r/mildlyinfuriating • u/LaFemmeCurieuse • 7h ago
I'm slightly vexed Please pay attention
My neighbor was outside talking on her phone while watching her 2 year old grandson. He was running around in front of her. I got into my car, turned on my favorite podcast and put the car in reverse. I looked up and realized that I didn’t see him anymore. I checked my rearview camera, and he was standing behind my car. Fortunately, my foot was still on the brake.
I’m so grateful that I have that camera. He’s so little that he was completely hidden from my rearview mirror. His grandmother didn’t look in our direction until I got out of the car and called her. I try not to think about what could have happened if I’d been running late and rushing.
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u/cynuhstir1 7h ago
This happened to a lesser extent with some idiots dog in my neighborhood. They were just letting him run loose. Thank God for back up cameras.
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u/InfiniteGas_ 7h ago
Well just to note, I have an acquaintance who had an accident with not paying attention and their toddler running out to the garage to welcome them home.
I won’t go into details, but it was a horrific ending.
Always, ALWAYS, check twice and drive carefully with kids around.
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u/LaFemmeCurieuse 7h ago
I’m so sorry that happened. In my case, I do believe he ran over to say hello. Unfortunately, they don’t understand car dangers at the age.
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u/Old_Shake3789 3h ago
Why do people let kids so young out of their sight outdoors?? It takes a second and they can go anywhere its so dumb especially on roads and such. Its too common and I hate seeing it.
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u/mr_humansoup 4h ago
When I was a kid (2nd grade), the kid next door got run over by his mom backing down the driveway. He lived but was out of school for awhile with broken ribs. Can't imagine being a parent and dealing with the guilt.
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u/AlexaJones2023 3h ago
Children are so fundamentally stupid. You can't even trust them to breathe on their own. I don't know why she thought it was okay to let her eye off him.
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u/billsdabills 1h ago
I one time came home after school to find a toddler in my house (I was a teenager, my parents weren’t home, and we did not have a toddler in the family). Turns out his grandmother who lived a mile away was watching him, and when she turned her back “for a second”, he had walked out the door. By the time I found him there was a full blown manhunt for this kid. Thankfully, a neighbor knocked on my door right then to enlist me to help in the search, and she rode with me to return the kid to his parents. A short police interview later all was well!
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u/inderu 1h ago
I once had a very weird version of this happen to me.
I was 19 and drove my mum's car to my guitar lesson (as usual). Only this time I brought my new guitar with me (I usually just played the guitars they have there).
When I got back to the car in the parking lot after the lesson - I approached from the driver's side (as that was closer to the direction I came from) unlocked the car, and walked around to the passenger's side to put my guitar case in the passenger seat.
And that's when I saw someone lying on the ground, their head under the car right next to the tire, and not moving.
I freaked out a bit - tried to talk/yell to get a response - but just got some weird moaning (so he was alive at least). I called emergency services and told them that I found someone lying on the ground next to my car and that I think he needs medical attention.
Paramedics arrived a while later, gave him a quick check, and said he's just drunk - and that they called the police to deal with him. They left, and I waited for the police.
About half an hour later the police arrive and manage to wake him up. This guy then immediately opens the back door of my mum's car and climbs in saying "Where's my wallet?"
The nearest officer says to me "just give him his wallet".
I say "I don't have his wallet, and I've never seen him before in my life. I just found him laying on the ground next to the car when I was about to drive home. Please get him out of the car and let me leave."
They saw I was a bit freaked out and thankfully just got the guy out of the car and said I could go.
It was such a weird experience.
But the thing that I sometimes think about that really worries me about this - if I hadn't brought my new guitar with me that day, I wouldn't have gone round to the passenger's side. I would have just gone straight into the driver's side and started the car without knowing that guy was lying there. I could have killed him. It gives me a chill every time I run this situation through my mind.
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u/Wintersmight 1h ago
My ex MiL ran over a toddler standing behind her suv one Sunday morning. Not easy to live with yourself after that. Glad you were able to see him!
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u/ValKyrie1424 48m ago
My neighbors kids were doing this to me but are much older kids… so I went next door and told the parents and now the parents yell at me that I’m a Karen….
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u/ivorella 29m ago
I'm 31 now, but when I was maybe 12, a young girl got backed over by her dad's big ass truck from being behind it. I can still hear him shrieking sometimes :/
Cameras should be mandatory.
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u/Independent_Cream156 33m ago
I had an older Ford Escape that just beeped if something was behind me. Once in a dark parking lot , I was backing up and it kept beeping I saw nothing but knew better not to go. I get out of my car, there was a man bent over tying his kids shoe!
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u/nightmareinsouffle 32m ago
This happened to me years ago with a kid about that age, maybe even a little younger.
Except the parents were nowhere in sight and he was next to my passenger side brake light.
I had no reasonable way of seeing him as this was a car without a camera. I just had a feeling and stopped and then he came out from behind the car.
He went back towards what I think must have been his house. Still no parents.
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u/LaFemmeCurieuse 15m ago
Did you call the police?
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u/nightmareinsouffle 5m ago
Honestly, no, this was more than 10 years ago, not my neighborhood, and in a state that doesn't really do much about parents letting kids wander around. Even ones that young.
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u/Sushi_Trashpanda 24m ago
That worst case scenario happened to a lady at my folks church. This was about 25 years ago and she was a Fedex driver making deliveries. She had to go down a long driveway to make the delivery and then back out bc there wasn’t enough room for her to turn around in the driveway. So she was backing, the high pitched beeping noise was working, and the pre-k child was outside unattended and didn’t realize the noise meant danger. Absolutely tragic 💔
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u/LaFemmeCurieuse 16m ago
That’s awful. The common theme in these incidents is that no one was watching the kids.
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u/Constant-Ad-7490 1h ago
The fact you're acting like checking your backup camera is somehow optional is more than mildly infuriating. Are we supposed to congratulate you for not running over the toddler?
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u/FireOfOrder 1h ago
How did you read this and get that impression? The post is calling out the person watching the kid.
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u/Constant-Ad-7490 55m ago
They implied they would skip the step of checking the camera if they were rushing. Read it again.
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u/FireOfOrder 53m ago
I perceived that as rushing sometimes causes accidents. Humans make mistakes. Why are you being rude?
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u/The_Walking_Dad 5h ago
1 rule: Don’t see? Don’t drive.
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u/Sub_Sandwich_Gal 2h ago
Nah the 1 rule at play here is; Someone is supposed to be watching a child? Then they should be fucking paying attention to them.
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u/AllThatKat 4h ago
Do you have magic eyes or something bc I definitely can’t see in 360 degree field around my car at all times. Op could easily be looking in the rear view or over their shoulder for approaching cars and not see a toddle run behind them. Ppl need to start taking responsibility for watching their kids
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u/Spiritual_Ground_778 3h ago
Actually it's the driver's responsibility not to run over pedestrians. That includes children. particularly when they are on the sidewalk, which is a safe pedestrian path.
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u/OpposingPug 3h ago
and its the childs guardians responsibility to keep the child safe and out of danger
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u/Spiritual_Ground_778 2h ago
Yes, for instance by being on the sidewalk. The place where pedestrians are meant to be.
OP was driving her car on the bit of the road were pedestrians are meant to be.13
u/OpposingPug 2h ago
at no point in the post does it mention where the car is parked, sure it could be in a driveway (95% of houses where i live do not have a driveway) but it could also have been parked on the side of the road by the curb where a pedestrian shouldn't just be standing around, especially a toddler.
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u/nutlikeothersquirls 2h ago
At no point does the OP mention a sidewalk. And there is no reason to think that they were parked immediately in front of the sidewalk, even if there were one.
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u/OGPasguis 6h ago
The reason why now all newer cars have rearview camera. Too many children ran behind a car, and no one could see them. Good job for being aware and alert.