There's a few things that I do want to say.
I can't tell you how much I've talked about roads. Maybe I wasn't exactly supervising but I thought he was old enough to be trusted and in fact it seems like I turned my back for a moment where he thought I was out of sight and he went and did the most incredibly stupid thing.
I live on an estate. There's a big area that used to be for cars but now is only accessible to keyholders and emergency vehicles and there's a low wall that protects it from the road except for a driveway where the barrier is. I wanted to believe that he somehow went down that driveway by accident but actually there's no way and he's admitted as much. He actually chose to go into the road. I hadn't considered the possibility of that ever happening by accident and I would still view such a thing as highly unlikely, despite my attempts to renegotiate reality. As far as I was concerned he was in a protected space. The road outside, by the way, is a 20mph and I don't think for a moment she was going faster than that.
What seems to have happened next is that he saw the Discovery and panicked and decided to stay still where the driver would know where the r/c was and could miss. She didn't, of course. How much I believe right now is all a bit open to question. The idea that he just aimed it there to be crushed is pretty unthinkable but that's been put to him and he's pretty clear that the jury's out, because it's an explanation that rather sadly fits the facts as far as anyone knows them.
I paid quite a bit of money for that thing. I know that's not the point but I'd have thought he might done something rather better than have some unfortunate woman run it over. She could probably have stopped but actually, yes, why would she? If she saw it come out onto the road then how could she really predict what was going on? She had to have known what it was though, in order for all of the pieces to fit. She didn't stop to check but when she came back she seemed pretty clued up on what she thought had happened.
I think she was making the point that his stupid choices had made something bad happen and was saying that it wasn't much fun. Like, did you enjoy the result? But again, who knows for sure. As a lot of people have said, none of us covered ourselves in glory
I should have made him say sorry. He's been told that and he seems to have taken it on board. He's not getting a replacement. He's been told that too.
My first thought at the time was wrong. I saw what was going to happen and I was just like, oh no, please don't. Then there was a big sickening crunch as it went under her wheel. When she pulled up I was too busy hating that car and what it had just done to get my brain into gear.
If it had been me in her place I'd have stopped at the start and said I was sorry but I'd have expected the same in return. She didn't get that apology and I'm really surprised at myself about that. I feel I've let myself down and I've certainly been put straight on here for it.
I'm sure there's still people are going to make sure the point is hammered home. I don't feel in a blaming mood on that one.
In the end it was some old plastic. Yes, it could have been much worse.