Be careful biking with your family

[Anonymous]

I know this intersection this crosswalk - it's in Takoma Park and there is currently construction around there which complicates things. If you were this parent - would you want this posted on the local listserv? I think it would be good for the family to see it but don't want to be instrusive. Maybe a post that links to this thread? What do you think?

[Anonymous]

What’s the speed limit on this road? Seems like a few cars should have stopped (and the white trailer). Not required, but I didn’t see a “ped X ahead” sign that Ive noticed for the W&OD trail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've seen this happen with kids so many times when I've stopped to let them cross. Idiot drivers can't figure out why on earth all these other cars are stopped *at a freaking crosswalk* and plow through. I've considered pulling my car over to block both lanes when I see a kid trying to cross to keep a-holes like this from killing someone.

I'm not defending the driver here but no one is paying attention to you being stopped or displaying your blinkers because so many people in this area do that for personal convenience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this intersection this crosswalk - it's in Takoma Park and there is currently construction around there which complicates things. If you were this parent - would you want this posted on the local listserv? I think it would be good for the family to see it but don't want to be instrusive. Maybe a post that links to this thread? What do you think?

What would be your objective in posting it to the local listserv?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so scary!! The diver was 100% in the wrong.

At the same time, bikes should be WALKED across traffic lanes. Is this not a thing anymore? Her parents should have also accompanied the small child across the road.

If the plates are legible, can the police ticket the car?

Also, I notice that the dad crosses the road while the intersection is not clear.

True. And, the video starts several seconds before the car arrives at the crosswalk, so you can tell that there is a fairly decent stretch of straight road approaching the crosswalk. That SUV driver had plenty of time see the family ahead, but the parents also had plenty of time to see the SUV approaching and to make sure it was actually going to stop.

Which they did, and that's the only reason the child isn't dead and the driver isn't facing a vehicular manslaughter charge.

No, that vehicle had to already visible to mom when the little girl started to cross. She shouldn’t have even been in the crosswalk until the SUV was clearly stopping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this intersection this crosswalk - it's in Takoma Park and there is currently construction around there which complicates things. If you were this parent - would you want this posted on the local listserv? I think it would be good for the family to see it but don't want to be instrusive. Maybe a post that links to this thread? What do you think?

What would be your objective in posting it to the local listserv?

Somebody said they thought it would be good for the family to see it.

Responding to another PP - speed limit is 35 there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tell my kids to assume every driver is oblivious because only one has to be for you to be dead.

This. Because if the driver causes your child to die what can you do? It is not as if the driver is evil...their life and their family life has also become messed up by causing this accident.

And you have lost your child, so getting the driver punished will not bring your child back.

Please stop taking stupid risks... In the place of the parents, I would have whipped out a portable STOP sign with blinking lights and made my child cross.

[Anonymous]

Walk your bikes across the street too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is so scary!! The diver was 100% in the wrong.

At the same time, bikes should be WALKED across traffic lanes. Is this not a thing anymore? Her parents should have also accompanied the small child across the road.

If the plates are legible, can the police ticket the car?

Honest question here - how does walking a bike across a crosswalk make it safer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this intersection this crosswalk - it's in Takoma Park and there is currently construction around there which complicates things. If you were this parent - would you want this posted on the local listserv? I think it would be good for the family to see it but don't want to be instrusive. Maybe a post that links to this thread? What do you think?

What would be your objective in posting it to the local listserv?

Somebody said they thought it would be good for the family to see it.

Responding to another PP - speed limit is 35 there.

I wrote that about the parents seeing it. Ideally, someone would recognize the family and send them the link. I hate to embarrass anyone, but if it were me, I’d probably be grateful for the tip. This looks like a family that bikes together a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parents are not blameless here (they were “right” but their kid was nearly killed) but how did the dad stay on his bike and not hop off and bang on the car? I think I would have to have been retstained in screaming anger.

After the SUV stopped (past the crosswalk) the mom and dad both yelled at the driver. The dad has one of those baby carriers for bikes so I'm sure that helped restrain him. It's probably also why he went across first. If you look at the 13 second mark, you can see the sidewalk isn't wide enough for the mom and girl to get onto the road at the same time. By the time the mom got onto the road she almost fell off her bike yelling at her daughter to stop. I don't know how they could have done it differently. The only other option would be for the child to get into the first lane of traffic and wait for mom to get onto the road before crossing. That doesn't sound like a great choice either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this intersection this crosswalk - it's in Takoma Park and there is currently construction around there which complicates things. If you were this parent - would you want this posted on the local listserv? I think it would be good for the family to see it but don't want to be instrusive. Maybe a post that links to this thread? What do you think?

What would be your objective in posting it to the local listserv?

It’s a Public Service. Please absolutely post it anywhere people will see it. This is incredibly important to remind drivers to pay attention. My high school aged son was hit and thrown from his bike in the exact same scenario as posted here. The only reason he wasn’t killed is because traffic was slowing. The driver said he just didn’t look and never saw my son (even though the other lane traffic had stopped — just as in this video).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents are not blameless here (they were “right” but their kid was nearly killed) but how did the dad stay on his bike and not hop off and bang on the car? I think I would have to have been retstained in screaming anger.

After the SUV stopped (past the crosswalk) the mom and dad both yelled at the driver. The dad has one of those baby carriers for bikes so I'm sure that helped restrain him. It's probably also why he went across first. If you look at the 13 second mark, you can see the sidewalk isn't wide enough for the mom and girl to get onto the road at the same time. By the time the mom got onto the road she almost fell off her bike yelling at her daughter to stop. I don't know how they could have done it differently. The only other option would be for the child to get into the first lane of traffic and wait for mom to get onto the road before crossing. That doesn't sound like a great choice either.

Mom and daughter dismount. Wait for all traffic to stop. Then proceed cautiously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so scary!! The diver was 100% in the wrong.

At the same time, bikes should be WALKED across traffic lanes. Is this not a thing anymore? Her parents should have also accompanied the small child across the road.

If the plates are legible, can the police ticket the car?

Honest question here - how does walking a bike across a crosswalk make it safer?

I don’t know the rule or law but that little girl absolutely walks better than she rides her bike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is so scary!! The diver was 100% in the wrong.

At the same time, bikes should be WALKED across traffic lanes. Is this not a thing anymore? Her parents should have also accompanied the small child across the road.

If the plates are legible, can the police ticket the car?

Also, I notice that the dad crosses the road while the intersection is not clear.

True. And, the video starts several seconds before the car arrives at the crosswalk, so you can tell that there is a fairly decent stretch of straight road approaching the crosswalk. That SUV driver had plenty of time see the family ahead, but the parents also had plenty of time to see the SUV approaching and to make sure it was actually going to stop.

Which they did, and that's the only reason the child isn't dead and the driver isn't facing a vehicular manslaughter charge.

No, that vehicle had to already visible to mom when the little girl started to cross. She shouldn’t have even been in the crosswalk until the SUV was clearly stopping.

You don't know the vehicle was already visible to mom when the little girl started to cross. Visibility was limited by the stopped car, and that SUV was going really fast.