Buttock clenching moment

After an uneventful bike trip to Swindon and back this morning, we took
the car out for a bit of shopping. On the was home and less than 150
metres from my home, some kid runs straight out in front of me. I'd
seen a young lad of 11 or 12 cross the road in front of me and then I
thought where's there's one there's usually two or more. Suddenly out
of the corner of my eye I just see number two running alongside a
parked car. I can barely see the top of his head through the side
windows of the parked car. The next thing is he's in front of me, he's
run across the road in front of the parked car and me. I slammed on the
brakes and hit the clutch and thankfully the ABS on the Berlingo
stopped me about 5 or 6 feet from the gob smacked but still standing 7
year old.

His brother yelled at him for being an idiot, I yelled
at both of them. It's the first time in 32 years of driving that I've
even come close to knocking someone down and killing them.

I'm sure that my motorcycling skills helped with scanning for trouble.

Glad you were alert Cornishman. And very glad this had a good ending. Hopefully the kids learned a lesson. This is a good lesson to all of us to keep scanning for trouble, whether we are on a scoot, OR in a cage.

Mike

It's good you were alert and able to stop in time. I guess kids-will-be-kids. They are pretty lucky.

The most worrying thing about this story is you drive a berlingo and ride a silverwing (me too) scary

Impeccable taste dear boy, impeccable taste.

That would scare me to death!!!! That has always been one of my fear is that a child will run out between cars. It all happens in a blink of an eye.
So thankful you were alert

Whew... memories... 40 years ago I was teaching school in another life and needed to drive a bus to have any spending money. One day after making a stop and unloading several children.. I watched all of them cross in front of my bus and get to the other side of the road. Something happened that distracted me for just a few seconds...I looked in my inside mirrors to call someone down or something... then I closed the door and was pressing on the accelerator and releasing the clutch when something made me hesitate again for one or two seconds... then a little 8 year old second grader beat on my door and wanted back on the bus to get something she had left... she had come back and ran in front of the bus. I literally peed on myself and cried the rest of the way home. I called the bus superintendent and told him someone would have to come pick up the bus, I would never drive it again. I still get emotional thinking about how close I came to running over Patty. Life can change, as Coralee says, in the blinking of an eye.

Instead of thinking that day i could have killed a child think more that day by not leaving straight away you saved a childs life ...