Electric scooter kid went flying after hitting my car door

[LoveMyPiano]

I was just about to get out of my car - door opening onto the pavement - this afternoon, not dark by any stretch of the imagination, although the car door does have a light that stays on even when ignition off.
I had seen a girl (I think I know her, she's 8 or 9) go zooming past "up" the road - wearing black, on her no-doubt Christmas present, large electric scooter.
I pushed the door open, not fully, an was about to get out when I heard a skidding sound and she hit the car door and went flying onto the ground.
When I look afterwards, the tyre marks were about 2/3 of the way across the pavement, closer to my car. Had the door been fully opened, it would have been badly damaged, I think - or she might have been.
She rolled on the ground but didn't hit her head (no helmet) and seemed to want to check her scooter thoroughly herself.

I didn't say sorry - more like "Oh God!" - and checked she was OK, briefly saying that she was very difficult to see, but that's all, even though I think a whole lot more.
This will no doubt come back to me as "she was knocked off her scooter by that woman up the road" etc - but AIBU to think it was her own fault, even allowing for the fact she is a young child?

I can't believe parents are still buying them.

An in law of mine bought one for their teenager costing £600, and the first day he went out on it, it was seized by the police. Why would you want to risk losing that amount of money?

I think I would be tempted to report this to the Police. I completely understand that approaching the family yourself won't work, but if the rumour mill starts and the story grows arms and legs you know you have made an account. Also a PCSO may go and talk to the family and child about safety on an e-scooter.

Shocked how many people are supporting the OP, regardless of you feel about her she’s a child and the lack of care is actually shocking

You were driving but opened your door onto the pavement? Does that mean you parked against the traffic flow? Rule 239?????

It's her parents who are at fault though. They should never have given her something she couldn't control

And that is illegal to use unless on private property

Wow, OP, this is a craft piece on how to avoid accepting responsibility because 'I have made value judgements about the person I should be accepting responsibility for hitting'.
Every response has been an excuse for your attitude

Starts with the parents of said kid who should be doing the caring - not the OP or anyone else.

If the parents had done a proper job of, you know, parenting, and telling their child where they can/not use said contraption, the kid would never have come into contact with the OP's car door.

But yeh, blame the OP rather than the parents that are feckless and irresponsible twats.

But that's how the law would work too.

If the girl were to sue, the fact she was riding a scooter illegally and In way she couldn't control would mean that she would be held to be largely (and possibly wholly) responsible

It's absolutely astonishing that parents buy these for their children. No loving parent buys their child something that is illegal precisely because it is dangerous. What did they get in their stocking - a bag of coke and a handgun?

Agree . No helmet. When I see this I think organ donor.

Nothing suggests that the op wasn't paying attention.
Sadly accidents will always happen, even when checks have been made.
These accidents are even more likely when someone isn't wearing bright/visible clothing, has no lights and is going too fast on a vehicle not designed for a pavement.

Two wrongs don't make a right. The fact that the OP hasn't reported this incident or checked on the child's welfare is shocking. If someone breaks into my house I'm not allowed to assault them just because what they've done is illegal. And in this instance the OP was illegally parked and could face prosecution.

The police have seized a few hundred in the closest city to where I live.

The kind of people that buy scooters like this are not going to be going to sue you but they may kick your car door in.

Good.
Although round here there were several otherwise respectable looking parents taking their children out to use their new escooters on Christmas day. They didn't look the types to kick doors in. But then they didn't look the types to be brainless enough to get their children and illegal and dangerous Christmas gift 🤷‍♀️

you shouldn't open without checking that all is clear. She shouldn't have ridden that blooming thing but in the end he onus is on you to make sure you don't door anyone. Maybe practice the Dutch reach!

Oh, the drama over this! Kid falls off scooter, gets up again. Big deal!

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the child being out without a helmet on a scooter - it was your fault Op. Whether you're opening your door on to a pavement or a road, you are responsible for checking that it is safe to do so.

Six of one half a dozen of the other. Yes the girl wasn’t following the law. But people do ride escooters, and bicycles, on the pavement. If you “door” someone your observations weren’t good enough.

Although if she was riding at night without lights she’s more to blame. Grinds my gears that so many people do that. Then again I even saw a car driver with their lights off the other day!

Hopefully this lesson in road safety hasn’t hurt anyone or damaged anything too much.

I think that these e-scooters should be banned for under eighteens
@Violinist64 you need to have at least a moped licence to ride one - which means that you must be at least 16. Unfortunately that's only any good if the laws are enforced.

When you open a door (using a Dutch reach of course) what are you checking for?

When opening into a traffic lane you should be expecting cars or bicycles approaching at 20mph or even 30.

When opening onto a pavement, surely you wouldn't reasonably expect anything faster than a jogger? If they're riding at night without lights then it would be even less reasonable to expect you to see them (hivis is irrelevant as it's not a legal requirement)

I feel that this is missing the point. Regardless of the rights & wrongs here a child has been hurt. I don’t mean that the OP is responsible and yes the parents are doubtless at fault, for this but at the same time we as a society should care more about our young.

"When opening onto a pavement, surely you wouldn't reasonably expect anything faster than a jogger? If they're riding at night without lights then it would be even less reasonable to expect you to see them (hivis is irrelevant as it's not a legal requirement)"

The problem with this approach is that the OP had just seen an e-scooter go by. She saw the child go by only seconds/minutes before. It wouldn't be at all unreasonable to expect the OP to have taken extra care to check that there wasn't another one.

YABVU

Sorry OP, think you’re looking down the barrel of a long stretch in high security prison for this one. Best of luck.

Nothing suggests that the op wasn't paying attention.

I guess the fact that she opened her door in the path of an oncoming child on a scooter suggests that.