I hit a child on the bike trail

[RolliePollie]

I still can't believe this happened. I hit a little girl on the bike trail and knocked her down. She and her dad were walking with their backs to me and right as I got to them, she ran out in front of me. It happened so fast! I yelled LOOK OUT and braked hard, but I couldn't avoid her. There was oncoming bike traffic and other pedestrians on the other side of the trail, so I could only swerve so far over. My front tire and right leg hit her and knocked her down. I can't believe I didn't go down too.

I stopped and the dad had already picked her up off the ground. She was sobbing but there was no blood and the dad was saying "see, this is why you have to follow the rules! this is why you have to look both ways!". I was shaking and fighting back tears. I apologized over and over and the dad kept saying she's fine and he seemed pretty ok with it. So after a couple minutes I got back on the bike and rode off. I feel so guilty. I feel like I should've given them my name and number or something. Honestly, I don't think it was my fault, but I still feel just awful. Poor little kid...she was only about 5. How traumatic for her!

[channlluv]

How frightening for both of you.

If you were following the speed limit, and I imagine you were with all that traffic on the path, I can't think of anything you might have done to avoid it except to maybe call out "On your left!" way in advance of getting to them so the father could have pulled her over, too, out of your way. It's hard to second-guess a situation like that, though. My DH refuses to call out to walkers on the path because, he says, half the time they wander to the left into his path.

Incidents like this make me want to get a bell, though.

I'm glad she wasn't hurt too badly, and I'm glad you didn't fall, too.

Roxy

[dinabean]

As the mother of a 5 year old and a 7 year old, I say...serves the kid right. Of course, I would only say that if no one was seriously hurt, because no one deserves to be seriously hurt. But it sounds like no one was seriously hurt, and I am truly glad both you and the girl (and your bike!) are OK. And since you are all OK, let's just hope that she learned a valuable lesson and will follow the rules better in the future.

I am by no means poo pooing your distress. I would be freaked out too -- particularly by the what ifs. But it sounds like this kiddo will not be worse for wear, so try not to dwell.

[Zen]

When i see kids on a path I slow waaaay down.
You never know what those little.....darlings are going to do.

She's fine and has probably learned a valuable lesson.

[RolliePollie]

As the mother of a 5 year old and a 7 year old, I say...serves the kid right.

I think this is what the dad was thinking too! Thank heavens she seemed to be ok. When I stopped, I was almost afraid to turn around and look because I was expecting blood and knocked out teeth or something. Considering all the sharp chainring teeth and stuff on the right side of the bike, it's very lucky she hit my leg and didn't get all cut up by bike parts. By the time I hit her, I'm sure I was going well under 10 mph.

This particular trail has very heavy bike traffic and most pedestrians are pretty good about staying out of the way or at least looking before they cross. But little kids are always worrisome to me. It's too bad the dad didn't have her on the other side of him away from the paved part of the trail.

[channlluv]

Aha. Good lesson for him, too, no doubt.

Roxy

[PamNY]

It does sound like a scary experience for all concerned. I bike in very crowded conditions and I'm surprised I don't see more collisions.

Little children are unpredictable, and slowing down when you see them is all you can do. This doesn't sound like it was your fault at all -- but still it's a bad experience.

I'm glad she is okay, and hope she learned to be more careful.

[marni]

I am glad that you are both ok, and sorry that that happened however, I think in the case of young children, people walking dogs on leashes and squirrels, any encounter can very likely one with no guarantees.

As the sort of mother who would let my child crawl too close to the fire because I knew he/she would only do it once, all I can say is that the experience was probably a very good learning experience for all three of you.

Glad you are ok.

[Tokie]

I hit a little girl on a bike path too. she had run off of the bike path with the other little girls, but they were all still yelling at her to move.She was overwhelmed and confused and then moved back onto the bike path. I was going super slow, she jumped in front of me at the last minute and we both went down. I tweaked my back, she wet her pants and was holding her arm. I told the Girl's Inc person that was supervising them to get her to the ER for an arm x ray, but I doubt that she did. My motto now - children and dogs - unpredictable and dangerous! And I hate mixed use bike paths. Tokie

[DarcyInOregon]

I am glad the child is ok.

I love to ride the bike paths. But I've learned to bike on the weekdays when the trails aren't being used by family groups or during the dead of winter or on a real rainy/cold day. Years ago I was on a bike path in a nearby state park. I slowed down to 8 mph because there was a girl on a bike off the trail. She looked right at me then pedaled her bike crossways onto the trail and stopped, blocking the trail completely and still looking at me, so I either hit her or go off the path and take a tumble. I went off the path and took the fall. As I was getting up the mother came over to me, screaming in a frenzy, her face contorted in rage, spittle flying out of her mouth, eyes all bugged out, and yelled a lot of filthy words at me in front of her gaggle of children. I got back on my bike and rode away from her, figuring she must be mentally ill or mentally deficit in some way, continued to ride inside the park, and coming back on another loop, a good mile from the incident, there she is with her gaggle of children and starts screaming at me again, real gutter language. I found a park ranger and reported the lady. It is why I no longer ride the bike trails anywhere on a weekend.

However the most fun bike trails I've found, complete with water faucets, porta potties and benches along the trails, is in Idaho around Ketchum, near Sun Valley. Lots of road cyclists on those trails, and the walkers are real respectful of the cyclists, and everyone seems to know the trail rules, like single-file to the right. One morning I was up at dawn to ride the trail between Hailey and Ketchum, and the trail was filled with cyclists commuting to work in Ketchum; it was a fantastic sight.

[OakLeaf]

Rollie, I'm sorry that happened to you and so glad everyone's okay. It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong at all. Still I've found the only safe passing speed for pedestrians is 5 mph or less. I've read for motor vehicles that anything over a 15% speed differential is super dangerous, and IMO that's true for any traffic. 10 mph is 400 or 500% of a child's walking speed.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have found children, dogs and squirrels do not respond to my bike bell. When I see any of those or people with ears buds or a cell phone in use I quickly slow down. Being in control of your bike is the only thing you can do with users who aren't aware of their surrounding. You did the right thing by stopping and making sure all parties were okay.

[Mr. Bloom]

Rollie,

Don't feel guilt. Accidents happen. At least you're a bike and not a car...and that would have been a very different outcome.

Hopefully Dad knows that he should have kept her on the "inside" particularly since there was other traffic coming the opposite direction.

I've often had this same fear on local MUP's...but it's usually with the UNLEASHED dogs...now I have something else to ponder in my contingency planning...

[channlluv]

The leashed dogs on my favorite MUP drive me nuts. Their owners let their leashes run out all the way, so there's a walking human on the right, but a darting-back-and-forth yap yap on a 20-foot lead running all over the road. Even if it's far to the left, I can't get around the leash safely. I try to yell "LEASH!" when I'm coming up on them, and most of the time they reel them back in in time, but I usually have to slow way down.

I've been known to say something like, "Lady, I'm the slow cyclist out here. There's a bunch of big guys doing about 20 coming up fast behind me, and they don't call out," as I pass. There are a lot of really fast cyclists who work out around the lake, and they're not all observing the 15 mph speed limit.

And young mothers who let their toddlers out of the jogging stroller to run around while they're talking on the phone. One of them got a panicked "Watch the baby!" from me when I was coming around a sharp curve and there she was, there her stroller was, and there this little boy was, about twenty feet farther around the curve in the middle of the path. I had to screech to a halt -- luckily I was on my mtb at the time. I wouldn't have had that kind of traction or control on my Ruby. I hope whomever she was talking to heard me scream.

Foot traffic is just one of the hazards we have to learn to deal with. I wish sometimes that we could post our own Rules of the Road for people who seem to miss those giant signs at the beginning of the pathway.

Roxy

Roxy

[Bike Chick]

I'm glad you and the little girl are both okay. If it was that congested, dad should have been holding her hand and keeping an eye out IMO.