Anonymous wrote:The physics of the incident is all wrong. Probably didn't happen.

I was sort of thinking the same thing. Maybe he was almost hit as he dodged the car and his own dodging action made his backpack fall off?

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grader walks a half a block to the middle school bus stop. The bus stops on a neighborhood road, but many cars use it to cut through the neighborhood.

He was early today and came back home to see if he had missed the bus. He said, "Oh, and I was hit by a car when crossing the street." He said he was almost completely across and the car hit him, at the same time he jumped out of the way. The car did knock his backpack off of one shoulder. He said the car was speeding and didn't see him.

I tried to start looking him over, but he insisted he was fine. Then he ran back to the bus stop so he wouldn't miss his bus. I gave him a quick lecture about being more careful.

Should I say something to the local police so they can try to have more presence in the area? Just ignore it all together? There are speed bumps on that street, but cars def accelerate quickly in between each bump.

He definitely doesn't want me walking him to the bus stop or helping him to cross the street.

This is what I would do. Call the non-emergency line and say that there are cars speeding down your street during the times that kids are crossing to catch the school bus and your child narrowly missed being in an accident. If they can, they may send a cop out there for a day or two -- that's the kind of thing that causes crazy drivers to slow down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The physics of the incident is all wrong. Probably didn't happen.

Exactly. He didn't get hit but his back pack did? Mmmmmm no

It's not possible for a car to come close enough to a person to knock the person's backpack off one shoulder?

Another person who thinks this is not possible. If a car hit your son's backpack, your son would have been knocked about 25 feet down the road. The force absorbed just from the car hitting the backpack would have destroyed the backpack. Have you examined the backpack, OP? Is it in tatters? Destroyed? Have you taken your son to the spot in the road where he says this happened and have him reenact it for you, several times, telling you exactly what happened?

I'm not calling your son a liar, but children without experience perceive an event (A car almost hit me! It knocked my backpack off me!) in a way that didn't happen that way. It just could not be that a car ran into your son's backpack with such surgical precision to knock it off one shoulder, did not knock him down, left no damage to the backpack, did not notice it hit him, and no witnesses noticed either. It just can't be. This is his interpretation of events in his mind, and that's fine, but it's not what happened.

OP, how much have you talked/worked with your kid on pedestrian safety, including making eye contact with the driver? This is not blaming the victim - your DC can't control the traffic but can learn what to do minimize his errors.

It is absolutely possible. I saw a car brush a man crossing the street by the World Bank about a month ago. The man yelled, everyone around stopped, and the car sped off. It was amazing the guy wasn't actually hurt.

OP, please call the school as well as the police. See if the PTA has any activity around pedestrian safety. I believe all MCPS buses have or will soon have cameras on board to monitor for people who don't stop as they are required. There are other steps that can and should be taken if the bus stop is in a tricky or trafficky spot - the school/PTA could work with the police to improve lighting, enforcement, signals, crosswalks etc. Do it for the next kid who might not be so lucky.

Another vote for calling the police.

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Anonymous wrote:The physics of the incident is all wrong. Probably didn't happen.

Exactly. He didn't get hit but his back pack did? Mmmmmm no

It's not possible for a car to come close enough to a person to knock the person's backpack off one shoulder?

Anonymous wrote:The physics of the incident is all wrong. Probably didn't happen.

Right. Because thousands of car-deaths in the US every year don't really happen.

much more likely that he jolted forward to avoid the car and his backpack fell off his shoulder

Anonymous wrote:The physics of the incident is all wrong. Probably didn't happen.

Exactly. He didn't get hit but his back pack did? Mmmmmm no

This is why I drive my kids to school.

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Anonymous wrote:Yes call the non-emergency line. Also, if it is only half a block can you not watch him from the house?

The neighbor's house blocks my view. I guess I could insist on walking half way so that I have a view of traffic, without actually standing at the bus stop with him.

That's great, just watch him get hit next time... What would walking him half way prevent? The boy is in 6 grade, he will be fine. Let it go.

OP's son just got hit by a maniac driver, and you're telling OP that he'll be fine, let it go?

NP here, but yes, he'll be fine. He's in 6th grade. He does not need to be walked to the bus stop. You are the same people who will wonder why your adult children cannot do anything for themselves, or maybe you won't since you'll still be holding their hands all day.

+2

A kid saying he was "almost" hit by a car could mean anything.

This could totally happen. I had to call the police a couple months ago about a car that came within inches of hitting me at an intersection. The car failed to come to a stop at the intersection while I was crossing (no stop sign for me) and I had to speed up my pace (I was running with my daughter in a running stroller) to avoid being hit. It was way too close for comfort. I memorized the license plate and the exact intersection and called it in. In my case, it was an older driver and I worried that it was someone who shouldn't still be driving. Next time the pedestrian might not be able to anticipate and speed up.

Anonymous wrote:

NP here, but yes, he'll be fine. He's in 6th grade. He does not need to be walked to the bus stop. You are the same people who will wonder why your adult children cannot do anything for themselves, or maybe you won't since you'll still be holding their hands all day.

He does not need to be walked to the bus stop =/= everything is fine and OP shouldn't worry