Bikes and Cars
I see traveling with my family as a time to create new memories together. Our recent road trip to Montana was certainly filled with one amazing experience after another. My kids saw so many new things, and their world became a little bit bigger.
It also became a little bit sadder. One of the memories we made was incredibly tragic.
On the last day of our trip, just outside of Kalispell, we came upon a horrible accident involving a teenage boy on his bike. He had tried to beat the traffic across a busy highway, and was hit by a truck whose driver had no time to react.
I also had no time to react. My kids saw it all. The mangled bike, the bloody body, the sobbing witnesses. My son saw the worst of it from his side of the car. As we drove by, he quietly said, "Daddy, I don't think that boy was wearing a helmet."
Turns out he wasn't. But it wouldn't have done the boy any good, as bike helmets don't offer any protection against a car going 65mph.
No, the lesson my kids learned is that bikes and cars don't mix. We'll never know why that boy thought he could cross four lanes of highway. The arrogance of youth, perhaps. Or maybe he just never learned that you don't take chances with your life when the odds are stacked against you.
I don't have to tell my kids to put on their helmet anymore. It's automatic. They know that a helmet will help protect their head if they should tumble off their bike. But they also know that it's what's inside their head that will protect them from the other dangers of the road.
They're listening much more closely when I teach them the rules of the road now. They've seen what happens when you don't have that knowledge, or when you choose to ignore it.
It also became a little bit sadder. One of the memories we made was incredibly tragic.
On the last day of our trip, just outside of Kalispell, we came upon a horrible accident involving a teenage boy on his bike. He had tried to beat the traffic across a busy highway, and was hit by a truck whose driver had no time to react.
I also had no time to react. My kids saw it all. The mangled bike, the bloody body, the sobbing witnesses. My son saw the worst of it from his side of the car. As we drove by, he quietly said, "Daddy, I don't think that boy was wearing a helmet."
Turns out he wasn't. But it wouldn't have done the boy any good, as bike helmets don't offer any protection against a car going 65mph.
No, the lesson my kids learned is that bikes and cars don't mix. We'll never know why that boy thought he could cross four lanes of highway. The arrogance of youth, perhaps. Or maybe he just never learned that you don't take chances with your life when the odds are stacked against you.
I don't have to tell my kids to put on their helmet anymore. It's automatic. They know that a helmet will help protect their head if they should tumble off their bike. But they also know that it's what's inside their head that will protect them from the other dangers of the road.
They're listening much more closely when I teach them the rules of the road now. They've seen what happens when you don't have that knowledge, or when you choose to ignore it.
Permalink posted by Phil at 12:56 AM
7 Comments:
Oh, man. Sorry your children saw that but glad if it helped them better grasp the importance of safety around cars. That poor kid and his family.
I nearly died on the road from Kalispell to Idaho (I was in Idaho) when a logging truck brushed me off the road and nearly forced me down a 1,000-foot ravine. Instead, I fell toward the truck -- because of a soft shoulder -- and watched as the wheels buzzed within inches of my helmet.
The truck driver stopped a half-mile away, saw that I was able to stand and then took off. He didn't check to see if I was hurt, if my bike was broken or anything else.
In fact, no one stopped. Everyone just kept zooming off to their destinations, which reveals a LOT about our culture today.
I'm sorry your family had to witness such a horrible event. I know your kids, when they grow up, will be the ones to stop and help when something like this happens.
I am so sorry your kids had to see this...I try to remember God shows something good through anything bad...your children listening to you about safety might be the good that came out of this...
Wow, what a story. My kids seem so much more aware since my car accident, too, since they saw the aftermath. Kids are way more perceptive than we sometimes give them credit for.
Wow, something like that will definitely impact them for life. I hate to think about the parents of that boy, of them getting the worst kind of visit from a police officer.
Wow, I wonder if that young boy is now fine or not? Poor kid, how sad.
Although it must have been ugly for the kids to see I feel that some times it happens for a reason, they learned a important lesson and as you say, you don't have to remind them any longer.
Tragic story. We're beginning to give our 8 yr old sons more freedom with bike riding. We're on an extremely long block so we insist they stick to the sidewalks and don't cross the streets.
We'll we caught them across the street. Reason why? A new neighborhood kid they started playing with coaxed them into it.
Point is, we can teach them common sense, but peer pressure can still cause a lapse judgement.
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