Child safety

My day started off with a major scare which ruined the rest of it! I commute to Leeds on the major cycle path which is segregated from the road and away from cars nearly knocking me off. However today I was greeted by new day danger ,children not paying attention. As I coasted down the path doing about 25 miles an hour, I was looking out for cars pulling into the path way or out of a driveway etc, having been knocked off twice now it kinda makes you need eyes in the back of your head! What I didn't account for however or even think about was children running in front of me!

A father and his 2 kids were walking to school, he was carrying their school bags and holding the little boys hand, the girl slightly older or at least looking that way being a few feet taller , skipped along without a care in the world. I must of been about 100 metres away when I saw them but at 25mph that gap soon closes. In what felt like slow motion , the little girl must of seen something in the bikelane and decided to go pick it up. For the ones of you who ride a bike you will know it takes a while to stop at those speeds, the only thing I could do was swerve.

Luckily this particular track didn't have a curb dividing it from the road and I was able to swerve across .I didn't have time to think about cars or buses. Or in fact anything that could harm me, my only thought was not hitting the little girl by any means possible.

Luckily I achieved this, a car could of hit me or a bus there a a lot of what ifs that crossed my mind that day. How would I of coped with life if I killed a child? I struggled with work as my mind was on this all day.

​So if you're a parent, a grandparent or just someone that looks after kids ,please please please talk to them about staying on the path and looking out for bikes. Not all cyclists pay attention and if I'd of just gone looked down at my cycle computer a second or looked over my shoulder for a second the girl and me may not be here to tell the tale.

Please share with anyone appropriate as it really upset me

​Matt