For God's Sake, Teach Your Kids To Cross Roads Safely

[New Frontiersman]

Jesus. That's... I don't know what to say. I can't imagine what it's like to have seen that. And that poor kid, that's so sad; and like you said I can't imagine what the driver's going through either.

I know my parents heavily stressed looking both ways before crossing the street, it got into my head alright, but I have been known to mess up sometimes. Still though, that's terrible. I'll be sure, if I have kids, to really jam it into their heads: "look both ways." I couldn't bear to lose my child if I had one.

Also, and I know it might be tough, but you should really consider going to a therapist about this. This kind of event can incredibly traumatic to witness, it can easily lead to PTSD, among other things. It might be hard to talk about it, but it will be much better for your mental health in the long run.

 

[lacktheknack]

Wow, that is terrible.

I do agree though, right behind the closest shopping center to my house is a pedestrian crossing, which is fine.

However, NO ONE FUCKING USES IT! They just walk out between parked cars on the side of the road and just fucking walk out into traffic like all drivers knew they were coming.

I really have stopped caring, if kids are going to run from behind cars and older people are just going to step onto the road giving no fucks about what is happening, I will hit them.

And I really don't care anymore, if they are stupid enough to do that, instead of walking the extra 15 metres to the crossing and getting across safely, they deserve to be run the fuck down.

Never drive again.

Ever.

If I find out who you are, I will track you down and explode your car. I suppose I'll make sure you're not in it first, at least.

OT: Good God. I can't imagine how that truck driver feels right now.

 

[Ashadowpie]

wow, a truck? that musta been disturbing O_O

i dunno what to say. if parents teach there kids to cross the road carefully, and the kid understands completely, but still doesnt follow the rule, if the kid gets hit by a car, or truck, i say Natural Selection. cold, blunt but true.

 

[Taranis_tm]

I had a similar experience a month or so ago. A girl ran straight across a 4 lane road because her classes were starting in 5 minutes x.x and she wasn't a 6yo kid, but at least 12 year old. Fortunately for her, the driver and all of the witnesses the guy managed to come to a screeching halt less than 20cm from that idiot.

I'm sorry for the psychic scar your experience have caused you.

 

[dumbseizure]

Wow, that is terrible.

I do agree though, right behind the closest shopping center to my house is a pedestrian crossing, which is fine.

However, NO ONE FUCKING USES IT! They just walk out between parked cars on the side of the road and just fucking walk out into traffic like all drivers knew they were coming.

I really have stopped caring, if kids are going to run from behind cars and older people are just going to step onto the road giving no fucks about what is happening, I will hit them.

And I really don't care anymore, if they are stupid enough to do that, instead of walking the extra 15 metres to the crossing and getting across safely, they deserve to be run the fuck down.

Never drive again.

Ever.

If I find out who you are, I will track you down and explode your car. I suppose I'll make sure you're not in it first, at least.

OT: Good God. I can't imagine how that truck driver feels right now.

I'll buy a new one! check and mate!

OT: even when I was younger than 10, my parents stressed so much that you look both ways before crossing a street, even if it is a one way street.

Is it that parents aren't stressing this enough? or is it kids just not listening?

 

[Lilani]

I really have stopped caring, if kids are going to run from behind cars and older people are just going to step onto the road giving no fucks about what is happening, I will hit them.

And I really don't care anymore, if they are stupid enough to do that, instead of walking the extra 15 metres to the crossing and getting across safely, they deserve to be run the fuck down.

I wonder if you'll still feel the same when they're pulling the body out from under your car, and you're telling their hysterical parents what happened. If you are in any way serious, then you are one sick fuck. I once saw a kid blow right through a stop sign on his bicycle, just about 75 feet ahead of me. If I had been that much further ahead, I would have hit him. When he got across the intersection, he threw up his hands as though in triumph. As blatantly stupid as that kid was, I still wouldn't feel any kind of delight if I hit him. I still wonder if I did the right thing just driving on, instead of pulling over and giving him what for. Or better yet, finding his parents and telling them what he did. If you actually think a kid deserves to die to get taught a lesson, then...fuck. Just fuck. There isn't anything I can say to express how disgusting that is. This is never something to joke about, hell I'm even hesitant to joke about running stupid adult pedestrians and bicyclists down after one got mowed down and killed just a few blocks from where I live.

 

[lacktheknack]

Wow, that is terrible.

I do agree though, right behind the closest shopping center to my house is a pedestrian crossing, which is fine.

However, NO ONE FUCKING USES IT! They just walk out between parked cars on the side of the road and just fucking walk out into traffic like all drivers knew they were coming.

I really have stopped caring, if kids are going to run from behind cars and older people are just going to step onto the road giving no fucks about what is happening, I will hit them.

And I really don't care anymore, if they are stupid enough to do that, instead of walking the extra 15 metres to the crossing and getting across safely, they deserve to be run the fuck down.

Never drive again.

Ever.

If I find out who you are, I will track you down and explode your car. I suppose I'll make sure you're not in it first, at least.

OT: Good God. I can't imagine how that truck driver feels right now.

I'll buy a new one! check and mate!

OT: even when I was younger than 10, my parents stressed so much that you look both ways before crossing a street, even if it is a one way street.

Is it that parents aren't stressing this enough? or is it kids just not listening?

It doesn't matter either way when you're driving. Don't even JOKE about running kids down, especially not in a thread with an OP like this.

 

[Lilani]

Is it that parents aren't stressing this enough? or is it kids just not listening?

It can be either or both. Lots of things can come into play to affect how much a parent stresses these sorts of things, and how much the child respects them or cares to listen. And even if the child knows full well not to cross streets without looking, they can still get distracted and forget about caution just for that one split second.

 

[Pinkamena]

I am pretty sure every parent teaches their kid this stuff. But kids are kids, and they'll forget. Shit happens.

 

[wiiguy21]

This reminds me of a story my mom told me about when I was younger. I don't remember it, but apparently I was kicked out of a day care because I kept sneaking out the back door and running in the street or something... don't judge me, I was only three.

 

[Black Reaper]

Protip: also tell your kid to check that their parent got in the bus with them, and never get your eyes off them if there are any buses nearby, and if you let them pick the bus you are gonna get into, be sure not to do it based on color when both buses have 1 or more shared color

 

[kasperbbs]

I'm pretty sure that most parents teach their kids how to cross a damn road. But kids are kids. Me and my friends even thought of a game of running through the traffic, it was the dumbest idea we ever had and i learnt my lesson once i was hit by a car, luckily it stopped in time.

 

[sky14kemea]

That is really fucked up.

My mum was a car behind a car that hit a dog once. The dog survived, but the guy in front was in tears, and my mum was so shaken up that she drove really slowly all the way home.

So I can imagine it's much worse if it's a kid you saw.

Whenever I see parents crossing a road with their kids, I always use the crossing with them and wait until the green man with them, even if there's no cars coming. I might not plan on having any kids myself, but I know how annoying it must be for people to set a bad example in front of them.

Anyway, OP, maybe you should find someone to talk to about this. I know it'll be really hard, but it might help you sleep afterwards if you let it all out.

 

[Aeonknight]

I am pretty sure every parent teaches their kid this stuff. But kids are kids, and they'll forget. Shit happens.

This.

It's like Parenting 101 to hammer into your kids not to go into the road, and when they're finally old enough you tell them to look both ways multiple times.

Some kids just don't listen though. Although there are some details that are missing here. Like... was the kid on the way home from school? Or was the kid just playing near the road (and why, seriously wtf is so fun about playing in oncoming traffic?)

 

[siomasm]

What else is there to say really? Yeah, it needs to be drummed into people's skulls but with the shockingly low intelligence of the average person combined with the general apathy to laws and regulations put in place to protect people, these things are bound to happen and in pretty significant numbers.

Sad but unavoidable tragedy =/

 

[Fractral]

I'm gonna add to this. For those of you who drive. Use your FUCKING INDICATORS THE CORRECT FUCKING WAY,

Countless times on the way to my gym on one roundabout I was almost wiped out by many a fuckwit who couldn't be arsed to use his indicator.

So citizens, look both ways before crossing the road AND use your indicators and we can all remain safe.

So much this. I can't count the number of times that I've been walking home and seen a car come by the roundabout not indicating, so I assume that it's going straight over and I've tried to cross, only to nearly be splattered. It's at the point where on that one crossing I wait until there are no cars around full stop because even the ones who are indicating one way or another sometimes go the other way. Still, as my father once told me: 'Assume all motorists are homicidal maniacs, and you'll do fine.'

 

[Flatfrog]

I'm gonna add to this. For those of you who drive. Use your FUCKING INDICATORS THE CORRECT FUCKING WAY,

Countless times on the way to my gym on one roundabout I was almost wiped out by many a fuckwit who couldn't be arsed to use his indicator.

So citizens, look both ways before crossing the road AND use your indicators and we can all remain safe.

So much this. I can't count the number of times that I've been walking home and seen a car come by the roundabout not indicating, so I assume that it's going straight over and I've tried to cross, only to nearly be splattered. It's at the point where on that one crossing I wait until there are no cars around full stop because even the ones who are indicating one way or another sometimes go the other way. Still, as my father once told me: 'Assume all motorists are homicidal maniacs, and you'll do fine.'

Yes, that's what I tell my kids as well. Never trust what people are saying, only what they're doing. If someone is flashing their lights, don't assume that means it's ok for you to cross until the car actually slows down and preferably you've caught the driver's eye as well. And even on a pedestrian crossing, don't assume the cars will stop.

For that matter, don't trust *me*. Even if I'm starting to cross, don't assume I know what I'm doing. Look for yourself. There could be something I've missed.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

I sort of have the opposite problem where I live. No one knows how to obey any of the traffic laws for peds crossing the street. I always look left and right at least twice before crossing, and yet somehow, while I'm already in the middle of the street, some guy in a mustang or something comes down the street at 80 MPH and decides it's my fault for using a street crossing area surrounded by 3 or 4 yield and "Stop for pedestrians" signs. Or when one lane of traffic completely stops for people crossing, the other side thinks that if they speed up an additional 10 MPH they can just bypass having to stop, even with people already in the street. I think the only problem I've experienced with dumbass pedestrians around here is crossing in the most inconvenient places, even if they look before crossing.

 

[soren7550]

Some people are just dumb as fuck. My younger brother never looked before he'd walk across the street, and always got yelled at because of it. Me, I tend to check twice before I cross. And yes, my mother drummed the lesson into our heads, shit even my father did so as well because my younger brother's stupidity irritated him so much.

Also, some drivers don't pay attention as well, which was how I got run over by a truck when I was walking to school years back.

 

[Ickorus]

I'm gonna add to this. For those of you who drive. Use your FUCKING INDICATORS THE CORRECT FUCKING WAY,

Countless times on the way to my gym on one roundabout I was almost wiped out by many a fuckwit who couldn't be arsed to use his indicator.

So citizens, look both ways before crossing the road AND use your indicators and we can all remain safe.

To add to this, indicate BEFORE breaking and turning, not during or after, and no changing your mind halfway through either, once you're committed then keep going, you'll add time on to your journey but it could prevent a horrible accident.

To OP:

I agree that it needs to be taught to kids and I think it is, perhaps not at the same level it was when we were young, but it is still taught.

The problem is kids often don't listen and they think they are immortal, i'm guilty of this, it took me almost getting hit by a car to realise just how important that lesson was.