OK - this morning we had our first real scare riding in...
When we come to an intersection, I always tell my kids to be like a car and wait at the back of the queue. Its teh law (although mostly ignored, I know) and it reduced the chance of a sideswipe/turning collision with a right turn vehicle.
So today we come to a signal, and the kid (7 yrs old) does a good job, stops at back of queue - about 7 cars long, and we wait out the signal. By the time the queue clears, the light is amber, and we are at the stop bar, so we wait for another cycle - we'll be first to go.
A school bus comes up behind us, and triggers the loops. I see sidestreet cycle into flashing Don't walk, and tell the little guy to get ready to go. A couple more cars queue up behind the bus, and the light changes.
Then the school bus pulls a right turn across the little guy's path. Bad manners, but I can handle it, we are just getting going, and no harm is done. Once the little guy is about 1/4 of the way into the intersection a black SUV (Tinted windows and lights) barks his tires, and makes a right coming right across the front of us. I thought he was going to clip my kid. I yelled, the little guy hit the brakes, the SUV squeals away down the street.
Behind us another school bus is sitting way back watching it all unfold and motions us through the intersection. Thank gob one in three drivers knows how to make a right turn.
Safety wise, my kid is wearing a high visibility (construction) vest with fluorescent stripes on it. I have a neon yellow trailer behind me. There is no way that either the bus or the SUV didn't see us. They just couldn't be assed to wait.
Damned fucknuts. At least the kids learned a lesson about watching for cars and being dead right. Anyways, at least another 12 km today.