To think this is actually really entitled parenting?

[GlummyMcGlummerson]

Seen this post from several people this morning outraged at the walking couple

www.facebook.com/672995864/posts/10158029908925865/?d=n

Now I am in no way condoning the disgusting language of the man in question. But the dad showed such an entitled attitude. He didn't tell his DD to slow down even when she was on the heels of the couple. She could have hurt them if they'd been elderley or disabled, and you can't tell from behind. He didn't practice social distancing - even if the couple had moved they'd have been way less than 2m apart from them, unless they threw themselves into a bush. And when his DD fell off the bike, rather than comfort her he spent the time arguing with and blaming the couple while she cried on the floor.

I've taken my kids to paths like this during lockdown and have said if someone is walking ahead we have to walk behind them with the bikes until we can pass them safely or the paths get wider. This is while teaching them to cycle, and just because they have momentum it doesn't mean they shouldn't stop - surely that's part of learning to cycle, knowing when to judge the safety of themselves and others?

I suppose i also hate this trend of social media vigilantism whereby people want to share faces of those who've slighted them, usually with a huge amount of bias and very little context. And the general public seem to lap it up! I am hard of hearing and I hate cyclists coming up behind me when I walk as unless they bellow "excuse me" I simply will not hear them. I wouldn't be pleased if a child bashed into me and then I got yelled at by the parent for not having good hearing and eyes in the back of my head.

[Justgivemesomepeace]

I thought the same. The man was awful however if the child didnt have the skills to slow down and stop her bike, she should be practising in a space with no people until she has proper control.
It was a stupid place to go on a bike anyway whilst we are social distancing. What if the person she was dinging her bell at was deaf? I dont excuse the man who was horrible but the parents were irresponsible in my opinion. That kid should have been ridjng on that narrow path in the first place .

[lyralalala]

That’s ridiculous parenting.

He didn’t even say excuse me particularly loud so if you were engrossed in conversation then you could easily miss it

When they didn’t response to his first “excuse me” he should have stopped her until there was more space or until he’d got their attention

[flamegame]

I can’t see much to choose here between them, they both acted horribly. Is the world better off for having seen this?

[GlummyMcGlummerson]

They clearly weren’t hard of hearing

Genuine question: how can you tell?! No one could tell that I am hard of hearing. I don't wear a hearing aid (yet) - is there a "look" the bars of hearing have about them?

Even if they weren't hard of hearing, having a conversation or even being deep in thought can block out other sounds.

[REdReDRE]

All the adults were in the wrong I think.

[MintyChapstick]

Im sick to the back teeth of having to jump out of the way of incompetent cyclists at the moment. They are everywhere, inculding on pavements which is illegal. A few weeks ago I had to move out of the way of some twat who was treating a public footpath through a wooded area like a bloody race track.

[lyralalala]

Also at the point he let his daughter crash into them he had no idea if they were able to hear or not. So the onus was entirely on him to keep his child at a safe distance

[Sparklingbrook]

I am intrigued by 'hard of hearing' being clearly visible. I will tell my Mother.

[Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches]

No, the walking couple were completely in the wrong. They could easily have filed in in single file. They deliberately didn’t and were provocative.

Poor little girl must have been hurt.

[Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]

The child rode into the back of other people. They had every right to be upset. (horrible manner, and don't condone the anger)
The parent was entirely at fault - he should have got her to stop. Instead of making a freaking video.
The path would be unsuitable for a young child barely able to ride to cycle along at the best of times!

[fivesecondrule]

It might be entitled parenting but when that bloke kicked the bike of a crying child he made a total arse of himself.

[Weallhavevalidopinions]

The girls dad needs to teach her how to stop if he wants her to cycle ahead. Not because of just this but stopping is a useful skill to avoid danger.
The couple couldn't really go anywhere.
The language is unnecessary.
The dad should have comforted his daughter not filmed the couple for facebook ranting.

Typical of many - get out of our way - we will film everything we want and pop on social media so friends can feel sorry for us.
Report to the police for what - swearing?
Being crashed into?

[PrincessConsueIaBananaHammock]

You can hear the man saying excuse me not the child.

And when the child seem to be slowing/wavering her Dad told her to keep going. Entirely his fault.

No matter why the couple didn't move...didn't hear, no room, stubborn. You do not put your child in that situation. Even more importantly you do not encourage them to keep going.

He used his kid to play chicken so no sympathy for him. Poor kid though.

[Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches]

The dad should have made sure the dd didn’t end up hitting them for her sake- told her to stop not said “keep going” or could have grabbed the bike - but they were being arses.

I’m sick of getting out of the way of adult cyclists but this was a little girl.

[GrimmsFairytales]

No, the walking couple were completely in the wrong. They could easily have filed in in single file. They deliberately didn’t and were provocative.

Why is the onus on the walking couple to move? Why couldn't the dad tell the daughter to slow down / stop and then pass when it was safe to do so?

[Alymcnabs]

That post has had over 90,000 shares!

Some bloke and his wife were out for their daily exercise, got ran into by some kid on a bike, verbally abused by her father and now are all over FB as if they had done something terrible!

I hope the Police wipe the floor with the father!

[JudyCoolibar]

They deliberately didn’t and were provocative.

How do you know? They may not have heard

Not great kicking the bike, but it probably hurt having a bike ridden into their legs, and it's understandable to a degree when they got shouted at by the person whose fault it was.

[Northernsoullover]

Who the hell does he think he is? He should have waited until the path was wider. He's completely to blame.

[Sparklingbrook]

Yes I agree the bloke lost points for kicking the bike.

if it's on their local Spotted page too he will probably not be able to go for a walk for a while.

[Abbccc]

The little girl should have been told to stop.

[BiggerBoat1]

The dad should have shouted at the little girl to stop. They shouldn't be cycling on such a narrow path especially if she can't control her bike and his first instinct should have been to apologise.

The walking couple were possibly being a bit pissy, but where should they have moved to?

[Jimdandy]

I agree I think the cyclists’ were in the wrong. (With the exception of him kicking the bike at the end).

The woman said/pointed to a clearing where she was going to move too. Just because you shout excuse me doesn’t mean that person has to instantly move, as other said there was no where for them to go.

It wasn’t the most appropriate place to take a child too to practice bike riding in the first place for that very reason, right path.

He should have showed her how to slow down and stop. She just kept pedalling and he didn’t even say just stop pedalling to minimise impact.

Entitled parent as usual

[PrincessConsueIaBananaHammock]

Watched again, the 6 yo has more common sense than the adult and starts slowing down . The dad tells her to keep going.

He's a twat.

[Lunawuna]

Poor child, the dad's a twat though. I take my two (5 and 7) out on their bikes/scooters, and have done since they were toddlers and it's always drummed into them that you don't go scooting/cycling right up behind someone. The dad should have got the daughter to stop, which would have avoided the whole sorry situation from happening, and he should also have considered whether he should have been walking with her, rather than being on his own bike, and whether a narrow trail was the most appropriate place to take her cycling when it's likely to be busier with pedestrians given the lockdown.

The sweary man acted like an arse, but they shouldn't be expecting to get crashed into by a bike. I've had DD fall into me on her bike at slow speed and it still hurts having a big pointy lump of metal fall into your calf, for all it was at low speed.

I'm not surprised the Facebook comments are supportive though, no one ever calls their pals out for poor behaviour on social media when there's a witch-hunt to be had.

[cologne4711]

When I have cycled on a pavement (there is a short stretch near my house which avoids two dangerous right turns) I have always told my son that he gets off and walks if he sees a pedestrian.

However, this also sounds like a typical joined at the hip couple who won't go single file. Even if the girl had got off her bike at the outset, she would still have had the problem of having to get past them when they wouldn't let her.

It is quite astonishing how many times you have to shout excuse me to people at times. I don't like bells, I think they sound very imperious, but sometimes I think I need a really loud one!

However as I've said before, all this conflict is happening because we give far too much space to cars, and not nearly enough space to people on two feet and two wheels.