To remind everyone to hold their children's hands

[littlemisscomper]

TIGHTLY around roads.

www.facebook.com/chris.leigh.adi/videos/2221828591393207/UzpfSTEwMDAwMDU2NTA0NjA2ODoyNDQ1MjkyNTQ1NDk5NTU2/

Even if you think they're mature enough to walk along without, they can really take you by surprise. Once I was walking through town with the little ones I nanny for. They were around 4 and 6 at the time. The little girl dropped some crappy leaflet she'd picked up at the library, pulled her hand out of mine and dove after it - straight in front of a car!! Thank goodness it stopped in time. When I exclaimed that she could have been run over her older brother defended her with 'But if she hadn't the LEAFLET would have been run over!'

I hate seeing young children walking independently, or using scooters or bikes along pavements. They just don't have the road sense. It's not worth the risk.

And it does depend on the child. I watched my 12 year old walk towards my car after school last week. He was waving at me madly and he stepped into the road without checking for cars. He was shouted at by the woman driving (rightly so) and I'd been madly gesturing to him to LOOK

So he knows what to do. He's been taught road safety. Will he still step into a road on occasion if distracted? Yep

2 huge factors in that childs favour :
Driving School Car - dual brakes so two pairs of eyes and two sets of brakes.
The driver was a medical student so was able to tend to him immediately.

One of my DS friends at school ran into the road when his kite got caught by winds. Luckily the traffic was slow , and the lorry driver approaching braked so swiftly his lorry was practically on its nose.

Reins - my DC were like whippets , I never took a risk. My MIL took DS out , I asked her to use reins but she refused. We went out with DD , he was waiting at the bus stop , she wasn;t even holding his hand .
I had to make sure he didn't see us.
I was so bloody furious she went against the ONE THING I asked her to do.

I saw this happen tonight - three kids that were old enough to know better bolting out into a busy road after a family festival. I was shouting to dh "why would anyone let their kids do that" but probably loud enough for them to hear. Oh well, I don't get why anyone would let their kids do that....

Sorry, not read the full thread, but can I qualify?

Please do not hold your children's hands tightly!

It's very easy to pull a small child's elbow joint out of its socket. If your very young child/toddler is a risk for running into the road, they need reins or similar. I've done too many A&E runs with mine and I am evangelical about it now.

The number of times i've seen a young child next to the road waiting to cross and you think is that child lost where are its parents?

And yep, their some umpteen yards behing nattering to a mate or on thier mobile:(

They have, I think, never known anyone who has lost a child and the devastation that follows the loss?.

Theers a large secondary school near here the number of children on bikes and no lights at all, yes they cycle on the drak road when they'd be safer on the pavement:(

That little child looked to me made of tough stuff to have walked away from that but what surpised me is the black car that almost ran him over seems not to be botherd you'd have though they'd have stopped?

Oh my days that video made my hands sweat.

I always hold my five year olds hand at crossings and car parks but not the entire walk to school. We want more than anything to always keep them safe but our job is also to equip them to walk without us and for us to let them do that. Scaremongering doesn’t help really imo and neither does blaming the parents if the worst does happen.

That was awful to watch and am glad I'm a ott helicopter parent sometimes as the thought of living with the aftermath of something going just wrong chills me.

Glad he's ok

please dont let ytour young children scoot on ahead of u-they go too fast and end up ploughing into people-nameley me

I still grab hold of the 19yr old ds arm out of sheer habit. Ridiculous but Ive always had a massive fear of my kids near the road.

My MIL still automatically does this for my DH. He's 48.5.

Posters asking about what age a child can safely cross a road - I read an article a few years ago that said that children under the age of 8 years old cannot judge speed properly - Iirc it was something to do with their brains not developed enough to process speed/time. I’ll see if I can find a link.

When ds1 was 11 he was walking about 6 steps behind ds2 and I. We crossed the road we live on, however ds1 just assumed it was clear and followed up without looking. Fortunately the car was coming up the hill, and not doing 30, so missed by a whisker.

I assumed that as he walked to juniors by himself that he was wise enough. He assumed that the road was clear as ds2 and I had just crossed. Lesson learnt for all 3 of us.

Ds1 was so shaken up he had to lay down for an hour when we got in. I was cross with him, and myself.

So easy for things to change in a split second.

I can remember DS1 doing this when he was 4. Stood at a crossing, he pressed the button, we stood waiting for the green man, and for some reason he just ran out into the road. Scared the life out of me.

Re older kids I did read somewhere that the biggest risk age for being involved in an accident is 11-14. Makes sense, they’ve been crossing roads for some time now, think they know the area, etc. So they get complacent.

glad to hear the child is ok. this is absolutely one of my worst nightmares. my ds is 5 and generally a cautious child but i could see him doing something like that, especially when my attention was away from him. we live in a small but busy town centre, thankfully the speed limits are low.

Not all children are bolters or do something silly. Some are completely reliable and walk nicely with minimal risk.

I would have called DS2 (5) pretty reliable until last summer.
We had 2 near misses with him.

One in the park - he was running and running away from us towards the playground and completely ignored our shouts to stop. Got to a little road as a van was approaching, paused - and then darted across the road right in front of the van. Thankfully the van was crawling along and was able to stop. DS2 was baffled at us being cross with him for not stopping when shouted at, and wrongly insisted that he had looked, it was safe to cross and the van was going the other way.

Second time - crossing the road, I was holding one hand and he had a toy in the other hand. He dropped the toy, and wrenched his hand out of mine to try and grab the toy. He got dragged to the pavement sharpish as a car was approaching, and again, completely oblivious of the danger. He was completely focused on the dropped toy and arguments about how DS2’s safety is more important than the toy’s were falling on deaf ears.

I hate seeing loose young kids , it really makes me twitch , having dealt with some that have been run over . When I was a probationer on my street duties course , we were very specifically told that unless there was the direst emergency going on , we were only to cross at the correct crossings , and only cross when green man was on , or traffic was stopped at a zebra , because if adults tended to follow us , kids certainly would , and did . It’s still habit now , some twenty odd years later .

My DD was so terrified of dogs she would step into a road rather than face one

I've said it on here already, but I got hit by a car this week, crossing a junction. I'd checked, double checked, tripled checked that we were safe to cross, but this fucking wanker as I yelled at him just swung round the corner without slowing or indicating.

It was only because I was holding 10yoDD's hand that I managed to pretty much fling her onto the pavement, or she'd have been hit by the car too.

I'm actually more shaken up by it than I realised at the time. And no, I won't be letting go of her hand for as long as I walk next to her.

I'm sure I've read somewhere that there is a increase in road accidents when children start secondary school because for many they are out and about on their own for the first time and have no road sense. they cant develop that if their hands are being held tightly. It about finding a balance surely?

Bloody hell! That is scary.
I agree kids vary. I know my own but if I have other people's with me I never know how they are with roads so can be a bit OTT on safety. I take DD and a friend to an activity weekly-they are 8 and just 9. DD is fine with the road but her friend cannot walk in a straight line and he goes diagonally across the pavement; never on to the road but closer than I would like so am constantly getting him to move across.

sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea - how scary, hope you’re ok xx

I saw a teenager get knocked down recently because he dashed across the road impulsively, like a toddler. It scared the life out of me. He picked himself up and limped off and the driver of the car just drove off, without even stopping. Is that even legal?

Anyway, it just made me think that I'll never be able to stop worrying about my children crossing the road

he dashed across the road impulsively, like a toddler. It scared the life out of me. He picked himself up and limped off and the driver of the car just drove off, without even stopping. Is that even legal?

Many years ago a young boy (maybe 8-9yo) cut in front of my car on his bike (he was in the cycle lane to my left)
His bike clipped my bumper , he was back on his bike and away before I got out of my car. DH said I was grey.

Someone at work told me I could get done for Hit&Run.

Eh? He hot me and bloody cycled off !

You don't have to remind me. DS2 is severely autistic and I can't imagine a time when we - or his carers - won't have to have a tight grip around his wrist. Wrist, not hand, because it's harder for him to twist out of without warning. I'm actually dreading him growing up a bit more and developing wrists too large to span with my own hand. He's completely innocent and has very little perception of danger - about a two year old's level. This afternoon, while walking on a fortunately quiet road, he discovered cat's eyes in the middle of the road while crossing the road, and pulled out of my grasp to run back and try and remove them from the road's surface. You get very little warning of an autistic child's bolting and it can be triggered by things that - however well you know your child - you can't always see coming.

If I could drive slowly over the wankers who go at 40 mph+ in a 30mph zone around here, I would.

I completely disagree with OP. Not all children are bolters or do something silly. Some are completely reliable and walk nicely with minimal risk.

Until they aren't. The problem with children is that you won't know before they do it, because children are impulsive and unpredictable.

I don't see the problem with allowing a child to learn to walk nicely as long as you are close enough to catch or stop them if you need to.

My son scooted to school alone from the age of 8. He got knocked down by a car on a minor rd near school. Thankfully she was driving slowly and he wasn't badly hurt. He still scooted to school the day after but with renewed caution. It's not that you have to stop them doing it, just that you cannot be too blasé about the risks involved and they need reminding all the time.

Unfortunately too many people think "it won't happen to me"