Advocacy & Safety - Daughter hit by bicyclist

Angela (8 yrs.) and I were on our way back from a local park on our bikes. I was teaching her through practice how to ride on our 25 mph. neighborhood streets.

We stopped at a busy 4-way stop. At my direction, we both started again when it was our turn. The motorists were patient and aware as we made our way across the intersection.

As we reached the opposite side, some kids came bombing through the intersection on their bikes, running the stop sign. They were on the sidewalk and sped through the crosswalk. Angela was not ready for them and one of them slammed into her in the crosswalk. Amazingly, nobody was hurt.

A couple of motorists who saw it gave the kid a real dressing-down for running the stop sign. Angela thought it was her fault. I told Angela it was not her fault, but that even if you are not at fault, someone else can still hurt you, so look out. I guess that's the first lesson of defensive driving.

Glad your little girl's ok, I would've told her to run back to the house and thoroughly reamed the kids.

The other day, I heard two huge screeches in midtown manhattan, friday night rush hour, two cabs locked their brakes and slide sideways cause some kid on the wrong side of the street on some cheap ass bmx bike blew through a red light and a busy midtown intersection.

Organ doner..

So glad Angela is ok...How old were these kids.? Sounds pretty young..Not really serious cyclists, I hope?

Serious cyclists would not hit a child...

I am glad your daughter is okay, and that you handled it in a good way. I would have kicked the **** out of the punks

I'm glad Angela was unhurt, although it's a shame nothing happened to the other kids. Sounds like they need to learn a few hard lessons about road safety.

The other day, I heard two huge screeches in midtown manhattan, friday night rush hour, two cabs locked their brakes and slide sideways cause some kid on the wrong side of the street on some cheap ass bmx bike blew through a red light and a busy midtown intersection.

Organ doner..

Probably brakeless.

Wow, that's a close call, LBM. Fortunately, your daughter was unhurt, and perhaps even learned a lesson. You can get hurt, even if you are in the right.

So glad Angela is ok...
Thanks, everyone.

I guess I feel partly responsible for not scanning the whole scene thoroughly enough to catch these kids heading towards the intersection, riding their bikes on the sidewalk.

After the kid slammed into my daughter's bike with his, I looked into his face. He was a really nice kid, I could tell. He was really sorry.

The problem is that bikes are vehicles and kids should be trained to ride them as such.

Don't feel it was your fault. They probably came up pretty fast. Sound like the other kid learned a bit of a lesson, too. He'll probably get ribbed by his friends a bit and there'll be some, "gee that guy had a stick up...," but if he's genuine enough not to pull out a bad attitude, he can't avoid remembering at least the disapproval, if not the reason for it. I'm sure he'll be a little more careful in the future.

Serious cyclists would not hit a child...

Hey! I'm a serious cyclist, and I hit my kids all the ...er...wait...sick joke, sorry.

In all seriousitytude, it's possible for anyone to hit anything. Example...you're going below the speed limit, say 20 mph, and a kid darts from between two parked cars...

Just always gotta be prepared for the worst.

Be careful out there.

I was thinking about the post riding home, wonderful she's o.k.
AND may never pull the same dumb move..probably a lesson not so harshly learned.
Nice. Could it have been a larger vehicle and still escaped your notice?
Crosswalks mean BE WARY- not "I TRUST WHITE LINES"
Happy for you and her.

Two bicyclists crash together: some hurt feelings, maybe some minor injuries and / or some minimal equipment damage. Cost to society, pretty negligible.

Two motorists crash together: potentially serious and / or fatal injuries; hundreds or thousand of dollars in property damage. EMS, hospital, mortuary, insurance, police and other costs help keep our 'economy' rolling.

Motorist crashes into a bicyclist: a very one-sided event.

I'm glad everyone's OK. Maybe those boys will ride a little safer next time!

by same dumb move I meant to imply the persons @ fault, the boys.
She may not do what they did @ 22 yrs, in a car.

glad your daughters ok!

Did the kids actually see her? I know I have had a few close calls with small children running in front of me(not on the sidewalk) and I almost hit them. Luckily I was able to stop each time.

what kind of bikes where they riding?

I'm glad Angela is not hurt, Pete. Sounds like you handled things calmly as to not frighten her more. Has she been back on the bike since the accident?

Glad Angela is ok, boyfriend. Give her a smooch for me!

:love:

I remember my first bike incident, when I was about 6, playing on a steep driveway running onto a private road. I came zooming down the drive and found myself riding inches from the front wing of a car.
Lesson learn't: You may be riding in a quiet village on a sunday afternoon, on a private road, but they are out to get you. Ive been paranoid ever since, and so far its paid off.

I remember my first bike incident, when I was about 6, playing on a steep driveway running onto a private road. I came zooming down the drive and found myself riding inches from the front wing of a car.
Lesson learn't: You may be riding in a quiet village on a sunday afternoon, on a private road, but they are out to get you. Ive been paranoid ever since, and so far its paid off.

Um, that's probably not the lesson you should've learned. How about: don't zoom out of driveways onto a road of any description without checking for traffic. They're not out to get you.

Come on don't you remeber when you were a kid, and now don't even tell me you stop at every stop sign and redlight on your bike.. And don't be so quick to say a real cyclist wouldn't hit a child, never know what might dart out or happen when your not thinking.. I doubt the kid meant to hit the little girl, no reason to kick his a$$.. Not to mention if us cyclist hit a kid or got in an accident we'd cause more damage than a bmx bike would considering were flying at speeds, a bmx bike couldn't reach even with a motor... hehe..

I'm glad your daughter came through unhurt.

Come on don't you remeber when you were a kid, and now don't even tell me you stop at every stop sign and redlight on your bike.. And don't be so quick to say a real cyclist wouldn't hit a child, never know what might dart out or happen when your not thinking.. I doubt the kid meant to hit the little girl, no reason to kick his a$$.. Not to mention if us cyclist hit a kid or got in an accident we'd cause more damage than a bmx bike would considering were flying at speeds, a bmx bike couldn't reach even with a motor... hehe..

As someone who recently hit someone on my bike... I uh... agree on going lightly...