A DRIVER is calling on cyclists to exercise more caution when riding with their children.
The anonymous man shared footage of a near-miss he had while out on the roads in Brighton on the morning of June 20, The Argus reported.
The driver spots the cycling with her two children approach the junction[/caption]
The mother then pulls out in front of the car[/caption]
The anonymous man was driving his son to school along Davigdor Road near Seven Dials.
As the driver approached the junction, he spotted a mother on her bike with her two children in tow.
But rather than wait for the car to pass, she instead pulls out in front of the car, narrowly avoiding a collision.
The man was forced to slam on his breaks to avoiding causing serious injury.
He told The Argus: “It was incredibly dangerous.
“If you’re going to take your own life into your hands, don’t include your children in that.”
The 52-year-old company director posted video of the incident online in a bid to raise awareness about the dangers of cycling with children.
He claims the woman did not look left at all when reaching the junction.
The man estimated that he was doing around 25-30mph – easily enough to kill should a collision occur.
According to road safety charity Brake, a pedestrian hit at 30mph has a one in five chance of being killed – although that figure is likely to be much higher if they are a child.
Even a child hit at 18mph experiences the same level as impact as a child falling from an upstairs window.
The driver said he was accustomed to slow down at that junction but was forced to brake hard to avoid a collision.
He said: “Whoever this lady is, she needs to have a think about what’s happening there, I think she should understand the road.”
He did, however, commend the mum for having helmets for her children.
But viewers of the video blamed the driver for not being more aware – with some saying he should have been driving even slower.
One wrote: “You could argue that there should have been even more time to react to the hazard developing ahead.
“Perhaps the mother had judged it was safe to do what she did, on the assumption the car wasn’t speeding?”
Another wrote: “Both are not very wise. The driver should have gone slower – but the woman had two kids on the back and cycling straight into the busy road.”
And far from being a cycle-hater, the driver has been a cyclist himself for the last 20 years.
He says parents should follow ‘basic road safety’ when out with their children – and shouldn’t cycle if they don’t know the rules.
