Woman's warning about 'unsafe' roadside act sparks heated debate
Four girls were spotted trying to cross a road on roller skates, prompting a lengthy tirade from a driver.
A woman who uploaded footage criticising four young girls for acting "unsafely" on roller skates while crossing a road has been met with backlash from Aussies, some of whom said the driver failed to stop for the whole group, and was "going too fast in a residential area".
It appears to show the driver approach the group, stopping as two of the girls hesitantly roll across the street. A third girl is then seen trying to make her way down from the kerb onto the road, before the driver continues on her path, blocking access. None of the girls are wearing helmets, knee pad, or elbow pads.
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The driver, who "muted the video" to remove "profanities", proceeded to post a lengthy rant online, warning parents to teach their children proper "road safety".
"This isn’t the first time I’ve had this type of encounter with this bunch of girls that are on their skates. I can not express how UNSAFE this is," the woman wrote in frustration.
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"This spot in particular is where I find myself having this issue with people walking around here as well. They don’t look. They just step out!" The woman then delivered a three-point explanation of why the scenario was so dangerous, in her view.
"Walk to where you’re going with skates in hand and then skate around! Or better yet parents, get up and take your kids to a skate rink — that is a million times safer," she concluded.
As is normally the case with dashcam footage on social media, people quickly flocked to respond in the comments, with dozens offering their opinion.
Community weighs in on woman's tirade
One man critiqued the woman's driving. "My question is," he wrote. "You saw a dangerous situation, slowed down, but [why] when one child entered the road [did] you just keep creeping forward? Instead of coming to a complete stop, and eventually split the group into two."
"Sure the kids don't seem to be paying attention, but why drive so fast in a residential area?" a second man said, claiming to have worked out that she was driving at 40 kilometres per hour.
Others agreed with the woman's stance and pointed the blame towards the children.
"I actually agree with the original poster. While we might think this suburb lacks crossings (it may be true in general) it would not be relevant here. This incident occurred on a single lane street — you would never have a crossing there. So the discussion in relation to this is a moot point really," a woman argued.
"We can't have crossing in every street, and I agree with this. I almost hit a child because he jumped on front of my car to get his soccer ball," another wrote.
Last week, similar debate was ignited after an electric scooter and a car collided in Victoria. Dramatic dashcam footage captured the moment a motorist and a young man on an electric scooter ran into one another at a pedestrian crossing and Aussies were totally split down the middle on the matter.
On social media, the video attracted close to 3,000 responses. Many argued the young man should've been paying more attention, and, being on the scooter, shouldn't have used a pedestrian crossing they believed was meant for people on foot.
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