a person. I appreciate that you obviously have no intention of hurting a child. But I really would try to rethink your manoeuvres.

MagicSummer · 27/07/2021 19:31

But the child should not have been on the pavement, unsupervised.

@MotionActivatedDog - I assume you mean a 'driving licence' not a 'drivers license' and you bet I do!

zaffa · 27/07/2021 19:31

[quote zaffa]@Ohfuckitall pavements are not for bicycles though[/quote]
And I never once said it wouldn't be my responsibility to check before I pulled out. But it is wholly irresponsible not to teach your child to check before running or scooting past someone's drive - it's probably why those primary school children think it's ok to cycle past them on the pavement too. At the end of the day, no one wants a child to be hit and so their own parents must take responsibility for teaching them road safety and also keeping them safe, and the driver must take responsibility for checking and ensuring no one and nothing is in front or behind their car before they move off.

FredtheCatsMum · 27/07/2021 19:32

That sounds terrible, and I really sympathise.

One thing we all need to think about (and I've no idea if this applies to the OP) is whether the size of our cars is really necessary. In the last 10 years, both the average width and the average height of vehicles has increased enormously. These vehicles feel safer, but aren't necessarily so, particularly for those outside the car.
www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/07/a-deadly-problem-should-we-ban-suvs-from-our-cities

GingerBeverage · 27/07/2021 19:32

Sadly, this type of incident has increased in recent years as the blind spot behind larger SUV type vehicles is bigger.

Good to raise awareness, thanks OP.

Ilikecheeseontoast · 27/07/2021 19:32

There are some absolute morons on Mumsnet tonight! Mainly @BFrazzled maybe they’ve been at the Gin early?
OP, I’m glad you and the child are ok. Let’s hope the parents keep a closer eye on him in future!.

MotionActivatedDog · 27/07/2021 19:33

@MagicSummer

But the child should not have been on the pavement, unsupervised.

@MotionActivatedDog - I assume you mean a 'driving licence' not a 'drivers license' and you bet I do!

So unbelievably absurd that someone who thinks they have no responsibility to look for hazards while driving is legally allowed to drive.
ChittyChittyBangBangChicken · 27/07/2021 19:34

Not OP's fault for not reversing in. Sometimes it's not possible. That doesn't make OP an irresponsible or unqualified driver.

I'd make a habit of noticing if the child was out when I was about to drive and maybe calling out to the parent that I was about to start up the car, if they don't seem to be watching him closely. If possible, see if you can spot the child before you begin reversing.

Ohfuckitall · 27/07/2021 19:34

[quote zaffa]@Ohfuckitall pavements are not for bicycles though[/quote]
You talked about scooters. And even if it is a young child on a bike, the fact is, as in OPs case, if someone is on a pavement and you are driving across the pavement in your car, the absolute onus is on the driver to make sure that they are not hitting anyone on the pavement. The pedestrian absolutely has right of way.

Its absolutely astonishing that people here cannot grasp this simple fact.

You can't hit people on pavements with your car and then blame the person for being on the pavement, regardless of the age or supervision status of the person you hit.