This time a crash was a good thing.
03-14-21, 01:07 PM
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This time a crash was a good thing.
Driving home on Merrick Road, State Rt 27A with 2 lanes each way, and I noticed a young girl, maybe 6 or 7 on the side walk of a side road speeding to the intersection... followed by her dad running after her. My first though is she's not going to stop and go into the road where cars are doing 40mph. Then, a stroke of luck she glances off a telephone pole and crashes. She fall off and lands next to the curb... my heart stops for a second. As i'm pulling over to the side she gets up and runs to her dad. I wait for a second to make sure she's OK and she was. Luckily she was wearing a helmet and her dad picks up the bike. I called out to see if they needed a ride home and the dad said "no thanks".
It really gets me angry when I see young kids not wearing helmets and this is because the parents don't insist on it from day one.
It really gets me angry when I see young kids not wearing helmets and this is because the parents don't insist on it from day one.
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03-14-21, 01:32 PM
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Good story, and lucky break for the kid...but I fear you may have started another helmet argument. 
03-14-21, 01:48 PM
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Maybe it will start a telephone pole argument 
Posting it is more of a way to deal with how I felt when it happened. Watching it happen really got my adrenaline flowing and i really hate when little kids get hurt.
The side roads was a bit of a downhill and the dad should of had control of the situation. Maybe of been in front of the child since they were approaching a busy road.
Posting it is more of a way to deal with how I felt when it happened. Watching it happen really got my adrenaline flowing and i really hate when little kids get hurt.
The side roads was a bit of a downhill and the dad should of had control of the situation. Maybe of been in front of the child since they were approaching a busy road.
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03-14-21, 02:00 PM
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Maybe it will start a telephone pole argument
Posting it is more of a way to deal with how I felt when it happened. Watching it happen really got my adrenaline flowing and i really hate when little kids get hurt.
The side roads was a bit of a downhill and the dad should of had control of the situation. Maybe of been in front of the child since they were approaching a busy road.
Posting it is more of a way to deal with how I felt when it happened. Watching it happen really got my adrenaline flowing and i really hate when little kids get hurt.
The side roads was a bit of a downhill and the dad should of had control of the situation. Maybe of been in front of the child since they were approaching a busy road.
When my daughter was young, and we were going out on our cruisers, we all had helmets, I picked quiet streets, and she was always in the middle -- my wife led the way, then daughter, then me. If someone was going to get clipped by a passing car, it wasn't going to be one of them.
03-14-21, 10:30 PM
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It's a terrible feeling to see an imminent catastrophe and not be able to stop it.
I'm glad it didn't happen.
I'm glad it didn't happen.
03-15-21, 06:42 AM
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Agree the crash was a good (maybe life-saving) thing! But the lack of anticipating what could happen with an inexperienced child on a bike, going downhill, toward a busy road, is so bad. A little forethought would have prevented what could have had a different, catastrophic, ending.
03-15-21, 07:27 AM
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I had a telephone pole prevent me from falling headlong into oncoming traffic. Mild concussion, shoulder tear and trauma to nerve leading down my left arm. But this outcome was better than getting smacked by oncoming 55 mph cars.
03-15-21, 09:17 AM
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Makes me realize how lucky I was to have a big gravel yard at my parents' home to learn to ride a bike. By the time I was on the road, I could handle the bike as well as anyone, and dogs were my biggest concern. Had a nephew who was killed on a bike when he was 5 or 6, obviously devastating to the family. I agree that was a lucky crash. If you don't cringe at the prospect of young children being injured, you're not fully human.
03-15-21, 11:27 AM
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Scary. We're very wary of allowing the youngest out anywhere. He's got handbrakes and despite riding for the last year he still stops like it's the Flintstones. I'd see a similar issue if it was him.
03-15-21, 11:37 PM
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Makes me angry when I see a parent/s riding with out helmets with their helmeted kids. Not the best role models.
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03-18-21, 08:55 AM
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03-18-21, 04:08 PM
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03-18-21, 06:56 PM
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03-20-21, 08:35 AM
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You may have better luck getting padding installed on all the telephone poles in your area instead of trying to convince some people to buy/wear a helmet. 
03-20-21, 09:41 AM
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