SHE SAYS...

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31837, 15 November 1968, Page 9

SHE SAYS...

I saw a young boy on a bicycle escape injury very narrowly a few days ago. A woman flung open the driver’s door of her car just as he approached, and had she opened it a second later the child would almost certainly have been hurled from his cycle and under the wheels of passing traffic. The same day I saw a woman nearly sandwich a young pedestrian between her car and the vehicle parked behind her. Reversing before pulling out of a parking spot, she merely glanced in the mirror before moving back, instead of turning her head to have a proper look. These are just two examples of the many instances when drivers create dangers by failing to look. Others include cases where drivers are pulling out of parking places

into the traffic, or are turning from a side-road or private drive on to a major thoroughfare. “I didn’t see” is never a satisfactory excuse, and courts always tend to reply: “But the hazard was there to be seen.” “I didn’t see” is usually regarded as evidence of carelessness, and although there can be genuine cases when vision was blocked, carelessness is often the reason for the failure to see. The same arguments apply to pedestrians and cyclists. “Look before you leap” is an excellent motto for all roadusers and if all of us kept a sharp lookout there would be far fewer accidents. Walking, driving or riding, always be fully aware of what is going on about you, and teach your family to observe the same important rule.