@@@ child accident mentioned

[penguingrrl]

OMG, that’s terrifying! So glad she’s okay!

[jillybean222]

Aug 18, 2024 11:00:52 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Well yesterday aged me about 5 years! Me and DD had the fun idea to take our bikes to her favorite restaurant in the town center for dinner, but things didn’t go as planned. Not long after we left our driveway, a car couldn’t see her as they pulled out of their driveway and they collided. Fortunately her helmet was on and she would have just been checked out with bumps and bruises, but unfortunately the fall caused her brake handle to impale her inner thigh. When first responders arrived, they determined they needed to take the bike apart to get it off of her and leave the handle for the hospital to remove. Because of her age and the painful injury, they thought a Medflight would be better than a bumpy ambulance ride so we prepared for that, but once they gave pain meds and stabilized her leg, they decided she could tolerate the ambulance ok and canceled the Medflight.

We zoomed to Children’s Boston where the trauma team awaited us to make sure she had no injuries that weren’t obvious. The brake handle was removed and after X-rays and other testing came back negative, they decided to take her to the operating room to explore and clean the wound under anesthesia. Fortunately, it wasn’t as deep as feared and didn’t pierce her muscle. She’s home now and resting comfortably and has her fingers crossed she can make it to her first concert on Wednesday night (P!nk)! As scary as it was, the outcome could have been so much worse so we are grateful for that and for wonderful first responders, doctors and nurses. She’s a little bummed she didn’t get to take a Medflight but I’m ok with that!! 🙇‍♀️

Parenting ain’t for the faint of heart!

The same exact thing happened to my nephew last summer!  So much blood, per my sister!  I had never heard of that happening once, nevermind twice! EEK!  Parenting is not for the queasy! Also, sounds like you might be in Massachusetts and my sister also lives in Mass!  Weird.

[starburst604]

Aug 19, 2024 13:05:52 GMT -5 jillybean222 said:

Aug 18, 2024 11:00:52 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Well yesterday aged me about 5 years! Me and DD had the fun idea to take our bikes to her favorite restaurant in the town center for dinner, but things didn’t go as planned. Not long after we left our driveway, a car couldn’t see her as they pulled out of their driveway and they collided. Fortunately her helmet was on and she would have just been checked out with bumps and bruises, but unfortunately the fall caused her brake handle to impale her inner thigh. When first responders arrived, they determined they needed to take the bike apart to get it off of her and leave the handle for the hospital to remove. Because of her age and the painful injury, they thought a Medflight would be better than a bumpy ambulance ride so we prepared for that, but once they gave pain meds and stabilized her leg, they decided she could tolerate the ambulance ok and canceled the Medflight.

We zoomed to Children’s Boston where the trauma team awaited us to make sure she had no injuries that weren’t obvious. The brake handle was removed and after X-rays and other testing came back negative, they decided to take her to the operating room to explore and clean the wound under anesthesia. Fortunately, it wasn’t as deep as feared and didn’t pierce her muscle. She’s home now and resting comfortably and has her fingers crossed she can make it to her first concert on Wednesday night (P!nk)! As scary as it was, the outcome could have been so much worse so we are grateful for that and for wonderful first responders, doctors and nurses. She’s a little bummed she didn’t get to take a Medflight but I’m ok with that!! 🙇‍♀️

Parenting ain’t for the faint of heart!

The same exact thing happened to my nephew last summer!  So much blood, per my sister!  I had never heard of that happening once, nevermind twice! EEK!  Parenting is not for the queasy! Also, sounds like you might be in Massachusetts and my sister also lives in Mass!  Weird.

Oh wow that is crazy!! The weird thing is there was very little blood at the scene, but that would have changed if we had pulled the handle out ourselves I think. I hope your nephew recovered well!

[EvieEthelGarland]

I'm so glad she is on the mend! And I hope she makes it the the show.

Does your region have lifeflight insurance? I had never heard of it until a neighbor's child needed it (he fully recovered!)and they were billed close to 15k after medical insurance. Ours is only $75 a year for the entire family and covers what medical insurance does not.

[starburst604]

Aug 19, 2024 14:09:03 GMT -5 EvieEthelGarland said:

I'm so glad she is on the mend! And I hope she makes it the the show.

Does your region have lifeflight insurance? I had never heard of it until a neighbor's child needed it (he fully recovered!)and they were billed close to 15k after medical insurance. Ours is only $75 a year for the entire family and covers what medical insurance does not.

I’m not sure, but it would be covered by our medical insurance. Even if we hadn’t reached our deductible and OOP max, the bill wouldn’t look close to that! Omg.

[pugz]

Sooooo scary and so relieved she is ok

[ny96]

Wow, glad she’s going to be ok. We had a close call when my son and I were riding through our neighborhood yesterday where he decided to cross the street without paying attention or letting me know, and almost rode into oncoming traffic. It can happen so easily.

[UMaineTeach]

I glad things have gone well so far. Very scary.

Also, I think I’d 100% be unable to pull the drain out, I’d faint or something and we would end up at the PCP.

[kellady]

I’m so glad she is OK!  I hope she is able to go and enjoy the concert too!  It sounds like is was an accident.  Maybe the old guy could use a little therapy too.  I’m afraid that would end me.  

[starburst604]

I just walked the dogs and walked by there and took a picture. The red arrow is how she was traveling and the blue is the car coming up out of the driveway.

[melmel4854]

Aug 18, 2024 14:37:54 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Aug 18, 2024 12:45:46 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Omg that’s terrifying!!! I’m so glad your Dd is ok. Our kids are the same age and I can’t even imagine how scary that must have been. So many hugs to you.

Ugh DD has started riding bikes longer distances with her friend and their dad and now I’m even more nervous about it. H and I don’t have bikes so we can’t go with them.

Ugh I know, and I had this fear before it even happened. The thing that keeps going through my mind is if he hit her more directly she could have been thrown into the street into traffic. I’m having a hard time getting it out of my head. I think we’re going to stick to remote bike trails for a while once we get her a new bike. When I got to her she kept apologizing which broke my heart. I was like this was an accident, please don’t apologize! Ugh I’m welling up thinking about it again.

I am tearing up reading this! No need to be sorry! It was truly an accident. She is so sweet. 

[pixy0stix]

Holy hell, I'm glad she's ok.


As a follow-up from your picture (and I'm really not faulting you or anyone, but more of a head's up) bike riding on sidewalks is incredibly dangerous because of exactly what happened. Cars aren't expecting bikes on the sidewalk, especially if there are bike lanes present. A ton of bike/car accidents happen at driveways. The recommendation, even for kids learning to ride, is to always ride in the street.

[starburst604]

Aug 19, 2024 15:58:24 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Holy hell, I'm glad she's ok.


As a follow-up from your picture (and I'm really not faulting you or anyone, but more of a head's up) bike riding on sidewalks is incredibly dangerous because of exactly what happened. Cars aren't expecting bikes on the sidewalk, especially if there are bike lanes present. A ton of bike/car accidents happen at driveways. The recommendation, even for kids learning to ride, is to always ride in the street.

I know. She’s gun shy about the bike lane because someone once swerved pretty close to her while they were texting. Can’t win around here, I think we’ll just drive to quiet bike trails!

[gretchenindisguise]

I wish that protected bike lanes were more common. Cyclists really can’t win with cars - in unprotected bike lanes, they have to deal with swerving cars and on sidewalks, they have to deal with cars backing out.

We don’t have a bike lane all the way to school so most kids ride their regular pedal bikes on the sidewalk. If they are riding e-bikes they are in the road.

[Deleted]

Aug 19, 2024 15:42:02 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

I just walked the dogs and walked by there and took a picture. The red arrow is how she was traveling and the blue is the car coming up out of the driveway.

I’ve been trying to teach C to listen to the sound of a car motor running and look for lights (like backup lights) so he can anticipate when a car might start pulling out of a driveway. It looks like your street is busy enough that it might be too loud to hear a single car motor. And of course this wouldn’t work for electric cars (which are so quiet it’s spooky).

[starburst604]

Aug 19, 2024 19:54:27 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Aug 19, 2024 15:42:02 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

I just walked the dogs and walked by there and took a picture. The red arrow is how she was traveling and the blue is the car coming up out of the driveway.

I’ve been trying to teach C to listen to the sound of a car motor running and look for lights (like backup lights) so he can anticipate when a car might start pulling out of a driveway. It looks like your street is busy enough that it might be too loud to hear a single car motor. And of course this wouldn’t work for electric cars (which are so quiet it’s spooky).

Exactly, it’s a busy street, so much so that I didn’t hear the accident. So true about electric cars, so silent!

[silvercrayon]

I can only imagine how terrifying that was! I'm so glad she is going to be okay!

[heygrey]

starburst604 , with your photo, I would be lighting the city up to get that overgrowth dealt with immediately and permanently. The fact that the driver has trimmed it back repeatedly, obviously knows to go slowly, and still had an accident is a huge issue. A lot of negligence lies with the city. Riding a bike right there is a moot point. Any child walking would be short enough to be in his blind spot too.

[starburst604]

Aug 19, 2024 21:11:54 GMT -5 heygrey said:

starburst604 , with your photo, I would be lighting the city up to get that overgrowth dealt with immediately and permanently. The fact that the driver has trimmed it back repeatedly, obviously knows to go slowly, and still had an accident is a huge issue. A lot of negligence lies with the city. Riding a bike right there is a moot point. Any child walking would be short enough to be in his blind spot too.

A few other people have said that. I never gave it thought before because when I walk by with the dogs I’m tall enough to see the driveway over it, but it’s clearly an issue. The driver’s wife has documentation from 2008 when they reached out to the town to address all the issues with that sidewalk, and they were told there wasn’t anything in the budget for that spot. Sadly it’s accidents like this that end up spurring action. I feel like sidewalks should be maintained by the town. I’m slapping the overgrowth out of my face when I walk through there. I’d cross to the other side, but most of the time the street is too busy for me to safely cross and the nearest crosswalk is pretty far off.

[heygrey]

starburst604, city better find the budget because now there is police documentation and an accident!

[sonrisa]

How scary. Your poor child. Sending best wishes for a swift recovery.

[basilosaurus]

Aug 19, 2024 15:58:24 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Holy hell, I'm glad she's ok.


As a follow-up from your picture (and I'm really not faulting you or anyone, but more of a head's up) bike riding on sidewalks is incredibly dangerous because of exactly what happened. Cars aren't expecting bikes on the sidewalk, especially if there are bike lanes present. A ton of bike/car accidents happen at driveways. The recommendation, even for kids learning to ride, is to always ride in the street.

in Colorado, my roommate's bf was hit by a car. The judge said he should have been on the sidewalk and found the driver not liable. But I agree with this sentiment even if judges don't

I'm so glad there are good people from the driver to those giving you a ride to all medical staff. It made me tear up just thinking of the good people in such a bad situation.

Also, I'd have kept the handlebar!

When it comes to removing the drain, have her say the alphabet backwards or count back from 10. It's a useful distraction for both of you since it's not a 123 count that unnerves both.

[momin2013]

Ok, who owns those bushes? Honestly I’d say they should come out completely, forget about trying to keep them trimmed back. It should actually be cheaper to pull them out entirely than to keep them maintained over time.

[starburst604]

Aug 20, 2024 6:30:37 GMT -5 momin2013 said:

Ok, who owns those bushes? Honestly I’d say they should come out completely, forget about trying to keep them trimmed back. It should actually be cheaper to pull them out entirely than to keep them maintained over time.

You can't see it, but there's an old stone wall under there that belongs to the sidewalk. When the neighbor came over the next day he filled me in on the history of the neighborhood (because old guys always know lol). It all used to be a pig farm, which adds up since the house at the very top of our drive looks old farm-housey. They sold the land off piece by piece, his house/plot was one of the first to be built. The stone wall belongs to the town and extends down the road a ways more after his driveway until the next set of houses. There used to be a pond there, so it was a barrier to that I guess. What's growing on that cannot even be called a bush, it's like some viney scrub and it's all over the wall further down the road too. All summer as I've walked the dogs and whacked it out of my face, I've been thinking I can't wait for it all to die in the winter! What's weird is the same stuff is across the street, but the town seems to maintain that side because it isn't as wild. But crossing my street between 4:30-6pm when I normally walk the dogs is taking my life into my hands with no crosswalk. 

[momin2013]

Aug 20, 2024 8:09:17 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Aug 20, 2024 6:30:37 GMT -5 momin2013 said:

Ok, who owns those bushes? Honestly I’d say they should come out completely, forget about trying to keep them trimmed back. It should actually be cheaper to pull them out entirely than to keep them maintained over time.

You can't see it, but there's an old stone wall under there that belongs to the sidewalk. 

The wall could stay, but I’m sure those bushes could be removed from off of the wall. Does the city own them? If so, I’d request it through the city. If the property owner owns them, I’d ask them if they could have them removed.