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......

I do see the residential street as different to a carpark actually- pedestrians have right of way and cars should be looking.

Will right of way really matter if the worst happened?

I don’t do scooters and bikes on streets for this very reason. Older kids, maybe 5+ or 4+ at a push, outside of school run time to the park etc. But never on the school run and never younger. It’s far, far too much responsibility for kids if that age to have for their own, and others safety.

Daily I see kids absolutely flying along, parents running behind yelling out ‘stop’ and ‘slow down’ often uselessly while the child flies past, people jumping out of the way- it’s ridiculous.

He's two, you shouldn't be relying on a two year olds judgement ever

This multiplied many times over!

Can't believe you're getting such a battering OP, surely it's the driver that needs to look more carefully when driving ON A BLOODY FOOTPATH.

watch your kid closer!

I have a child about the same age and we still hold hands near roads. I would describe my child as sensible but it only takes one lapse in judgment and I assume the worst of every driver. I have always thought I was overprotective and do see children the same age scooting and running along and into the street though.

On reading the title, I initially thought this post was about banning scooters because they are dangerous to pedestrians, especially when they are driven at speed on pavements and they whirr past you with no warning whatsoever.

Yesterday, as a motorist, I witnessed what could have been a nasty accident and it would not have been the motorist’s (myself) fault. I was pulling out of a parking space at the entrance of a car park onto the main road in our town, so, luckily, had not built up any speed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a young boy, about eight, lose control of his scooter and proceed to scoot off the footpath and onto the road in front of me. His mother (chatting on her mobile phone, incidentally, rather than focusing on her child) just managed to grab him while I slammed on my brakes.

Had I been parked in a space further away from the entrance, there could have been a much different outcome.

There’s no way on earth that I’d allow a two year old scoot on a pavement. Take him to the park where it is safer (for everyone. ).

Reversing sensors wouldnthave gone off as the boy was a whole house away. He simply shouldn't be scooting yet if he can be a whole house away and not stop when a car is coming out a drive.

Christ I don't even allow my 7yr old to go off ahead of me on paths crossing driveways

@Anotherdayanotherpark2020 Age 2 or 11 they do their best. My year 6 son I'm encouraging to walk alone but cars reversing fast up a pavement stupidly or sensibly walking down a main road, a cat could run out, car swerve and my whole family dead instantly. You just have to encourage the kids to do the best they can whatever may happen

The driver is an absolute moron and he could have hurt someone even if they were walking or crashed into another car or cyclist on the road. But I do agree with the comments that you need to keep your child closer and you must also take some of the responsibility being the parent. Personally I don't think scooters or bikes on footpaths are a good idea anyway. A child once ran into my heel from behind and it hurt like hell. The parents were completely oblivious. Scooters and skateboard and bikes are not supposed to be used on pavements anyway according to the law it's just a lot of people seem to ignore this.

They are both sensible by roads and 'hidden' driveways. He assumed the car would stop before it got to the pavement I think and the driver assumed the same.

A sensible 2 year old? I’m sure research shows children don’t have the speed awareness needed for road safety until somewhere between 6-8 years, so no matter how sensible you think your 2 year old is, they’d be firmly by my side until at very least school age which is 5 where I am. He was so far ahead you couldn’t get to him to prevent an accident - at 2 that’s too far ahead for me.

I disagree. I’ve lived in multiple places, busy roads, busy roads and a difficult drive to get onto. It’s not impossible to reverse. I’ve had to wait to the side for the max 5 minutes on a busy London road at rush hour and once you’ve learnt your drive and angles needed you shouldn’t really need to re enter the road to get onto the drive efficiently. If you’ve got time to swing in you have time to reverse in.

I’m afraid you have to take a part of the blame here , he shouldn’t have been so far ahead and needs to stop at driveways .
At his age they don’t always.

@Procrastination4 I'm not sure the 'on her phone' comment was really necessary. In your case the child was 8 not 2 and its pretty normal now to see what the beep was on your phone as you go about your business. You don't know she was mindlessly scrolling nor if it would have made the slightest difference.
As to reversing in, @Testingprof every road set up is different. You simply can't assert that because you do it everyone can. I can reverse in one move smoothly but not if someone is up close behind me and hasn't left room for me to stop beyond the drive then back in. I can't pull over and wait due to aforementioned bus issue which would mean I'm totally blocking the road.

To reverse onto our drive at rush hour is difficult. If you try and stop to the side in the position to reverse, the car behind will generally wait over the drive so no way to complete the manoeuvre even in one go.

@ChiselandBits how long are you blocking the road for? A minute maximum surely?! So instead you block the road on leaving when you have less control of the road as you are entering it instead of already on it.

@lameasahorse I’ll take the compliment but practice makes perfect. The people overtaking you dangerously are wrong and not your concern, if they cause an accident it is on them.

This is mostly your fault, I'm afraid. Children of that age shouldn't be out of arm's reach and certainly shouldn't be scooting ahead. You should not rely on a 2 year old to stop at roads/driveways.

Most drivers aren't looking for small children. Maybe they should be, but they're not. And the reason small children are so vulnerable and you constantly hear about deaths when cars reverse into them is because they're too short for drivers to see them through the back windscreen or in their mirrors. When they run around the back of the car, they're in the driver's blind zone. That's why parents are usually recommended to make sure that they know where their children are (and that they're out of the way of the car) before reversing, since it's quite often parents who crush their own children.

@ChiselandBits Actually, the point I was making about her being on her phone was that, had she not been, she would have realised that they were coming to a junction, realised that her son was going too quickly, and could have reminded him to slow down earlier. At any rate, a scooter going at speed on a busy footpath full of pedestrians is a hazard.

i Wouldn’t be letting my kids on scooters at 4 never mind scooting ahead

you cannot see wee tiny children out of your rear mirror, it’s impossible

Your children should be listening out for cars and if they hear an engine running stop, they should assume the car will see them. They also shouldn’t be scooting ahead of you on a residential speed or at a speed they can’t stop at immediately.
A friends child was hit by a car ,thankfully the car was moving very slowly so the child wasn’t hurt. The child was moving quickly on a scooter, the car driver hadn’t t seen the child and the child didn’t manage to stop in time. My friend never let her children scoot ahead after that.