The child, the bike and the two dog walkers

TerriBull , I am with you on this one. I have watched the video and thought that the very wobbly child should have been told to stop her bike , get off and walk around them. I am afraid that I have met too many entitled bike riders who seem to think that they can shout at me to get out of the way . Usually they are cycling on footpaths rather than shared paths and quite often riding like they are on the Tour de France.
Children should be taught that manners matter and riding a bike doesn't negate that.

I agree - I saw the report.
For a 6 year old child the parents have the resonsibility to make sure the child behaves safely. No question about it. For the child's sake as well as that of other people.

The couple didn’t seem to be aware of the little girl at all. But learner bikers can’t often stop easily and it wouldn’t have occurred to the child until it was too late. The dad could have anticipated earlier perhaps.

I think it comes under the heading of Accident. Meaning no one was completely at fault.

I also saw the video and knew instantly that I wouldn’t have allowed my child to carry on regardless, as the father did.

Having said that the other male did look round which suggests he heard but disregarded the child possibly assuming she’d stop.

The parent was definitely in the wrong. The couple dud

The couple did not have eyes in the back of their heads.

I think the girls Father was in the wrong, although the dog Walker should not have kicked the bike. But as previous poster suggested it may have been a knee jerk reaction.
It is the Fathers job to parent the child. The little girl was clearly not competent on the bike and she lost control. No one behaved well though.

Whether it be a child or teen/adult coming up behind you on a bike makes my blood boil, besides giving you a fright if they're practically on top of you.

That child should be taught some manners before it turns out like the rest of the ill-mannered yobs on bikes who think they have right of way.

Then theres the 70+ fella that nearly ran me over riding on the pavement last night ..... no bell, no lights, not 2metres away from me either. Not always the children that have no manners.

I am amazed how many grown adults ride their bikes on footpaths especially now when there is so little traffic on the roads.

May7, I already included adults.

Father is wrong. My children walked their bikes to the park until they were safe/proficient enough to cycle there.

They learnt to use their breaks in the park and were not allowed to cycle anywhere near others until they had that and other key safety skills

Not very good parenting skills. A child of that age is very unlikely to be safe on a bike, unless in a large open space and possibly with an adult alongside. You don't shout instructions from a distance when a kid is approaching danger, you don't shout excuse me or encourage a small child to think that ringing a bell at someone's back, or anything else, is going to turn out well. Approaching anyone or anything on a bike is fraught with danger because unless someone sees you and acknowledges you, they only have to move slightly one way or another and everyone goes down in a heap. Very surprising someone wasn't injured. Parent needed to feel very bad both for the walkers and his poor judgement.

This may be that rare thing on gransnet, an outbreak of agreement.
I saw the video, the accompanying article seemed slanted to criticise the dog walkers. I agree, kicking a child’s bike isn’t on but, her father should have called for her to stop and wait for him. No social distancing would have infuriated me.
We have stopped walking in many of our favourite places because of the risks the increased number of groups of mountain bike riders pose.
They ride in groups, never shout or ring a bell, they just whizz past missing you be centimetres. Darent let a dog run free, in case the dog is run over, grumble grumble

Ellanvannin I know you did

Well I got knocked off my bike by a effing mobility scooter that Went straight at me out of a side road

My son got knocked off his bike and sent flying into a ditch by a dog who was ‘just being friendly’. We didn’t kick the dog.

A little bit of tolerance from all sides wouldn’t go amiss

Just looked this up; riding a bike on a footpath has the penalty of a fine of £30, that's from a law of 1838! It actually refers to 'riding' so covers horses as well . How many times are fines issued? Perhaps more should be issued to stop the Lycra clad ones?

Yes this confused me too. Children do fall of bikes when they ride into things (or people). That doesn't make them a victim. She is not being taught manners. Hate to think what her father is like behind the wheel of a car.
She is going to grow into one of those cyclists that thinks that people should leap out of their way on tow paths when they are just having a peacefull stroll along a canal.

Six of one and half a dozen of the other. There was no need to kick the little girl’s bike nor be so mean spirited about it even if she was in the wrong. Miserable gits.

Coming back to the thread, I forgot to factor in the point of social distancing dominating our lives that Iam has made and yes, remiss of the father to allow his child to get so close to others at the moment.

Whilst I remember the seminal moment when children get the hang of a two wheeler, I wouldn't have trusted mine on a narrow pathway, particularly with two pedestrians up ahead and to me, there is something quite rude about ringing a bell right behind people and expecting an immediate "Red Sea parting scenario" I feel it is incumbent on the parent to imbue the child with some consideration for those around them. I remember picking up my grandson on occasions from nursery a couple of years ago, and finding his mother allowed him to ride his micro scooter there and back every day, again, like bikes best in wide open spaces for one so young. I felt nervous trying to keep up behind him, but he did manage to negotiate himself around the occasional pedestrian fairly well. They can be hazardous enough on pavements but I hate seeing kids on them in supermarkets an inappropriate place imo.

In conclusion I still think seeing the child trying to force herself through the middle of the dog walkers, dangerous and extremely bad manners.

The one word that I didn't hear was 'stop' which would have avoided all of this!

As well as allowing their child to ride into two people, the mother didn't go to console her child, or attempt to calm the situation down, she continued filming. What is it with people who film any incident rather than doing something useful? Especially if you're directly involved. She must have had an eye to selling the vid to a newspaper (and she obviously did exactly that)