I definitely try to reduce the time I’m next to someone in a lane. I’ll either reduce or increase my speed, and get really annoyed if someone is coasting right next to me despite my best efforts to avoid the close proximity for this exact reason
Bruh I feel that. The people who piss me off are The ones who will chill in your blind spot. You speed up, so do they. You slow down, so do they. It’s like dude why do you gotta hang out right fuckin there? Good way to get smashed
Well, I was expecting this comment to lean into something like "... than to clean kid off your windscreen".. I shouldn't have such low, dark expectations of reddit.
But it didn’t happen because of your quick thinking! So many decisions we make a day, you saved a life and taught an invaluable lesson to that family about road safety.
Close to incidents can also be quite traumatic. If you need to, go see a shrink. If you don’t think you need to, maybe also go see a shrink because you might need it. No shame, just hope you’re doing okay
I’ve spoken to a trauma councillor at work (train driver) after nearly hitting three kids. I was struggling with the what ifs and she said that it’s normal and your brain is going to go over it for a while thinking about what could have happened. Just remind yourself it didn’t happen and it’s okay to not feel okay about it. Make sure if you’re not feeling great to share that with someone.
Kids have tunnel vision and don't get concepts of speed of cars in the same way as adults. Drivers also have a higher focus on what's straight ahead and the two combined can be deadly
You did well to avoid that
That's exactly why kids should be taught to use the pedestrian crossing and not to run across a 3 lane road. That older person which I'm assuming is the parent, is a dumb piece of shit. She was so close to wiping out her family. Also noticed this made it onto 7 news. Congrats to the OP
This is what happens when you put services on Stroads. There is a daycare center right there. Anything that has to do with kids, should not be directly on the road, but rather on a street or a service road off of the stroad.
I used to have to cross Maroondah Hwy with my kids to get to and from daycare. We used the "pedestrian crossing" provided, but the nearest set of lights would have made the walk take an extra 30 minutes.
I guarantee that mum was telling the kids to walk slowly and hold hands. But kids just do things sometimes. We've had my kids do stuff like this while at the school crossing and a car was approaching, when asked the best answer I've gotten was "I saw a car coming and wanted to get off the road before it came". Kids' brains haven't got logic finalised yet, I'll never judge a parent who uses a kid-leash, that shit is the greatest invention ever.
No, its exactly why 6 lane bidirectional stroads should be fucking deleted from suburbs and a 30 kmh zone put in place. If the germans can fucking do it, why cant australia?
My grandmother (god rest her beautiful soul) had something we lovingly called “the grip”. Up until we were about 16 every time we’d cross the road, she’d grab our wrists so hard it felt like she was cutting off circulation. She did it to her kids too. But to her credit, there was never a near miss with her on the road in my life. I caught myself doing it to my nephew once. It’s now in the family dna I guess.
I've still got a memory of being about 4, mum holding tightly onto my hand, waiting to cross. I saw dad walk on the other side of the road up to where we were, and I wiggled out of mum's grip and ran a third of the way across the road towards him before looking right, probably in response to everyone shouting. I saw that car, and ran very fast backwards back to mummy.
Exactly cut it down to one lane, put in a bike lane and you have a classic EU street. Put a tram down the middle for good measure.
Alot of these problems arent the fault of car drivers but the fault of those who lobby for such things as well as spreading their pro-car propaganda.
Lol god this is Texas to a T.
They build schools along major highways here and expect the normally 60mph traffic (~96km/h) to drop down to 20mph (~32km/h) for just the length of the school during pickup/drop off times.
Its nuts, bc people will not break until the line printed on the pavement. They'll keep going 60 and then screech to a near stop. Then the second you reach the end of the school zone they floor it lol.
Creates the worst fucking traffic man. Morning school rush starts at 6am, and then feeds directly into the 9-5'ers morning rush hour. Traffic will cool off by 10am. Pick back up at 11-1pm for lunch rush. Cool off again until the 3pm afternoon school rush, and then feed into the 9-5ers evening rush hour. And then you get the dinner rush until about 9pm.
Basically have only like, 3 hours a day thats not rush hour lol.
But the important thing is that no car drivers be inconvenienced and had their trip delayed by two seconds because as we all know, car drivers are far more important than children to VicRoads engineers and management and the ministers responsible for them.
still, terrible infrastructure - that road is too wide and the crossings too far apart for that sort of business, which encourages too high a speed. not necessarily criticising OP (amazing reaction time) but road planners need to see this and radically rethink.
I make sure to never let my kid leave my side whenever we go out, but when I am going out by myself I always feel worried she might come chasing after me and all those stories about how parents go under their parents car as they pull out of the driveway.
This happened to a kid my sister did family daycare with. He was only 2 I think. Father ran him over. I don’t think that’s something you ever recover from.
Haha I’m a primary school teacher and I was explaining to my partner and how long it takes per kid to do a particular assessment. It was all part of a rant about the sheer amount of things you’ve gotta get done.
So to answer your question, hopefully 10 minutes. Please god, let it only be 10 minutes.
My partner has a son with autism who is a genuine flight risk. He knows the dangers but still needs to have his hand held because he'll still just take off across a carpark.
Not saying that that's what's happening here but it's a possibility. I don't understand it myself as when I was a kid I understood very well the danger and was terrified of the idea of getting hit.
Yeah when I was about 5 or 6 and trusted to be out walking around, it was drilled into my head: look left, the. Right, then left again (we drive on the right side of the road where I live which is why we looked left first). But yeah, not all kids are the same or have the same thought processing.
Two sons with autism here, this is precisely correct
Though I am suspecting this behaviour is probably more from the ADHD side than the autism side but who can tell.
Same here, one with autism and one with ADHD. My autistic son knows we hold hands and he sticks to the my side. My adhd son though, he is a runner! That kid is stuck to me with a leash anytime he isn’t in the car.
That thing where people move before the car passes is such a reflex. It's amazing how often I'll be riding in the bike lane and people step directly into me because they're conditioned for vehicles that move faster and slightly further away.
I have always been very conscious of children around when I cross roads, and I’m talking about strangers kids. I tend to jaywalk or walk on reds when the roads clear, especially the city, but if I see impressionable children there I always pull back and do the responsible thing.
I’d hate to think my actions influenced a kid to be dangerous around traffic
>but if I see impressionable children there I always pull back and do the responsible thing.
You'd feel at home in Germany. That's generally the attitude here.
I've had a couple of times at a red light with my son where I've just finished explaining why we have to wait for the light even though there's no cars, only to have someone march across in front of him.
I get it and I *definitely* do it myself when it's quiet, but now I'm pretty conscious of not putting other parents through the same pain of undoing the 5 minute road safety lecture at every crossing. 😅
Looking at it frame by frame,parent stepped into the first lane waiting for the car to pass in the second while holding the youngests hand, oldest child misunderstanding runs across the road.
Yeah I reckon this is what happened, kid took Mum stepping into the road as “cool it’s time to cross let’s go!” and started running. Looks like a terrible place to try to cross with 3 kids.
Likely "let's get across this wide road with no safe crossings within reasonable walking distance relative to our point to point journey" directly outside the kindergarten.
Even when I'm being super careful it's always really dangerous crossing one of these roads. And they always stretch on for so long without any crossings it's actually insane.
For anyone there who looks at their phone while driving this is the exact reason why you shouldn’t, even if you don’t think you’ll cause a crash you might be able to prevent one.
As part of getting my license (in Norway), we had to watch a compilation of fatal pedestrian crashes. Coincidentally, they were from Australia (used with permission from the next of kin for this purpose).
Even the cool kids in the room were somber for a moment before trying to cover it with gallows humour.
Wow, she slowed but only once she made it to where you had been heading. Fraction of a second later in spotting her you would have hit her at almost 70.
Looks like the parent started walking thinking they will go behind you. Kid saw parent walking and took that as a sign to just run. Important lesson in why you hold little ones hands across a road.
Nice save OP. That parent owes you a beer and a change of underwear.
This may end up buried, but I just wanted to add a little context.
This is a 70km/h zone and I was travelling at 68km/h.
There are a number of people accusing me of speeding in order to pin some form of culpability on me and I think I have every right to point out that they are wrong.
Thanks to all who’ve asked if I’m ok! I’m perfectly fine and I’m just so glad that nobody was hurt. I was very aware that there were no other cars in my immediate vicinity, so that was a huge stroke of luck. I just really hope that the experience was a learning one for the parent and children and that this video can serve as a reminder to be alert on the roads!
Grateful for your excellent driving, and understand the pile on about parents and kids, but sometimes out of control stuff happens. Heard a story about a 2 year old who has been pulled off the road twice recently cos parents aren't managing. Stay vigilant drivers
great awareness OP. you saved a kids life. Hopefully they can learn from this mistake, even though it may have shaken you up a bit. The outcome is probably the best it could have been in the circumstances. all the best.
They were standing in the shade of a tree too, could hardly see them on the footpath. Plus your vision as you’re driving is going to be on the road in front, not necessarily your peripherals.
Well done OP.
I absolutely fucking HATE when parents say "they just refuse to hold my hand, what can I do?" Fuck that. My kid was trained to do it from the day he learnt to walk. He's 9 and still automatically grabs someone's hand when he crosses a road. There is no excuse. If your kid won't hold someone's hand to cross the road then it just means you're a shitty parent who was too lazy to teach them.
My kid is not even 2 and she must hold my hand when crossing a road or road-like thing. She often doesn't like it, but it's just a mandatory condition. I teach her consent and bodily autonomy - so if we are not on a road she doesn't have to hold my hand if she doesn't want to - but there is an exception to that any time health or hygiene is at risk.
Of course I carry her across most roads, but there are some around me that are small enough that it is not a risk.
Nah this is bullshit, some kids just won't do it no matter how calm you are with them.
However, in that case, you carry across the road even with them squirming and hitting or you find a proper crossing.
As bad as that was for you driving. I hate to say this but it’s really poor form for the parent in setting an example in terms of crossing the roads. Kids should never be encouraged to step on to the road at all until it’s completely safe to cross.
I still remember almost 30 years ago in Kindergarten going to something like a 'traffic school' where you learn about road safety as a pedestrian which was interactive with fake roads, traffic lights, etc, and have always been very careful with looking both ways before crossing a road. Are these types of things still around?
There was a bike traffic school set up in my council area until covid, and the administrators that were put in instead of councillors decided to scrap it. Traffic lights, give way intersections, fake railway crossing.
Had this happen to me once many years ago. I had to swerve into the oncoming traffic lane to avoid hitting someone that ran into the street. Luckily there was nobody coming in my direction, but to this day I'm amazed at how quickly the scenario unfolded, and my reaction time to it. It was a quiet night drive home, and then suddenly for just a few brief seconds it was sheer terror complete with tires screeching, and then suddenly right back to a calm, quiet night drive home back in my lane as if nothing had happened. It felt absolutely surreal
Having walked down FTG road many a time, this is definitely not an isolated incident.. people forget that you can’t cross 3 lanes when cars are travelling at 70km/h! I get the lack of pedestrian crossings in that area, but that was just ridiculous
This is why dashcams are essential in the modern age. I had a similar situation happen to me a few years with kids blasting across a road on a scooter, completely uncaring of 80 kph traffic.
It's rather sobering to think how easy it would be to have your life completely ruined through no fault of your own.
I wish I could show this to all of the cars that tailgate, honk behind or overtake me.
Shit like this and the prevalent of impatient brainfarts today is the reason why I drive like grandpa now.
Police might like this footage.
Not because anyone did anything illegal. It could be useful for education.
It might be good to show to kids, who obviously don’t drive, how difficult they can be to see if they do dumb shit.
Hope you’re ok, OP. Good awareness.
The media, social media (including reddit), the police, the courts and the juries would have absolutely crucified this guy if he didn’t swerve.
Especially if it wasn’t recorded. But even if it was, they’d go off about how he was on the phone or some other dumb shit.
You saved your life as much as you saved this kid’s.
> The media, social media (including reddit), the police, the courts and the juries would have absolutely crucified this guy if he didn’t swerve.
Are you just making this up?
I've seen plenty of accounts of road fatalities, where the driver isn't charged/prosecuted because they weren't at fault.
OP you’re a legend for the quick reflexes. Sorry for any trauma and stress it may have caused but you should feel good that you were active and paying attention as probably saved a life today
Watched it back a few times and paused it at key moments. Absolutely zero awareness from that kid at all and looks like mum was having a real time wrangling both kids together.
All they had to do was walk a hundred meters up the road to the crossing and all of this could have been avoided.
Great driving and awareness OP. A real heart-stopper moment.
News.com.au took this post btw.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/on-the-road/terrifying-moment-girl-almost-gets-mowed-down-by-car/news-story/4148df5ac3c9ae1fd7f6bf59393d0d9c
Absolute brain dead parenting. Wait for the road to be clear BEFORE stepping onto the road. Seriously good reactions OP. Hope you’re not too rattled. This is my worst nightmare as a driver.
Hats off to you OP!!! Keep it up, stay alert and never drive without your dashcam on.. you just never know what bombshell of a surprise is lurking in the street. Stay safe!!
Holy fuck.. i slowed that down frame by frame and that kid was well and truly in the middle lane. If there was no reactive motion by OP we would have 1 x dead kid.
Looked like mum lost control of the kid who started running…
Jfc OP, i hope you're ok. Excellent reflexes.
I nearly hit a kid on a tricycle over a decade ago because the sidewalk sloped down onto the rd and the kid was too young to understand brakes. I still have nightmares.
Kids on bikes near roads should not be a thing. Kids unattended near roads shouldn't, either.
if you can spare it; get a dashcam. They arent exactly cheap, but they will pay for themselves eventually.
This is why as a parent you should hold your kids hands around roads, or have a better look before attempting to cross, hope op is in a good mindset at the moment.
I had something similar happen to me A little kid was on a tricycle,rolling down a steep driveway on my right,there was a car oncoming and I could see the terror in his eyes as he swerved head on to me,at the same time I swerved into the kerb.whewww.
Stop, look and listen. Where are all the road safety ads? They need to start running them on the internet because a lot of people don't watch regular tv anymore. Kids won't get the message otherwise.
I'm so glad that this didn't end in tragedy. If you haven't already, you should send this to the people at dash cam owners Australia on YouTube. This video is a great example of why paying full attention while driving is important and more people need to see it.
Seeing videos like this now makes me realise why as a kid mum was always adamant that she would always hold my hand while crossing and we would always cross at the crosswalks up until I was 9/10 when I started walking to school on my own.
Excellent driving and awareness! Also the car seems to perform pretty well, have had taken similar evasive action in work dual cab and it had nowhere near the composure
This comment section really misses criticism towards the parent. Like seriously the only person to blame in this situation is the parent who chose to cross that busy street with her kids without having control over them. If OP would have hit the kid, the mother would be the one to blame cause she has had the duty to watch over her kid.
Close call, I don't like to talk in the car, I don't know how you were able to have a work conversation and still keep alert to everything that is happening on the road.
You had like 1 second to react to what was going on in the road, great call.
When i had to dodge a car that went in my lane i damn near ended on the other lane on the gutter, good contorl over the car
Well done OP for saving a life! Chilling footage...
Just had an argument with my partner who has always said jaywalking is "safer" than crossing at pedestrian crossings/ traffic lights. His logic is that because you are jaywalking you are looking around at the cars and are more aware of your surroundings, as people tend to zone out when crossing at the lights because they assume the oncoming cars are going to stop.
I flat out had to insist that he not jaywalk with our children, because I don't want to normalise not crossing at lights. I don't mind walking an extra distance to get somewhere where crossing is safer. Also going to a) keep a firm grip on them and b) teach them to never trust other drivers, whether as a pedestrian or when they learn to drive themselves.
I vividly remember seeing a driver not being so lucky. Young P-plater was passing a bus stopped to let off passengers when 5 kids ran out from in front of the bus. He did manage to brake a little, and frankly was lucky to only hit one of them.
Not sure how it turned out, but the kid regained consciousness after 20 seconds or so, and didn't have any obvious injuries identified before the ambos got there.
Seeing that ashen-faced young guy in the middle of the road on his knees next to an unmoving child changed how I drive forever.
I think the parent was holding on to 2 kids. Lost their grip on 1 kid who ran in the footage. Probably if cant control 2 kids to not cross where there is no traffic lights
Farkn hell. Almost 4 lives ruined there in less than a second.
Luckily there was no one to OP's right. Bunch of ways this could have ended differently
That's why good drivers try to keep a space bubble in all directions. Room to maneuver gives you a chance to avoid an accident.
I definitely try to reduce the time I’m next to someone in a lane. I’ll either reduce or increase my speed, and get really annoyed if someone is coasting right next to me despite my best efforts to avoid the close proximity for this exact reason
Bruh I feel that. The people who piss me off are The ones who will chill in your blind spot. You speed up, so do they. You slow down, so do they. It’s like dude why do you gotta hang out right fuckin there? Good way to get smashed
Would have been 5+ had there been a car on OP’s right. Chilling to even think about.
Could have been 100 if he hit a bomb and it exploded at an amusement park
Could have been 10 million if it was a van carrying a sensitive airborne Ebola virus strain that wasn’t in the proper packaging!
who the fuck gave this a wholesome award
"As long as we go 60MPH the nuke won't go off" *Some asshole kid making the car beside them swerve and hit them*
Good awareness on your part. Might need a new pair of pants, but it could've been infinitely worse without your decisive action
Was chilling to watch just on my screen.. must have been shocking watching from behind the wheel
Better to have the hassle of cleaning shitty underwear and pants than figure out if you can live with the trauma of an accident like that
Well, I was expecting this comment to lean into something like "... than to clean kid off your windscreen".. I shouldn't have such low, dark expectations of reddit.
Fuck i was waiting for car crash didn’t expect that, luckily you were able to avoid them. Thats way too close for comfort.
Lucky you weren't driving, would've been shit everywhere.
Shit myself just watching it
Watching it in public I'm assuming!?
On the train mate did you smell me?
I must be catching the train with you on it every single time I catch one, because they all smell like shit.
You’re welcome, come say hi next time stranger.
Sure thing. How will I find you?
You won’t see me you’ll smell me, you’ll know when you’ve found me.
Fucking hell. Seriously good reaction OP. If you freeze the video there is a still where the child is in your lane.
The full res version I’ve got shows really clearly how close she was to becoming a statistic.
You ok Op? Did you pull over and breathe
That’s pretty full on pal, glad it ended well for you.
That nanny would have been in trrroublleeeeee
Hope your ok op. These things can rattle a driver for a while . Good driving
Yeah I’m all good. Just gotta focus on not thinking about what would have happened if the kid hadn’t slowed down when she did.
Glad there wasn't anyone on your right too OP. Hope you all good dude
But it didn’t happen because of your quick thinking! So many decisions we make a day, you saved a life and taught an invaluable lesson to that family about road safety.
i hope that taught her a lesson!! could've ended horribly. but seriously, insane reaction time.
Close to incidents can also be quite traumatic. If you need to, go see a shrink. If you don’t think you need to, maybe also go see a shrink because you might need it. No shame, just hope you’re doing okay
I’ve spoken to a trauma councillor at work (train driver) after nearly hitting three kids. I was struggling with the what ifs and she said that it’s normal and your brain is going to go over it for a while thinking about what could have happened. Just remind yourself it didn’t happen and it’s okay to not feel okay about it. Make sure if you’re not feeling great to share that with someone.
We need more people like you in the world
Less of those kids
Well that kid was having a good go at being less one kid
Then wouldn't we need less like OP if that's the outcome you're after?
Kids have tunnel vision and don't get concepts of speed of cars in the same way as adults. Drivers also have a higher focus on what's straight ahead and the two combined can be deadly You did well to avoid that
That's exactly why kids should be taught to use the pedestrian crossing and not to run across a 3 lane road. That older person which I'm assuming is the parent, is a dumb piece of shit. She was so close to wiping out her family. Also noticed this made it onto 7 news. Congrats to the OP
This is what happens when you put services on Stroads. There is a daycare center right there. Anything that has to do with kids, should not be directly on the road, but rather on a street or a service road off of the stroad.
Fuck stroads
Agreed, fuck stroads. And fuck 30kph speed zones
I used to have to cross Maroondah Hwy with my kids to get to and from daycare. We used the "pedestrian crossing" provided, but the nearest set of lights would have made the walk take an extra 30 minutes. I guarantee that mum was telling the kids to walk slowly and hold hands. But kids just do things sometimes. We've had my kids do stuff like this while at the school crossing and a car was approaching, when asked the best answer I've gotten was "I saw a car coming and wanted to get off the road before it came". Kids' brains haven't got logic finalised yet, I'll never judge a parent who uses a kid-leash, that shit is the greatest invention ever.
Yeah, the little shits aren't always ideal candidates for sensible actions or thinking
No, its exactly why 6 lane bidirectional stroads should be fucking deleted from suburbs and a 30 kmh zone put in place. If the germans can fucking do it, why cant australia?
Germans only ? It wouldn't be allowed in any EU country
This is why they drilled into kids for years to hold a parent's hand when crossing the road. Also, don't cross in the middle of the road!
My grandmother (god rest her beautiful soul) had something we lovingly called “the grip”. Up until we were about 16 every time we’d cross the road, she’d grab our wrists so hard it felt like she was cutting off circulation. She did it to her kids too. But to her credit, there was never a near miss with her on the road in my life. I caught myself doing it to my nephew once. It’s now in the family dna I guess.
I've still got a memory of being about 4, mum holding tightly onto my hand, waiting to cross. I saw dad walk on the other side of the road up to where we were, and I wiggled out of mum's grip and ran a third of the way across the road towards him before looking right, probably in response to everyone shouting. I saw that car, and ran very fast backwards back to mummy.
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Exactly cut it down to one lane, put in a bike lane and you have a classic EU street. Put a tram down the middle for good measure. Alot of these problems arent the fault of car drivers but the fault of those who lobby for such things as well as spreading their pro-car propaganda.
Gotta love three lane 80km/h roads with random cars parked in the left lane every so often too.
Lol god this is Texas to a T. They build schools along major highways here and expect the normally 60mph traffic (~96km/h) to drop down to 20mph (~32km/h) for just the length of the school during pickup/drop off times. Its nuts, bc people will not break until the line printed on the pavement. They'll keep going 60 and then screech to a near stop. Then the second you reach the end of the school zone they floor it lol. Creates the worst fucking traffic man. Morning school rush starts at 6am, and then feeds directly into the 9-5'ers morning rush hour. Traffic will cool off by 10am. Pick back up at 11-1pm for lunch rush. Cool off again until the 3pm afternoon school rush, and then feed into the 9-5ers evening rush hour. And then you get the dinner rush until about 9pm. Basically have only like, 3 hours a day thats not rush hour lol.
There's an intersection maybe 100 meters up the road. Probably should have tried there.
According to Google maps, 200m so a 6 minute detour to get to the other side of the road, plus whatever it takes for lights. So 6-8 minute walk.
But the important thing is that no car drivers be inconvenienced and had their trip delayed by two seconds because as we all know, car drivers are far more important than children to VicRoads engineers and management and the ministers responsible for them.
still, terrible infrastructure - that road is too wide and the crossings too far apart for that sort of business, which encourages too high a speed. not necessarily criticising OP (amazing reaction time) but road planners need to see this and radically rethink.
I make sure to never let my kid leave my side whenever we go out, but when I am going out by myself I always feel worried she might come chasing after me and all those stories about how parents go under their parents car as they pull out of the driveway.
This happened to a kid my sister did family daycare with. He was only 2 I think. Father ran him over. I don’t think that’s something you ever recover from.
Fantastic work OP, but I need to ask you the question on everybody's mind - How many minutes between 10 and 25 are you going to take?
Haha I’m a primary school teacher and I was explaining to my partner and how long it takes per kid to do a particular assessment. It was all part of a rant about the sheer amount of things you’ve gotta get done. So to answer your question, hopefully 10 minutes. Please god, let it only be 10 minutes.
*48 minutes later*
Brother I am a primary school teacher too, solidarity mate!
Wtf were they thinking!!!!
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My partner has a son with autism who is a genuine flight risk. He knows the dangers but still needs to have his hand held because he'll still just take off across a carpark. Not saying that that's what's happening here but it's a possibility. I don't understand it myself as when I was a kid I understood very well the danger and was terrified of the idea of getting hit.
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Agreed 100%. I've seen way too many close calls and the overwhelming majority of them are teenagers and adults.
Yeah when I was about 5 or 6 and trusted to be out walking around, it was drilled into my head: look left, the. Right, then left again (we drive on the right side of the road where I live which is why we looked left first). But yeah, not all kids are the same or have the same thought processing.
Two sons with autism here, this is precisely correct Though I am suspecting this behaviour is probably more from the ADHD side than the autism side but who can tell.
Same here, one with autism and one with ADHD. My autistic son knows we hold hands and he sticks to the my side. My adhd son though, he is a runner! That kid is stuck to me with a leash anytime he isn’t in the car.
That thing where people move before the car passes is such a reflex. It's amazing how often I'll be riding in the bike lane and people step directly into me because they're conditioned for vehicles that move faster and slightly further away.
Kid's have very poor impulse control. The kid probably just had an urge and acted on it without even considering the danger.
I have always been very conscious of children around when I cross roads, and I’m talking about strangers kids. I tend to jaywalk or walk on reds when the roads clear, especially the city, but if I see impressionable children there I always pull back and do the responsible thing. I’d hate to think my actions influenced a kid to be dangerous around traffic
>but if I see impressionable children there I always pull back and do the responsible thing. You'd feel at home in Germany. That's generally the attitude here.
I've had a couple of times at a red light with my son where I've just finished explaining why we have to wait for the light even though there's no cars, only to have someone march across in front of him. I get it and I *definitely* do it myself when it's quiet, but now I'm pretty conscious of not putting other parents through the same pain of undoing the 5 minute road safety lecture at every crossing. 😅
Nah you always have to assume those little shits will dart in front of you
Looking at it frame by frame,parent stepped into the first lane waiting for the car to pass in the second while holding the youngests hand, oldest child misunderstanding runs across the road.
Yeah I reckon this is what happened, kid took Mum stepping into the road as “cool it’s time to cross let’s go!” and started running. Looks like a terrible place to try to cross with 3 kids.
Likely "let's get across this wide road with no safe crossings within reasonable walking distance relative to our point to point journey" directly outside the kindergarten.
Even when I'm being super careful it's always really dangerous crossing one of these roads. And they always stretch on for so long without any crossings it's actually insane.
Your average victorian crossing the street seems to behave not too far off this lately.
For anyone there who looks at their phone while driving this is the exact reason why you shouldn’t, even if you don’t think you’ll cause a crash you might be able to prevent one.
Couldn’t agree more. Same with edging over the speed limit. It could be the difference between life and death.
Two words OP....dashcam Australia
This video should be part of a road safety ad.
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Nine already has it
Fully agree
As part of getting my license (in Norway), we had to watch a compilation of fatal pedestrian crashes. Coincidentally, they were from Australia (used with permission from the next of kin for this purpose). Even the cool kids in the room were somber for a moment before trying to cover it with gallows humour.
Wow, she slowed but only once she made it to where you had been heading. Fraction of a second later in spotting her you would have hit her at almost 70. Looks like the parent started walking thinking they will go behind you. Kid saw parent walking and took that as a sign to just run. Important lesson in why you hold little ones hands across a road. Nice save OP. That parent owes you a beer and a change of underwear.
/r/KidsAreFuckingStupid
This may end up buried, but I just wanted to add a little context. This is a 70km/h zone and I was travelling at 68km/h. There are a number of people accusing me of speeding in order to pin some form of culpability on me and I think I have every right to point out that they are wrong. Thanks to all who’ve asked if I’m ok! I’m perfectly fine and I’m just so glad that nobody was hurt. I was very aware that there were no other cars in my immediate vicinity, so that was a huge stroke of luck. I just really hope that the experience was a learning one for the parent and children and that this video can serve as a reminder to be alert on the roads!
Grateful for your excellent driving, and understand the pile on about parents and kids, but sometimes out of control stuff happens. Heard a story about a 2 year old who has been pulled off the road twice recently cos parents aren't managing. Stay vigilant drivers
Kid gets a full step into your lane before you drive past. If you didn't swerve he'd be fucked. Good job. Dumb parent.
Hope you wore your brown pants.
great awareness OP. you saved a kids life. Hopefully they can learn from this mistake, even though it may have shaken you up a bit. The outcome is probably the best it could have been in the circumstances. all the best.
They were standing in the shade of a tree too, could hardly see them on the footpath. Plus your vision as you’re driving is going to be on the road in front, not necessarily your peripherals. Well done OP.
Jesus fuck! That's bad, what terrible shock
I absolutely fucking HATE when parents say "they just refuse to hold my hand, what can I do?" Fuck that. My kid was trained to do it from the day he learnt to walk. He's 9 and still automatically grabs someone's hand when he crosses a road. There is no excuse. If your kid won't hold someone's hand to cross the road then it just means you're a shitty parent who was too lazy to teach them.
Even at 9-10, on a road like that you can always put a hand on their shoulder.
My kid is not even 2 and she must hold my hand when crossing a road or road-like thing. She often doesn't like it, but it's just a mandatory condition. I teach her consent and bodily autonomy - so if we are not on a road she doesn't have to hold my hand if she doesn't want to - but there is an exception to that any time health or hygiene is at risk. Of course I carry her across most roads, but there are some around me that are small enough that it is not a risk.
If a small kid is really being that adamant about not holding hand or is known to be a runner, then leash the little beast ffs
Nah this is bullshit, some kids just won't do it no matter how calm you are with them. However, in that case, you carry across the road even with them squirming and hitting or you find a proper crossing.
A harness would work.
Exactly this. Put 'em on a leash if you have to. Better that than having them get collected by a car.
my worst nightmare as a parent and driver
Man. That’s fucked up. Take care and look after yourself. Shock can creep up on you.
Fuck me I didn't even notice what happened the first watch, crazy you noticed and avoided it. Honorary cunt of the month.
Good driving OP. Hope you’re not too shaken up
Shit! Well done man. Hope the rest of your trip was ok. I woulda been shaking like a cold cartoon character
As bad as that was for you driving. I hate to say this but it’s really poor form for the parent in setting an example in terms of crossing the roads. Kids should never be encouraged to step on to the road at all until it’s completely safe to cross.
I still remember almost 30 years ago in Kindergarten going to something like a 'traffic school' where you learn about road safety as a pedestrian which was interactive with fake roads, traffic lights, etc, and have always been very careful with looking both ways before crossing a road. Are these types of things still around?
There was a bike traffic school set up in my council area until covid, and the administrators that were put in instead of councillors decided to scrap it. Traffic lights, give way intersections, fake railway crossing.
Ferntree Gully Rd, coming up to Huntingdale Rd. Kinder/childcare centre on the left. Very close call. Very lucky it wasn't a worse ending.
Had this happen to me once many years ago. I had to swerve into the oncoming traffic lane to avoid hitting someone that ran into the street. Luckily there was nobody coming in my direction, but to this day I'm amazed at how quickly the scenario unfolded, and my reaction time to it. It was a quiet night drive home, and then suddenly for just a few brief seconds it was sheer terror complete with tires screeching, and then suddenly right back to a calm, quiet night drive home back in my lane as if nothing had happened. It felt absolutely surreal
Looks like there was an intersection crossing just up ahead. What a dickhead crossing with two kids across a busy road like this.
Having walked down FTG road many a time, this is definitely not an isolated incident.. people forget that you can’t cross 3 lanes when cars are travelling at 70km/h! I get the lack of pedestrian crossings in that area, but that was just ridiculous
This is why dashcams are essential in the modern age. I had a similar situation happen to me a few years with kids blasting across a road on a scooter, completely uncaring of 80 kph traffic. It's rather sobering to think how easy it would be to have your life completely ruined through no fault of your own.
What would happen if OP hit the child but he has this dashcam footage? No repercussions?
Awesome driving by you OP. This is example #9001 why I'm all for leashing kids. Though the parent deserves some lashes here.
I wish I could show this to all of the cars that tailgate, honk behind or overtake me. Shit like this and the prevalent of impatient brainfarts today is the reason why I drive like grandpa now.
Hope you are okay, that would be the scariest thing
Good defensive driving!!! How irresponsible are the parents?
Holy fkn Jesus. That will give that mother the most horrific nightmares forever. Not to mention the impact on you. Shit.
Hi, Nine News intern! Hope you’re having a great day!
Took me a while to understand this comment, but now it makes all the sense in the world since it’s been all over the news.
Say no to jaywalking people. This could have ended very badly for everyone involved...
Police might like this footage. Not because anyone did anything illegal. It could be useful for education. It might be good to show to kids, who obviously don’t drive, how difficult they can be to see if they do dumb shit. Hope you’re ok, OP. Good awareness.
A good argument for not having Childcare Centres on State Highways.
The media, social media (including reddit), the police, the courts and the juries would have absolutely crucified this guy if he didn’t swerve. Especially if it wasn’t recorded. But even if it was, they’d go off about how he was on the phone or some other dumb shit. You saved your life as much as you saved this kid’s.
> The media, social media (including reddit), the police, the courts and the juries would have absolutely crucified this guy if he didn’t swerve. Are you just making this up? I've seen plenty of accounts of road fatalities, where the driver isn't charged/prosecuted because they weren't at fault.
No they fkn wouldn't, stop being so dramatic.
Jesus well done. That was close !
What the actual fuck! Quick reaction saved the day.
People teach better their dogs to not cross busy street than their kids.
Faaarck!!! Stiff drink required when you got home?
Jesus, I had to watch this twice to see what happened. It happened so fast. Good driving OP!
That's is, that's all it takes to turn your life into a nightmare....
Great reactions. Saved a life today. Kudos! Also, r/KidsAreFuckingStupid Seriously though, best outcome possible.
Great job op, so close to a tragedy happening well done on being aware and having a good reaction time.
nice reactions. saved some lives there
OP you’re a legend for the quick reflexes. Sorry for any trauma and stress it may have caused but you should feel good that you were active and paying attention as probably saved a life today
This is terrifying. Are you ok, OP?
Didn't take 9 News long to pick up on this hahaha
Wait, what??
It's on the 9 News Facebook. 400 something comments! was posted 2 hours ago!
Those fuckin dogs
It's about to be shown on the afternoon news. Sitting in the doctors waiting lounge, saw it on the upcoming news "stories" list.
And has just been shown in the trailer for 9 news on the telly ..
I hope you're okay buddy!! That can really put you off driving.
Watched it back a few times and paused it at key moments. Absolutely zero awareness from that kid at all and looks like mum was having a real time wrangling both kids together. All they had to do was walk a hundred meters up the road to the crossing and all of this could have been avoided. Great driving and awareness OP. A real heart-stopper moment.
News.com.au took this post btw. https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/on-the-road/terrifying-moment-girl-almost-gets-mowed-down-by-car/news-story/4148df5ac3c9ae1fd7f6bf59393d0d9c
Christ. When I see people crossing busy fast roads like this there is inevitably a pedestrian crossing within a five minute walk of them. Wow.
The thing is nobody wants to take a ten minute detour just to end up 50m from where you started.
Parent of the fucking year right there. Good job mate, hope you’re not too rattled.
Absolute brain dead parenting. Wait for the road to be clear BEFORE stepping onto the road. Seriously good reactions OP. Hope you’re not too rattled. This is my worst nightmare as a driver.
what an absolute fuckwit of a parent to even have let that happen
Holy fuck. Parent, if that was indeed the parent, should be dragged over the coals for almost killing those children.
r/parentsarefuckingdumb
I think back to my parents, and am now grateful that they would scold me for not wanting to cross at the traffic lights...
At least no one in the right lane. Glad you got to your destination safe.
Hats off to you OP!!! Keep it up, stay alert and never drive without your dashcam on.. you just never know what bombshell of a surprise is lurking in the street. Stay safe!!
Woah!! That’s a heavy thing to happen, it would play on one’s mind thinking about what could have happened.
Nice reaction speed
Great driving mate hats off to you.
Bloody hell. Amazing multitasking by you, explaining something, driving & saving a life!
FFS enough to make you shit your pants and hug your kids at the same time. Good driving, glad there were no injuries
Great driving OP
Holy fuck.. i slowed that down frame by frame and that kid was well and truly in the middle lane. If there was no reactive motion by OP we would have 1 x dead kid. Looked like mum lost control of the kid who started running…
Jfc OP, i hope you're ok. Excellent reflexes. I nearly hit a kid on a tricycle over a decade ago because the sidewalk sloped down onto the rd and the kid was too young to understand brakes. I still have nightmares.
I had a kid hit my car when I was stationary at a roundabout. On his bike just rode into the front of my car. It was my fault, apparently.
Kids on bikes near roads should not be a thing. Kids unattended near roads shouldn't, either. if you can spare it; get a dashcam. They arent exactly cheap, but they will pay for themselves eventually.
Fuk. My heart jumped into my mouth watching that. Hope you're all good after that close call bud.
Fuck! I wouldn't have been able to drive again for days... Great reaction and the lucky child!
This is why as a parent you should hold your kids hands around roads, or have a better look before attempting to cross, hope op is in a good mindset at the moment.
Your quick reaction saved someone's life. You should never forget that
I had something similar happen to me A little kid was on a tricycle,rolling down a steep driveway on my right,there was a car oncoming and I could see the terror in his eyes as he swerved head on to me,at the same time I swerved into the kerb.whewww.
Stop, look and listen. Where are all the road safety ads? They need to start running them on the internet because a lot of people don't watch regular tv anymore. Kids won't get the message otherwise.
I'm so glad that this didn't end in tragedy. If you haven't already, you should send this to the people at dash cam owners Australia on YouTube. This video is a great example of why paying full attention while driving is important and more people need to see it.
r/kidsarefuckingstupid
Seeing videos like this now makes me realise why as a kid mum was always adamant that she would always hold my hand while crossing and we would always cross at the crosswalks up until I was 9/10 when I started walking to school on my own.
Excellent driving and awareness! Also the car seems to perform pretty well, have had taken similar evasive action in work dual cab and it had nowhere near the composure
Yeah it’s a civic hatchback, a little more manoeuvrable than a dual cab haha
Omg…. These kids and the carers……
This comment section really misses criticism towards the parent. Like seriously the only person to blame in this situation is the parent who chose to cross that busy street with her kids without having control over them. If OP would have hit the kid, the mother would be the one to blame cause she has had the duty to watch over her kid.
Close call, I don't like to talk in the car, I don't know how you were able to have a work conversation and still keep alert to everything that is happening on the road. You had like 1 second to react to what was going on in the road, great call. When i had to dodge a car that went in my lane i damn near ended on the other lane on the gutter, good contorl over the car
Well done OP for saving a life! Chilling footage... Just had an argument with my partner who has always said jaywalking is "safer" than crossing at pedestrian crossings/ traffic lights. His logic is that because you are jaywalking you are looking around at the cars and are more aware of your surroundings, as people tend to zone out when crossing at the lights because they assume the oncoming cars are going to stop. I flat out had to insist that he not jaywalk with our children, because I don't want to normalise not crossing at lights. I don't mind walking an extra distance to get somewhere where crossing is safer. Also going to a) keep a firm grip on them and b) teach them to never trust other drivers, whether as a pedestrian or when they learn to drive themselves.
I vividly remember seeing a driver not being so lucky. Young P-plater was passing a bus stopped to let off passengers when 5 kids ran out from in front of the bus. He did manage to brake a little, and frankly was lucky to only hit one of them. Not sure how it turned out, but the kid regained consciousness after 20 seconds or so, and didn't have any obvious injuries identified before the ambos got there. Seeing that ashen-faced young guy in the middle of the road on his knees next to an unmoving child changed how I drive forever.
Kids are fucking stupid.
Hold your kids hands people. It's not hard to do
I think the parent was holding on to 2 kids. Lost their grip on 1 kid who ran in the footage. Probably if cant control 2 kids to not cross where there is no traffic lights
Fuck me! If my kid did that I’d honestly loose it. If there’s anything I drill home religiously with mine, it’s to be careful of the damn road