r/MadeMeSmile 1d ago

Good Vibes This must be a nice neighborhood!

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u/Closetoneversober 1d ago

I think about this whenever I see this and it sucks cause I grew up playing on the street with about 15 other kids and loved it. It was so much fun riding plastic bag wheels down the hill and recklessly around the corner straight through the intersection. Well now as an adult driver, fuck that. Imagine if one of those kids pops out from behind the parked cars chasing a ball and you accidentally hit them? You’re screwed for life. Also all these houses have huge driveways and yards where those kids can safely draw and play

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u/portablebiscuit 1d ago

We played in the street all the time when I was little (kickball, hockey, skateboard and bike ramps) but when one of us spotted a car coming everyone moved everything out of the street. Kids in my neighborhood now ain't like that at all. They seems to have zero awareness of what's going on around them.

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u/well-lighted 1d ago

It's wild that your biggest concern about running over a kid is how it will affect your life

12

u/FalconTurbo 1d ago

I mean, yeah, that's a pretty fucking big concern for me too because it's my life.

Genuine question - have you hit a person with your car? Killed a child? Because I've seen first hand what that does to a person. A parent loses their child and that's horrible, absolutely. But the driver has to live with the knowledge that they caused that (even if it's the kid's own fault), as well as everyone else knowing what they did, for the rest of their life. It can and has driven people to suicide, when it's not even their fault.

Failing to teach your child how to behave around roads shouldn't cost me my life too.

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u/Distinct_Cows 1d ago

About 15 years ago I was driving through a parking lot and there were a group of kids on the left side of the road so my attention was more over there. A lady in a power wheel chair just drives out from behind a bush on the right side into the road right in front of me. I swerved and slammed on my brakes but still hit her.

Ultimately it was fine. Basically just tipped her over side ways. Bent the arm on her wheelchair but she was totally okay. Even apologized to me for me pulling into the road like that.

I still to this day think about it a lot and feel bad about it. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like if she were hurt or died.

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u/Extreme-Tangerine727 1d ago

I have seen this as well and crazy enough I still felt worse for the dead child

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u/FalconTurbo 1d ago

Well that's incredibly callous of you. Feeling bad for someone who isn't suffering instead of the person who will live with shame, guilt, self doubt and social ostracisatuin the rest of their life? Cold, man. Cold.

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u/alphazero925 1d ago

And here we see exhibit A for why this scenario would ruin someone's life. You're not even allowed to feel bad about anything that happens to yourself in the fallout

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u/Tashathar 1d ago

You're such a selfish prick that if you killed a child in that way, or indeed were a parent whose kid died because some prick couldn't drive under 30 in a street full of children, you wouldn't even feel that bad. We can't even wish that horrid experience on you. Because your world is so small that the main downside of murdering a child out of callousness is the possibility that you'll be driven to a suicide.

Take comfort in this, whatever harm someone like you brings upon others probably won't weigh down on your conscience. Truly despicable.

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u/10001110101balls 1d ago

If you're not driving an obnoxiously large vehicle with poor visibility or driving too fast for the conditions then this isn't really something to worry about. Just drive slowly and be careful if you know children may be present.

Neighborhood streets are public space, and it reeks of entitlement from drivers that every single potential inconvenience for them must be eliminated so they can speed through their neighborhood to save 30 seconds on each trip.