AIBU to never allow scooters in residential area again?

[Anotherdayanotherpark2020]

My nearly 3 year old was a whisker away from being hit on the way back from school run today. Threw up when I got home. He's fast at scooting and goes a little way( 3-4 houses) ahead. Always always stays on the path and walks across quiet road with me. Today this car reversed straight off the drive in 1 go and missed him by a whisker on the path. Drove off and didn't acknowledge. Obviously looked once, assumed he'd stop/ was slow or didn't see him at all I don't know but didn't slow or check again and properly zoomed out. They had good visibility to the side we were approaching. He'd have been seriously injured at least if hit. I can't even think about it. Thank fuck he had his helmet on.

I asked why he didn't stop when I yelled and he said " I did stop but the brake isn't that quick. I was on the path, why didn't the car stop?" I just said he couldn't ever ride his scooter outside of a park again and carried him home in a state. His older brother has said he's not riding his scooter by houses ever again as it was scary to see :-(. I feel as I can only control my children not drivers this is the safest thing to do. It feels such a shame though. I don't even want to let them run on the pavement anymore :-(. Was I just being a really shit parent by allowing scooting or running in a quiet street on paths? My husband thinks it's the driver's fault and says just one of those things but I'm too scared to do anything other than slow walking holding hands with both......

https://www.rospa.com/road-safety/advice/pedestrians/children-road-safety

The above has a useful downloadable booklet with sections for different age groups

I'm sorry you & your kids got a fright, but, honest to God, your posts are something else. When you've calmed down, read them again. Maybe the driver should have waited for you to saunter past before he went about his business, but you shouldn't have allowed a 2 year old out of touching distance where cars are. Maybe he didn't look, or maybe he did, but just didn't see a lightning fast toddler on a scooter.

I have a friend whose 5 year old came careering out of their side gate and straight into a car, he's now severely physically disabled & brain damaged.

Trust me - he knows not to do that, is no protection At All.

Stp blaming the driver, stop blaming the 2 yo & take responsibility for not having kept your TWO year old next to you. Learn from this & keep BOTH of them far closer to you.

Don't bother reporting to the police. They would just probably tell you to keep your kid under control

Would you let your 2 year old walk that far ahead behind cars in a supermarket carpark? Of course you wouldn't! Letting them walk ahead on a road full of driveways is no different.

Of course drivers should be watching, but the risk someone misses a tiny 2 year old is just too high.

He is 2. Emotionally he's 2.

He might indeed be very bright but he is still 2.

I don't let him scoot ahead because I think he's gifted!!!! ( I don't btw just know his understanding is that of a 4 year old) I never did with my eldest and everyone round here is really relaxed about it so started thinking I was being over protective with my 2 boys.

Have now discovered ( thankfully with no one hurt) that scooting is not a good idea and actually I'm not overprotective- just sensible!!!! Lesson learnt.

He's two, regardless if how advanced his physical skills etc are he's too young to be scooting fast and far ahead of you.
At that age mine were going out on a push-along trike with a long handle, they could still "pedal" but we had control of it. Once we were in a park or somewhere similar, they could pedal around on their own bit not near a road. They can't be relied upon at that age to make judgements on unexpected situations and they are still too unpredictable and distractible in themselves.

Ok point taken. I do see the residential street as different to a carpark actually- pedestrians have right of way and cars should be looking. ( In this example my son was too fast and too far away from me though- my fault). I would be holding hands in a carpark obviously. Clearly I'm wrong here.

The driver WOULD have seen if they looked- they had a clear view out of their window and he wasn't close enough to them when they started reversing to be under the window line. I have the same car so well aware of visibility.

I'm not trying to avoid responsibility- I have made a big error of judgement here. Lucky it wasn't worse I'm well aware. I guess I was just looking for a bit of acknowledgement that the driver was an arse too and driving dangerously.

This is on the driver. If they can't see enough to avoid people on the pavement when reversing out of their drive then the need to reverse in and drive out forward. It's irrelevant if it's a toddler on a scooter or a 6ft adult. However, as this thread demonstrates most drivers consider the onus is on pedestrians to be visible and vigilant. For that reason you probably need to keep your toddler closer by you if you are walking along a road with drives. It's a shame though - where I am most parking is on street so lots of kids walk ahead of parents on they way to school, catch up with friends etc.

This thread surprise me a bit, people who drive should always when possible be reversing into and not out of spaces and drives. As the Highway code stipulates at 201 Do not reverse from a side road into a main road. When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can.

More accidents occur because of people revering out of parking positions than any other purely down to lack of view, hence why most companies and businesses have rules that stipulate all employees must reverse into parking areas at all times.

But fault is irrelevant when your child is injured or worse, technically in law the driver is a fault, but allowing your child at that age to treat a pavement as a personal race track or be so far away from you is irresponsible and I'm glad it has been acknowledged.

It’s absolutely idiotic to reverse out of a driveway over a pavement. The driver is at fault.

This. I’m so fed up of car drivers not understanding the Highway Code and I’m a driver.

Imho 3 is too young to go that far ahead on a path where cars may be pulling off drives over the path. I'd be jogging alongside mine scooting on a path like that.

An older child can be taught to listen for engine noises.

Don't just teach them this-electric cars make very little noise. If they rely on sound then that's not safe.

I know drivers should be more careful and reverse onto driveways where possible, but it can be so hard to see a small child whereas you will always see an adult much more easily. I agree he should be within grabbing distance of you at all times purely because you’ll be more visible to drivers and this is much less likely to happen. Keep him as close as possible. Even when walking I don’t allow mine to run ahead on residential streets, they’re a little older than your son but still quite short so I’m aware even a careful driver may not see them if they reverse off a driveway.

wrt reversing out - I always go in backwards where I can so come out forwards but sometimes, as I approach my drive, there's a bus coming the other way (stop just opposite) and someone behind me. I can't stop and wait for the bus to get out of the way because of the following traffic so I have to drive in forwards and then reverse off. I hate it. There are fences and hedges and I wouldn't see someone below window height so I go slowly. Its not always possible to reverse in and ultimately all road / pavement users need to maximise as much care as possible and not assume anyone else is going to do anything.

But as you say yourself, it says "reverse in and drive out if you can" Who knows what was happening when the driver came home - maybe it wasn't possible to reverse on due to the location of other vehicles etc.

No it isn't. I reverse into drive when I can

It should be illegal to reverse out of a driveway where you have fences and hedges, one or the other, you should not have both, either rectify the property or rectify your driving imo

Children on bikes/scooters on the pavement are a menace to pedestrians, so I agree with you.

And I always reverse in, tbh it is now easier than driving in to a space which feels alien to me if I ever have a space which is awkward for reversing in to - eg at the end of a row with a dead end

That's poor show by the driver! I live on a small estate that has no through traffic, so anyone on the estate generally lives here. Which means we have kids whizzing about on scooters & bikes/skateboards. I don't have kids myself, but I'm not going to begrudge kids playing outside. I always, without fail, manoeuvre slowly & carefully, looking several times for the kids, because, let's face it, kids aren't the best at judging danger. 💕
Supposing it was a mum with a pram? A disabled person using a wheelchair? A doddery old person? He thinks he can just run everyone out the way because he's Mr Fabulous Car Owner?

If he was going too fast to stop for a car then he was also going too fast to stop for a pedestrian or dog. Nobody should not be scooting fast down a pavement, whatever age they are, it’s damn right dangerous for everyone in the vicinity. The car probably never even saw your child, they probably saw you and didn’t even occur to them to look down for such a small child so far ahead.

He goes around pedestrians and dogs, it's a wide pavement. He also slows down when the pavement is busy.

Sorry OP, but everyone thinks their kids have exceptional judgement and manoeuvring skills whereas in reality most are pretty poor. I’ve been hit a few times by kids careening around on heelies, scooters etc and seen an elderly lady knocked over by one and have to go to hospital. They’re a menace and should be banned except in parks or in specific areas, not on the pavement where people have to walk.

Keep your DC near to you and this won’t happen.