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Thanks to all for the comments and advice. I have now reported the incident to the police. -
By eastdulwichimp · Posted
Thanks everyone for your comments, all of which I’ve taken something from. I originally posted to warn and help others learn from my experience – hence the title, first and last words of the post. However, the process of posting and reading your comments has helped me better make sense of what felt ‘off’ about the incident, why and what I’d do differently next time. I hadn’t expected this outcome, so thank you. It’s also yielded several ‘golden nugget’ insights, one of which I share here for others. For context, I’m a longtime SE22 resident, who lives on a street with a primary school, so am used to scooting, cycling, walking with buggies, small children, pets etc. I like where I live and have never been struck on a pavement by anyone, on wheels or otherwise. I’ve been fortunate. When walking down Carlton Avenue towards Dulwich Village yesterday, I was on the left-hand side of the pavement but – ‘golden nugget’ approaching – not as close to people’s front garden walls as I could have been. The cyclist came from behind and overtook on the inside i.e. passed between me and the wall. The gap was too narrow and he hit my leg. For clarity, my original post was about the lack of adult supervision of a child. There’s been much comment here about the cyclist’s age. I didn’t know he was 4, until his father told me. I felt that this was a tactic – along with telling me I was over-reacting, talking about intent, apologising undercut with ‘but’ and laughing – to downplay and avoid taking responsibility for his part in the situation. But I accept that is my perception, readers weren’t there and may think differently. What also felt ‘off’ is that the father didn’t see what happened or ask any questions to find out. What happened? Where did he hit you? How hard? Are you alright? Is my son alright? Is everyone alright? This sounds obvious but wasn’t to me until last night. Back to age. Is the age of the cyclist important? If you consider it from the perspective of a four-year-old, it might be. He’s on his bike, helmet on, speeding along, sees a gap and thinks he can get through it. He doesn’t know and/or may never have been told about the risks (to himself and others) of undertaking on the left. Hits pedestrian. I was not expecting to be hit from behind or the undertaking. But had I walked closer to the wall – and not left a potentially inviting gap – this probably wouldn’t have happened. This is just one ‘golden nugget’ I will take away. It’s something I can easily do, doesn’t depend on anyone else doing anything differently, and could contribute towards keeping myself and others safe. All in all, posting here has been unexpectedly useful for me. I hope for others, too. I feel able to move forward with learnings, so thank you guys.
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