WWYD? Son narrowly misses being hit by a car

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Backpack could have been hit by the mirror.

And taken the strap off his shoulder? Without destroying or even leaving a mark on the backpack? Mirror still carries the force of the car and would have knocked down the child and destroyed the backpack. Do you know anything about physics?

What is your point? Is your point that OP's son made it all up? For drama and excitement, maybe?

Have you read what I posted previously? No I don't think the kid made it up, not at all. I don't thnk he understands what happened, and he thinks the car "almost hit him" when his backpack simply fell off his shoulder. That's his way of thinking the incident occurred, and that's fine. Kids are like that. But when my kid comes in and says "I almost got hit by a car! My backpack got hit!" I don't necessarily credit my kids' version of events. Because my kid is, well, a kid. And the way he thinks the world works is not necessarily the way things go down. It's my job as a parent to gently say "Be more careful next time sweetie."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Backpack could have been hit by the mirror.

And taken the strap off his shoulder? Without destroying or even leaving a mark on the backpack? Mirror still carries the force of the car and would have knocked down the child and destroyed the backpack. Do you know anything about physics?

What is your point? Is your point that OP's son made it all up? For drama and excitement, maybe?

Have you read what I posted previously? No I don't think the kid made it up, not at all. I don't thnk he understands what happened, and he thinks the car "almost hit him" when his backpack simply fell off his shoulder. That's his way of thinking the incident occurred, and that's fine. Kids are like that. But when my kid comes in and says "I almost got hit by a car! My backpack got hit!" I don't necessarily credit my kids' version of events. Because my kid is, well, a kid. And the way he thinks the world works is not necessarily the way things go down. It's my job as a parent to gently say "Be more careful next time sweetie."

So a car came speeding by close enough to make OP's child think it hit his backpack, and then his backpack fell off when he jumped out of the way, and your reaction is, "Be more careful next time, sweetie"?

My reaction is that, regardless of whether the driver actually hit him or only came close enough, fast enough, to make him think that the car hit him -- the driver needs to slow down and watch out, and the transportation department should improve the street so that drivers will drive more slowly on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Have you read what I posted previously? No I don't think the kid made it up, not at all. I don't thnk he understands what happened, and he thinks the car "almost hit him" when his backpack simply fell off his shoulder. That's his way of thinking the incident occurred, and that's fine. Kids are like that. But when my kid comes in and says "I almost got hit by a car! My backpack got hit!" I don't necessarily credit my kids' version of events. Because my kid is, well, a kid. And the way he thinks the world works is not necessarily the way things go down. It's my job as a parent to gently say "Be more careful next time sweetie."

I have read the whole thread, but I don't know what you posted previously, because everybody is anonymous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Backpack could have been hit by the mirror.

And taken the strap off his shoulder? Without destroying or even leaving a mark on the backpack? Mirror still carries the force of the car and would have knocked down the child and destroyed the backpack. Do you know anything about physics?

What is your point? Is your point that OP's son made it all up? For drama and excitement, maybe?

Have you read what I posted previously? No I don't think the kid made it up, not at all. I don't thnk he understands what happened, and he thinks the car "almost hit him" when his backpack simply fell off his shoulder. That's his way of thinking the incident occurred, and that's fine. Kids are like that. But when my kid comes in and says "I almost got hit by a car! My backpack got hit!" I don't necessarily credit my kids' version of events. Because my kid is, well, a kid. And the way he thinks the world works is not necessarily the way things go down. It's my job as a parent to gently say "Be more careful next time sweetie."

So a car came speeding by close enough to make OP's child think it hit his backpack, and then his backpack fell off when he jumped out of the way, and your reaction is, "Be more careful next time, sweetie"?

My reaction is that, regardless of whether the driver actually hit him or only came close enough, fast enough, to make him think that the car hit him -- the driver needs to slow down and watch out, and the transportation department should improve the street so that drivers will drive more slowly on it.

Eh, you have one nutty driver and now the street has to be redone? I would get a description of the car and the driver from my child and I would call police. I would then talk with my son to make sre that he is crossing the street where drivers can see him, etc. Sometimes pedestrians get used to the drivers watching out for them...

FWIW, I personally doubt that Op's son or his backpack were actually hit by the car. But I see no reason to doubt that there was a speeding car, everything happened very quickly and Op's son had the impression of having been hit. How scary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Eh, you have one nutty driver and now the street has to be redone? I would get a description of the car and the driver from my child and I would call police. I would then talk with my son to make sre that he is crossing the street where drivers can see him, etc. Sometimes pedestrians get used to the drivers watching out for them...

FWIW, I personally doubt that Op's son or his backpack were actually hit by the car. But I see no reason to doubt that there was a speeding car, everything happened very quickly and Op's son had the impression of having been hit. How scary.

No, this particular street has to be redone. The city presumably put in speed bumps because of speeding drivers. But this speeding driver demonstrates that the speed bumps by themselves aren't effective, and so more is necessary.

[Anonymous]

I had a kid run out in front of my car today. I wasn't speeding, I was being cautious (looking for kids) so not even a close call...

But, yes, please make sure that your kids are being safe walkers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid run out in front of my car today. I wasn't speeding, I was being cautious (looking for kids) so not even a close call...

But, yes, please make sure that your kids are being safe walkers.

Good for you, OP. I mean that sincerely! You were driving at a safe speed, you were looking for kids because you know that kids can do unexpected things, the kid did an unexpected thing, nothing bad happened. That is how it is supposed to work!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Backpack could have been hit by the mirror.

And taken the strap off his shoulder? Without destroying or even leaving a mark on the backpack? Mirror still carries the force of the car and would have knocked down the child and destroyed the backpack. Do you know anything about physics?

You seem intent on making everyone believe that this couldn't have happened. I do know something about physics as have a degree in it. But none of my degree was needed when I was struck as a pedestrian in a crosswalk with a walk sign. The car that hit me made a right hand turn (against a red right hand turn arrow) and the front bumper of the car hit my briefcase and hand. The force spun me around and I landed up on the ground but my bag was still intact with no visible damage. The car never stopped but at least 10 witnesses stopped and made statements to the police.

OP needs to use this event as a teaching moment for her son. When it comes down to a car vs a person the car ALWAYS wins. The car isn't always in the right but it ALWAYS wins. I tell my kids this all of the time. They are still allowed to cross the street and ride their bikes but they know to check for cars and to never rely on a car stopping just because the light is red or there is a stop sign.