Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire physically unnerved for about 2 hours yesterday

Went to pick up an item at an auction house yesterday. Its a big massive clearing house that is about 4 footballs fields in size. Its pretty chaotic with a parking lot full of people going in and out like an ant hill.

I go in around 4 o'clock which is the start of the rush hour time, find my item, stand in line, check out and leave.

There was a van next to my car with a woman and 4 of her kids loading items into one of those large ford cargo vans. As I am putting my item into my car I hear her say "<whatever the kid's name is> get out of your car seat and come back here, I need to change you". I don't think much about it , get in my car and get ready to leave.

As I put my car into reverse, I look into my side mirror and I just happen to see this 2 year old squatted down behind my rear wheel. His head was sticking out past the bumper.

If I hadn't have seen that kid, I don't even want to think what would have happened, I have a shiver down my spine just typing this. I put my car back in park, opened my door and stepped out, When I made eye contact with him he ran back over to his momma, still loading the van up. I was so unnerved I couldn't even get angry. I just had to sit in my car for a few minutes. I didn't say a word. I waited until she put that kid back into the car, checked my surroundings like 5 or 6 times and then inched out of the parking spot.

I wasn't right for awhile after that.

Yikes.

Good on you for looking in the rear view.

That would give me the heeby-jeebies as well.

Not your fault but it would have bothered you forever. Glad it didn't happen. Ed k

yeah had something similar happen., was doing a job and the lady there was letting her toddler run around the front yard. i came out of the house to see the little girl running into the street between two parked cars with another coming down the street probly going 40 in the 30 mph zone. i ran after her but knew i couldn't get her in time, scared me. she by the grace of god stopped and the car missed her by about 4 inches.

A while back on here someone had bitched about people who back into a parking space or pull thru one into another so they don't have to back out of a parking space.
You have just given another reason why I am one of those people who does not like to back out of spaces.
Glad you didn't run the kid over.

When I was in high school one of the bus drivers ran over & killed a kid that had dropped a book, which went under the bus, & she went under to get it.

The driver was mentally askew from that point forward. She was in her 50's at the time & did nothing but sit in her house every day until she died.

Reversing cameras on our cars are used and appreciated every day in my household.

Nothing like aloof parents.
Free Range toddlers.
And public settings.
Kids have hands.
Hold on to em or make sure they are safe.

That would screw up any right thinking person.

I've read the riot act to my son for months about driving slow in residential neighborhoods.

Our neighborhood is packed with kids walking to school and playing in the street. Its easy to drive 40mph and not think about it. I think I've finally got thru to him.

Drive fast on the interstate, slow where kids play.

Tragedy avoided. Thank goodness.



Unless I know where all three kids are when I get ready to leave, I make a lap around what ever I am driving.

Backup cameras are invaluable sometimes. I read that all new cars have to have them now. They aren't infallible but they're a big help. I put an aftermarket one on our van last year. It removed about 90% of the spots where the mirrors couldn't see.

I am one of them. I can't even see a small car behind my pickup. Do you notice how a lot of service vans and trucks put out cones they have to pick up when leaving? Makes them look.

When I was active in the fire department I had more calls of older people backing into people than driving forward into them in parking lots. Of course that isn’t counting the ones who drove into buildings while parking. I pull thru or back in as well.

My wife and I experienced an almost identical situation about a year ago at a farmer's market in Plummer, Idaho.
When I said something to the child (4 years old or so) about safety the aloof mother walked up and looked indignant. I reminded her about safety as well.

A person who knows how to use mirrors can back into a tighter space than he can drive into frontwards. You can see better.

^^^^I definitely agree with the above.^^^^
I have an F250 extended cab 8foot bed. Only way I can park.

in the oilfield this is how you park.

My wife's uncle plowed over kid on a bicycle. He was on a main road doing about 45 mph, bottom of the hill there was a cross road for which that incoming traffic has to stop. Kids don't obey stop signs so this Lil Ray-Ray comes barrelling across the roadway on his bike.

I was a bad, bad scene. Talkin like kid/bicycle wrapped around driveshaft bad.

Happened in a flash.


Wife's uncle ain't been right either. Aunt drives anywhere they need to go. He's sort of become a recluse as well.