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nethobo t1_iumz8nf wrote

I can totally see how this is a thing.

I almost hit a child last night. A mom (assuming relation for brevity) took her hand off her child for just long enough to pick up a smaller kid. He took the opportunity to run right to the next house, across the street. Fortunately I was going like 10mph at most because I know the neighborhood, and was watching closely. Still only had a couple of feet to spare due to reaction time.

No one was hurt and the little purple dinosaur got a scolding. Hopefully he learned to keep an eye out for cars. I would not have been able to live with myself if I had hit him.

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deeoh t1_iun0tem wrote

> I would not have been able to live with myself if I had hit him.

Exactly. No matter who would actually be at fault, I would be devastated.

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ZealousidealCarpet8 t1_ius1kcb wrote

So you agree you should drive more safely? Also weird flex to center yourself in a situation where we're talking about a child losing their life

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MINIMAN10001 t1_iutr47u wrote

He was going 10 mph through a neighborhood keeping eyes out for children acting dangerously. The reality is childrens stupidity is a bottomless pit, they can and fall in front of your tire and there's nothing you can do about it.

Sometimes life deals a shitty hand.

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printerinkistoomuch t1_iuojdwy wrote

> I would not have been able to live with myself if I had hit him.

As a pizza delivery driver, hitting a kid is my #1 fear. And Halloween is usually our 2nd busiest day of the year, so I'm driving through dozens of neighborhoods trying to deliver food on time while also dodging kids on every street. Shit is stressful.

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WayneConrad t1_iupe093 wrote

I think all places that deliver should make Halloween a "no penalty or freebies for being late" day. Y'all should be able to go as slow as you want to keep everyone safe, and I'll eat cold fries without complaining.

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martinsky3k t1_iuqw7rf wrote

Penalty and freebies?

Oh you fancy americans. Here in Sweden food gets delivered to your house lukewarm, most of the time you have to go outside to meet the delivery guy, he is too lazy to go to your door.

All this for a premium markup on anything you are buying. Aaaah the beauty of home delivery here.

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WayneConrad t1_iupixis wrote

I think all places that deliver should make Halloween a "no penalty or freebies for being late" day. Y'all should be able to go as slow as you want to keep everyone safe, and I'll eat cold fries without complaining.

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randomname1561 t1_iuo227q wrote

I drive like I'm running away from a mobster's house after I got caught nailing his wife but on Halloween I do 5-10 under the limit everywhere I go and in areas with pedestrian traffic if I'm going over 10mph I'm coasting with my foot on the brake.

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pakattak t1_iusg013 wrote

You should honestly drive like that permanently.

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randomname1561 t1_iusiut4 wrote

Nah bro people who do 5-10 below the speed limit are inherently bad people.

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pakattak t1_iusjzlt wrote

Are you one of the guys who always tailgates me when I’m driving down my street

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EvilDarkCow t1_iuo4kbi wrote

I nearly got t-boned by an Explorer backing out of a driveway last night, as I was coming home from picking my sister up from a party. The driver wasn't paying any attention at all and backed out at Mach 2 speed. I laid on my horn and they just kept coming and coming. They finally stopped about an inch away from hitting my car.

There was an entire (assumed) family, two adults and three kids, right on the other side of my car and they most certainly would've been mowed down if I weren't there.

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san_vicente t1_ius98lq wrote

You can talk about scolding the kid but the real issue is that we’ve designed our neighborhoods in the US to prioritize cars over pedestrians.

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nethobo t1_iusalrg wrote

As a general rule, youre not wrong. Its a bit different in this neighborhood (eastern MA). Pretty sure these streets were designed for horse and buggy. People park on the street here and that makes it a 1 lane road in most cases. It's really not built for anything modern.

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san_vicente t1_iusawmm wrote

I hate to break it to you but walking was around before horse and buggy. Pedestrians used to flow through streets and jaywalking wasn’t a thing. If a street is like that, it shouldn’t have any cars at all, or be subject to glacial speed limits.

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Notspherry t1_iuuyx4u wrote

How on earth does a road like that have a 55 mph speed limit?

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domine18 t1_iuoclan wrote

Ty for going extra slow. Saw to many driving like it was a regular day in my neighborhood last night.

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AkumaSeijinn t1_iupb5dz wrote

Thing about those dinosaur costumes is you have no peripheral vision.

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alfalfareignss t1_iupa66u wrote

Same! I was driving along a dark 1 lane highway (there’s almost no street lighting in the area I live) and mother and her 4 children were standing in the shoulder lane and I did not see them until they were maybe 10ft away… on a highway where the speed limit it 55mph.

I could not have been more than 2-3 feet from this family. In the pitch black. I had to pull over I was so shaken by how close so many bodies were to my car.

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bowsmountainer t1_iuv16h0 wrote

Perhaps it would be an idea to drastically reduce speed limits near housing on Halloween. After all, I would hope that people care more for children's lives than the speed at which they are allowed to drive at.

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noooor_a t1_iurl39h wrote

would a 10 mph hit be very bad? I imagine it's only a few mph more than an adult sprinting

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nethobo t1_iurpn7x wrote

Could be worse for a lot of reasons.

A car weighs a lot more than a sprinting adult. The inertia and potential force applied are much higher.

The bumper is at a height that would connect with vital areas on a child. Youre not just looking at broken legs.

If you dont see the kid in time, they may well end up UNDER the car or worse, the wheels.

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