Life's too short

[Buckeyefan 1]

This just happened in Columbus this morning. You can never be too careful in a vehicle. You wonder if the guy took his eyes off the road for a second to dial his cell phone, or reach for his coffee.

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/5064611/detail.html

 

[soniceuphoria]

Sounds like good old fashoned crappy driving to me. He was probably talking on his phone, drinking his coffee, smoking a cigarette, and driving with his knee. I actually saw a older lady reading a book one time when I was driving. She nearly ran me off the road, that's why I noticed. Some people just shouldn't be on the road.

 

[mtrycrafts]

This just happened in Columbus this morning. You can never be too careful in a vehicle. You wonder if the guy took his eyes off the road for a second to dial his cell phone, or reach for his coffee.

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/5064611/detail.html

Thanks for sharing. It is tragic indeed, especially at that young age.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Sounds like good old fashoned crappy driving to me. He was probably talking on his phone, drinking his coffee, smoking a cigarette, and driving with his knee. I actually saw a older lady reading a book one time when I was driving. She nearly ran me off the road, that's why I noticed. Some people just shouldn't be on the road.

What article did you read that indicated the driver was at fault?

Definitely nothing in that article. The guy pulled over immediately and called for help, he was driving, probably normally, in a 45 MPH zone which means about 50 or so, and a kid stepped out in front of him - or something. It's hard to say for sure who is to blame, but I wouldn't cast blame at the driver from that story for sure.

Tragic accident is what it sounds like to me. Remind your kids - and parents - to look both ways before crossing the street. One of the clients I worked with Mother died when jaywalking unsafely. About a 60 year old woman was run down by a bus because she wasn't aware enough of the traffic to cross safely.

Very sad.

 

[Sheep]

What article did you read that indicated the driver was at fault?

Definitely nothing in that article. The guy pulled over immediately and called for help, he was driving, probably normally, in a 45 MPH zone which means about 50 or so, and a kid stepped out in front of him - or something. It's hard to say for sure who is to blame, but I wouldn't cast blame at the driver from that story for sure.

Tragic accident is what it sounds like to me. Remind your kids - and parents - to look both ways before crossing the street. One of the clients I worked with Mother died when jaywalking unsafely. About a 60 year old woman was run down by a bus because she wasn't aware enough of the traffic to cross safely.

Very sad.

I wouldn't be so sure. Canada, and BC in particular has the most strict driving rules in the world. I took a driving coarse (government one) and we learned that every car crash is preventable. EVERYONE. If that driver did everything he could, that means he did this.


1. Slowed while passing boy (never did pass him)
2. Moved over to the left to give extra room
3. Had hand on horn and brake to make sure he could warn the boy.
4. Was not fidling with any objects in the car.
5. Slowed on approach of boy

I don't think he did all, or even any of those. Theres more, but I can't find my booklets I got with the coarse. You would be suprised what you can do to prevent car crashes.


The Sheep

 

[mike c]

you cant blame anyone based on the article. but in MY experience (because i drive pretty carefully) most of the time its the fault of the pedestrian ... ive seen pedestrians cross the road:
1) looking in the opposite direction of oncoming traffic
2) looking down
3) looking back talking to someone on the sidewalk

now, no.3 is the stupidest Ahole of them all ... this guy actually cracked my windshield while i was standing STILL. let me repeat: the person crashed INTO my car. (from the side fender)

 

[BMXTRIX]

Crazy eskimos

In the States we have things called sidewalks - those are for pedestrians and they have laws they are expected to follow. A person stepping from a sidewalk should do so at a marked pedestrian crosswalk. (which was clearly indicated as not being the case here)

They should look both ways, make sure traffic is clear, and clear the intersection.

Cars, must always yield for pedestrians in crosswalks, and generally should always yield for pedestrians. But, a tree falling out of the sky onto your car is not a preventable accident. I was on a road once that I knew deer were sometimes on. 55 MPH speed limit - I was driving 50, and paying attention. Deer jumped a 8 foot high fence, charged down a hill and ran into the side of my car!

The only way to prevent all accidents is not to drive, and to cast blame is often just silly. Accidents are just that - accidents. You drive along, a flat piece of metal is in the road you can't see, it pops up and blows out a tire, you lose control and veer off the road striking a person. Whose fault?

There are most definitely not laws that say you must slow down when passing a pedestrian on the sidewalk in the states that I have ever heard of. Even if the guy did slow - to 40 or even 30... if the kid just stepped out in front of the car, he is just as dead.

Very sad for the family AND the driver. I would be struggling if I ever hit anyone.

 

[Audioholics]

Canada, and BC in particular has the most strict driving rules in the world. I took a driving coarse (government one) and we learned that every car crash is preventable. EVERYONE.

One thing I learned later in life is that many of my instructors were dead wrong and just as opinionated as anyone else in the world.

I would disagree with your driving course conclusion on a number of levels. There are blind spots and enough unknowns to make that statement highly idealistic. If you don't see the kid in the first place you can't do steps 1, 2, 3, or 5. I have had adults step out from behind vehicles and objects plenty of times while I was going down a road - nowhere near an intersection. A second later and they would have gotten tapped.

This was a tragic accident - I just hate to immediately blame the driver when the facts aren't yet known. Accidents shouldn't mean that someone immediately has to be held responsible and go to jail. That's why they call them accidents.

 

[MDS]

I was driving (slowly) through the parking lot at Home Depot last night and a good 100 yards or so away I could see a man and a woman walk out the exit at a brisk pace. They wallked right into the parking lot WITHOUT EVER LOOKING UP, DOWN, LEFT OR RIGHT. I am amazed at the number of times I see that kind of thing. Then the guy was startled to see my car a few feet away. So some pedestrians are just plain stupid and cause accidents.

We don't know the facts of this case but it could have been either the driver or the kid's fault. Either way it is a preventable tragedy with a little common sense on the part of both drivers and pedestrians.

 

[j_garcia]

A friend of mine was driving in a neighborhood and likely speeding a bit, when a little girl ran out from between two parked cars chasing a ball. He could not stop in time and hit her. Fortunately he was not going TOO fast, as she was hospitalized but not killed, and she fully recovered.

Last year on Easter day, a coworker of mine was cycling with his fiance in Napa. An elderly drunk driver first struck him, then drove another 20-30 ft on the shoulder and struck her as well, and then kept going. My friend died at the scene and his fiance was in a coma for a few months, but she has since recovered. An off duty police officer happened to witness the incident and chased down the man and took him into custody.

Life is not too short, you just have to realize that it can be taken from you at any moment.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Here's an update from the kids father, as well as another stations story. It appears it was dark out when the accident happened.

http://www.10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3948624

http://www.10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3945873

Now here's one where it was the drivers fault.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/07/AR2005100700252.html

 

[Sheep]

One thing I learned later in life is that many of my instructors were dead wrong and just as opinionated as anyone else in the world.

I would disagree with your driving course conclusion on a number of levels. There are blind spots and enough unknowns to make that statement highly idealistic. If you don't see the kid in the first place you can't do steps 1, 2, 3, or 5. I have had adults step out from behind vehicles and objects plenty of times while I was going down a road - nowhere near an intersection. A second later and they would have gotten tapped.

This was a tragic accident - I just hate to immediately blame the driver when the facts aren't yet known. Accidents shouldn't mean that someone immediately has to be held responsible and go to jail. That's why they call them accidents.

I found my driving book, and has procedures for almost every situation. Im not trying to pick fights, but there are methods to prevent these crashes.

For my coarse it was called the 4 habits, and each has sub habits.

1. Look Well Ahead.

a. Plan your route - make sure you know where your going etc.
b. Circle check before entering vehicle - walk around the car and make sure there are no obstructions or objects in way.
c. Minimum eye lead time - keep 12 - 15 seconds in city, 20 - 30 seconds highway. this is how far you should be looking ahead.
d. Go with the flow - maintain a minimum safe following distance, and perserve other drivers' following distances.
e. Respond to anticipated problems - changing lanes, or adjust speed of car, or covering brake and horn when neer danger.

Thats just the first one(PM me if you want the others ), the others are, Move your eyes, keep space, spot the problems. In order to pass this I had to get perfect on the test


This is a truely tragic accident though, having to leave this world at such a young age.

The Sheep

 

[mike c]

Last year on Easter day, a coworker of mine was cycling with his fiance in Napa. An elderly drunk driver first struck him, then drove another 20-30 ft on the shoulder and struck her as well, and then kept going. My friend died at the scene and his fiance was in a coma for a few months, but she has since recovered. An off duty police officer happened to witness the incident and chased down the man and took him into custody.

Life is not too short, you just have to realize that it can be taken from you at any moment.

thats a real bummer!
drunk driving is simply not acceptable, they should change the law, and apply capital punishment to drunk driving

 

[Sheep]

Crazy eskimos

In the States we have things called sidewalks - those are for pedestrians and they have laws they are expected to follow. A person stepping from a sidewalk should do so at a marked pedestrian crosswalk. (which was clearly indicated as not being the case here)

They should look both ways, make sure traffic is clear, and clear the intersection.

Cars, must always yield for pedestrians in crosswalks, and generally should always yield for pedestrians. But, a tree falling out of the sky onto your car is not a preventable accident. I was on a road once that I knew deer were sometimes on. 55 MPH speed limit - I was driving 50, and paying attention. Deer jumped a 8 foot high fence, charged down a hill and ran into the side of my car!

The only way to prevent all accidents is not to drive, and to cast blame is often just silly. Accidents are just that - accidents. You drive along, a flat piece of metal is in the road you can't see, it pops up and blows out a tire, you lose control and veer off the road striking a person. Whose fault?

There are most definitely not laws that say you must slow down when passing a pedestrian on the sidewalk in the states that I have ever heard of. Even if the guy did slow - to 40 or even 30... if the kid just stepped out in front of the car, he is just as dead.

Very sad for the family AND the driver. I would be struggling if I ever hit anyone.

All those accident you stated involved objects, or animals. The ones invovling 2 people, usually are preventable. And I know that they are not laws, but what would you rather do, do as your told, or kill someone? Driving is not a right, just like talking on these forums. You must tread lightly in both inorder to continue treading at all.


The Sheep

 

[gene]

drunk driving is simply not acceptable, they should change the law, and apply capital punishment to drunk driving

Though everyone makes mistakes at some points in their lives, I agree and its amazing how some people get off so easily on it. I think our current President got off by paying a meager $150 fine and temp license suspension while our Vice President actually got off twice on DUI's. I know too many people from my grade school days that were killed by drunk drivers. Truly sad.

 

[Votrax]

I was driving (slowly) through the parking lot at Home Depot last night and a good 100 yards or so away I could see a man and a woman walk out the exit at a brisk pace. They wallked right into the parking lot WITHOUT EVER LOOKING UP, DOWN, LEFT OR RIGHT. I am amazed at the number of times I see that kind of thing. Then the guy was startled to see my car a few feet away. So some pedestrians are just plain stupid and cause accidents.

We don't know the facts of this case but it could have been either the driver or the kid's fault. Either way it is a preventable tragedy with a little common sense on the part of both drivers and pedestrians.

I've seen some of the worst drivers and pedestrians in Austin.

 

[BMXTRIX]

All those accident you stated involved objects, or animals. The ones invovling 2 people, usually are preventable. And I know that they are not laws, but what would you rather do, do as your told, or kill someone? Driving is not a right, just like talking on these forums. You must tread lightly in both inorder to continue treading at all.

I completely agree, with both - as long as you are using common sense and following the law. Not JUST following the law, but also using common sense. A car can kill someone if it is going 10 MPH or less. It's a massive entity. Pedestrians are everywhere as well. As I said, I'm not aware of how it is up there, but in the state I live in, pedestrians have to follow laws as well.

If the driver tried to avoid the accident, if the person acted stupid.... if, if, if.

Most of all - it simply isn't stated in the article what went down.

Plus, the procedures you quoted were very similar to what I learned in my driving courses in school. It still wouldn't save me from an idiot stepping out directly in front of my car when I was going 30 in a 45 zone.

Really - no info - none - nada - let's not cast blame anywhere okay?

 

[Sheep]

I completely agree, with both - as long as you are using common sense and following the law. Not JUST following the law, but also using common sense. A car can kill someone if it is going 10 MPH or less. It's a massive entity. Pedestrians are everywhere as well. As I said, I'm not aware of how it is up there, but in the state I live in, pedestrians have to follow laws as well.

If the driver tried to avoid the accident, if the person acted stupid.... if, if, if.

Most of all - it simply isn't stated in the article what went down.

Plus, the procedures you quoted were very similar to what I learned in my driving courses in school. It still wouldn't save me from an idiot stepping out directly in front of my car when I was going 30 in a 45 zone.

Really - no info - none - nada - let's not cast blame anywhere okay?

Agreed, I'm casting no blame, im just saying, the drivers have a big responsiblility because cars are so deadly.
I love you BMX........I would never hurt you....

The Sheep

 

[Rob Babcock]

Children are, well, children. We can't expect the same level of judgement and maturity as you see in adults. An adult driving a car should really be expected to possess a higher level of awareness and responsibility than a child.

I saw a PSA a few years ago that really stuck with me. A kid talks about how drivers should be aware of children in school zones, playgrounds, etc. He says, "If you look out for me when I'm young, I'll look out for you when you're old!"

Wow! That pretty much nails it.

 

[Methost]

We had a case here in Michigan that just rapped up. A police cruiser tried to cross 3 lanes of interstate traffic and do a U to join a chase going the other direction. During the course of that turn, he was struck in the side of his car by another vehicle at highway speeds. Turned out that the driver of the other car was drunk.

Sounds like the same ol story huh? Well here is the twist. This week a just ruled that yes the man was indeed drunk, but the accident was caused by the cop pulling in front of oncoming traffic, and would have happened anyway. So the drunk driver got the usual DUI charges, and nothing more.

Personally, I agreed with the jury's decision.