Someone on Bratfree, where I stole the link from, pointed out that everyone is so damned concerned with the "public safety" of the chiiiiiiiillllldren, when in fact, probably 99% of fatal or injury accidents occur at home, or in situations where children are supposed to be under the control and guardianship of ... their parents! What a novel idea!
Of course, we all know how parents hate to be called out on their crap parenting, so they always conveniently find someone else to blame...
_________________ "Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that you're stupid and make bad decisions."
Oh boy. There was an article in the Chicago Tribune recently about a kid that got killed when his dad ran him over.
People were saying, "that's why you should always back into your driveway, so you can pull out safely." Hmm. What about when you back into your driveway and your kid is outside playing already? Doesn't seem safer.
How about you take a look to see who is in the yard/sidewalk before putting the car in reverse?
I um, accidentally bumped into our dog when I was about 18. She was running around the front yard with my mom and ran right up to the car as I started to reverse. I did manage to hit the brakes. I just bumped her and she kind of rolled over and then ran away. But she hadn't BEEN there when I started to back out. At least I saw her running. I felt so bad, my mom was screaming at me.
The moral of the story is that it can happen to anyone, but if there are kids (or dogs) in the front yard, don't let them go near cars!! Supervise, supervise, supervise!!
_________________ I'd rather be nine people's favorite thing than a hundred people's ninth favorite thing. - [title of show]
Deity forbid, anyone take responsibility for their own actions. What did people do when horse-drawn carriages were the main form of transportation? They didn't have motion sensors to screech an alarm if a child was behind the buggy. (It would probably spook the horses if they did!) Hmm, I bet kids were taught not to run around horses or moving vehicles, because they might get hurt!
A few weeks ago another baby died after being left in a hot car around here (we've had temps above 100 for the past few weeks.) Of course, all the news stations covered it, a horrible tragedy. The real tragedy is that the people who had the kid were allowed to be parents. Apparently they had like four kids, and each parent thought the other had brought the baby inside. After a while they realized the baby wasn't inside, but it was too late. Sounds like a case of more kids than you can keep up with! This happens at least two or three times each summer, it seems. I just don't get it. It is preventable, if parents keep their heads about them and exercise common sense.
I think I was taught from a very young age not to run around moving cars. I was also supervised by a parent (what a concept!) when outside until I was old enough to have the sense not to get in the way of moving cars. Now it seems like every time I turn on my street, I have to dodge kids on bikes and scooters playing in the middle of the street. Sometimes they even "play chicken" with me. No parents in sight.
Cindy
_________________ If dogs don't go to heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they go!
Plus of course, YOU'RE expected to watch out for the kids. They're not expected to look out for you, even though the road is a passageway for cars and not a damn playground. Because they're just children, and it is never their fault. Grrrr. What the hell happened to parents being teachers, and teaching their kids to stay out of the way?
The other day I was backing out of a parking space. My car is tiny - to the point where I often lose it in the parking lot because there's a honking great SUV parked next to it. So I'm sandwiched in between an SUV and a truck, I check the rear mirror - clear - and then concentrate on getting my nose out past the car next to me. As I'm just about out, I rear check again - and there's a kid of maybe 9 or 10, right behind me. So I slam on the brakes, and he gives me a filthy look as he keeps walking past. There was a woman walking past as well, who gives me a stare and says "don't you watch?".
Yes, you obnoxious cow, I do watch, actually. But when I was a kid and saw a car backing out, I had the sense to realise the driver has a hundred things to concentrate on, and STOP, or at least give the car a wide berth. Not keep walking and expect the entire world to hold up and wait for me. Holy shit. So I just shot her a snarky look and drove off, she's probably a mother and I'm not going to waste my oxygen arguing with her.
Things like that just piss me off. What the hell happened to common sense, and looking out for yourself?
_________________ "Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that you're stupid and make bad decisions."
I hate the fact that car manufacturers have to keep adding safety features for children, because you and I both know that the cost of this is being passed on to the consumer, regardless of if they chose to procreate or not. I have what I call a "breeder-mobile", because two of the back seats have weird buckles at the top that are specifically designed for child safety seats. I also hate it when I accidentally turn on the lock safety switches, which means the person in the back seat cannot open their door even if it's unlocked.
Oh, yeah, and you know those back windows "designed" to be safer because they only open halfway? That's bullshit. Car designers are getting cheaper, so the back door isn't shaped large enough to hold a window completely rolled down. Meanwhile, they call this a safety feature and charge us extra.
I'm with you...I drive a Honda Insight hybrid, one of the tiniest cars on the road. And no, you cannot see around those SUVs. You look, get in your car really quick if there's an opening, and back out slowly. Sometimes it works smoothly, and sometimes it doesn't.
My brother, who lives in Miami, has an SUV. Never off-roads, never puts it in 4WD. Lives where it's flat as a pancake and there's never any snow. Only has more than two people in it once in a blue moon.
Why does he have it? "So I can see over other cars". That worked OK, until everyone else and their dogs got SUVs. He can't see over anyone...but he does have a prayer of getting out of parking spots a bit more easily than I do.
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:33 am Posts: 986 Location: Melbourne, Australia
We're surrounded by 4WD's...people movers... Most of the houses in our street have automatic gates and there have been a few accidents - people driving out and collecting joggers, the postie, cyclists.... I reverse out very slowly indeed after having a scare with the postie a year ago... Joggers often wear headphones so, they don't hear people using their horns to signal they're reversing out of their driveways. Some of the people movers now have reverse camera's... I've heard people say they feel safer "riding up high" but, if you're travelling next to these venhicles, you may not feel so safe in a small car....a minor accident with a 4WD can leave someone in a small/er car in big trouble. The grills that some people have fitted to these cars are especially dangerous - unless you're living in the bush and you're worried about kangaroos jumping into your path, what's the point? I guess that's why they're called "urban assault vehicles"....
In Auckland they're called "Remuera taxis" because all the trophy wives have one to drive the kids to school in.
I laughed the other day going through the shopping centre. I almost ran into the back of a woman driving a honking great 4 x 4 truck (you have to live in Calgary to appreciate the truck culture, it's the big shiny Dodge Ram capital of Canada), and she SLAMS on her brakes and comes to a complete stop before the speed hump. It's a tiny speed hump, and she has about 3ft of suspension travel ... WTF?
_________________ "Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that you're stupid and make bad decisions."
Being high up is nice when you're in traffic, but leaves a big blind spot down low. And really, who cares? I'd rather just avoid sitting in traffic.
One time I was driving my DH's truck (with enlarged man-tires), and backed into a fire hydrant. Luckily it was a light bump, and it didn't start spewing out water, but it made a dent in the underparts of the truck. I was looking behind me, and it was completely invisible.
It's extra memorable because we were taking my car in to the shop, so he was behind me driving it. I took a wrong turn, and was trying to get turned around when I hit the hydrant...so he was watching the whole thing.
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