It's spring, that means childrren with a death wish

mattm04 · #1 05-17-2009, 04:29 AM

on bicycles.

A few days ago I am driving down a major road with heavy traffic, moving about 35 MPH, speed limit 40 MPH. I see one kid, say 12-14 yo riding his bike approaching a cross street. As I approach said cross street i slow for kid on bike when some other kid, similar age comes flying out as fast as possible into the main road.

I slam on my brakes, miss idiot by a few feet. A car in the other lane is forced to swerve onto the sidewalk to avoid the other kid who crossed the double yellow. Both cars honk and the idiot kid has that "what did you do that for you moron" look on his face while the other kid is laughing hat how funny this is. Neither were wearing a helmet. Last year one kid broke several bones when they tried some stunt and fell in the road.

A few days after that i see kids jumping the curb to the grass and than back to the road in the same area. I decide to call the Police and let them know about this. The officer thanks me and says they have receive multiple complaints about that issue in the same area.

Today I saw a unmarked cruiser hiding in that area. I can only hope they catch some of those kids and make their parents come down to the station to get their little brats.

bainsidhe · #2 05-17-2009, 03:24 PM

Good grief, I feel your pain. There is a two-mile stretch of residental street I drive along to reach home. People are always outside. 2am and below zero? I swear someone will be walking along the street. The worst is when it's summery weather. Kids playing basketball and football in the street, two-year olds riding bikes and you watching to make sure they don't suddenly jump out at you, adults running from one house to the next, and NOT A SINGLE &$@#@#$ PERSON LOOKING FOR TRAFFIC! It isn't that hard, folks. LOOK dammit. Fortunately I try to be very observant of my surroundings, but I can't stop on a dime. Grrrr.

MadMike · #3 05-17-2009, 06:40 PM

A few years ago, I almost hit a kid like that when he just appeared out of nowhere, flying down a hill and almost into my path.

The thing about having a death wish like that is that sometimes you get your wish, like what happened just a stone's throw away from my house. Some 10-year-old boy rode right out into the intersection without looking, and ended up getting hit. He went down head-first on the pavement, and left a fairly big bloodstain. He ended up dying in the hospital a few days later.

The guy who hit him wasn't charged, but I can only imagine how horrible he was feeling over the whole thing.

JLRodgers · #4 05-17-2009, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Quoth MadMike

The guy who hit him wasn't charged, but I can only imagine how horrible he was feeling over the whole thing.

I'd end up turning in my car keys and probably never driving again if it were me.

Always sad when it happens though -- many are good on bicycles, others... not so much.

chainedbarista · #5 05-17-2009, 07:18 PM

i have the same issue with a 'mom' who feels that our alley/driveway is a perfect place for her kids to play; i've nearly hit a couple of them and one left her bike in a spot where i wouldn't have seen it when i backed out of my garage-fortunately for her, i saw it as i walked to my car, or it would have been a bent bit of wreckage.

worst parts about this are that mom isn't in los of the kids at any given point of time (i guess she thinks hearing distance is good enough?

) and that there's a park less than a block away and two play areas at either end of our complex and all are within walking distance.

Kogarashi · #6 05-18-2009, 04:03 AM

We don't have too many of the daredevil/deathwish kids around our complex. Mostly it's the same group of 6-10 year olds riding their bikes through the parking lot, but there's a speed bump on the way in so most people slow down enough to notice the kids, and the kids usually watch out for traffic. (Some people still like to speed through the parking lot, but that's another gripe.) What's really bad, though, is that these kids will often be out playing in the lot right around 5pm.

Which is when all the parents show up to pick up their kids from the daycare service run out of one wing of one of the apartment buildings. So the lot is jam-packed with cars not paying attention, taking all the resident parking spaces (

), and giving dirty looks to the residents in general because how dare we take up space when they need to pick up Junior? I have a sinking feeling that one of these days, one of those parents is going to hit one of the bike-riding resident kids. Unfortunately, there's no better place for them to ride their bikes.

blas · #7 05-18-2009, 04:06 AM

There have been several incidents in this area, wherein bicyclists think they have the utimate right of way and right to blow stop signs and red lights, and have become large bloodstains on the road.

And from those experiences, no one has learned. Cyclists continue to do it every day.

dalesys · #8 05-18-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Quoth blas87

There have been several incidents in this area, wherein bicyclists think they have the utimate right of way and right to blow stop signs and red lights, and have become large bloodstains on the road.

And from those experiences, no one has learned. Cyclists continue to do it every day.

To learn, they have to survive. And Special Snowflakes can't learn from observation because they are so much better than that street pizza over there...

Gerrinson · #9 05-18-2009, 05:44 PM

It's not just the kids around here. In fact, it is mostly the people on weekends who are up here visiting their second homes.

It seems that as soon as they hop on their bikes they have 'right of way' over the locals, regardless of those pesky stop signs, red lights, and the laws of physics.

A few years back an ex-coworker hit a 12 year old kid who blasted through a stop sign into traffic in a 40 MPH zone. She hit him with her SUV and the kid died at the scene. There were eye witnesses who all agreed the kid swerved around them, through the stop sign, and straight out in front of her truck. She had no chance to avoid him.

A year later, on the anniversary of the accident, she killed herself.

So, really, that's two lives that could have been saved had the idiot kid been paying attention. I mean, maybe those cars he swerved around, that were stopped for the stop sign, were waiting for a reason.

lupo pazzesco · #10 05-18-2009, 06:39 PM

It's not just kids on bikes. On my walk in the mornings, I've found there's an older guy (probably in his 50s) who will bike around the same time I'm walking. When I hit a certain cross street, I check for traffic. (silly me!!) This guy however just zooms right across without even looking up. Hell he's almost run ME over because I was turning a corner and he just kept zipping by.

I've seen him do it across 4 lane roads, too. Scary.

I have a bike. I will occasionally ride said bike, but haven't recently because the weather's been too questionable. That and I kinda have a flat and need a new inner tube, which I can't afford right now.

Without fail, whenever I hit a cross street, I always stop. I don't get what's so hard about that. We ALL learned the basic traffic rules in kindy-garten, didn't we? You know, "Stop look and listen, before you cross the street."? That doesn't change when you're on a bike, does it? Or am I the one who's been disillusioned for so long...?