Not the first time this has happened either, here’s another similar case in Atlanta: https://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-boy-killed-hit-run-driver-probation-community/story?id=14158040
Not the first time this has happened either, here’s another similar case in Atlanta: https://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-boy-killed-hit-run-driver-probation-community/story?id=14158040
I’m having trouble visualizing this. Does this mean that at a walking speed of 3km/h it would take ten entire minutes to get to a cross walk? Because that’s insane.
In Sweden we have crosswalks very regularly, usually like a couple minutes of walking at most. For bus stops farther between intersections there are markers indicating that people will cross, even without a normal crossing marker. For areas which can’t have a crossing (you may need to walk around a ways to get under or over four lanes) they put up barriers to prevent walking across.
When Americans complain about everything being car-centric, this is exactly the kind of shit they’re complaining about.
My grocery store is a mile away, but I can’t legally walk there. There are no crosswalks to get to the store. If I’m going to fully obey the law as written, I must use a car just to go to the store.
No there were crosswalks, but the kids decided to “jaywalk” or cross outside a crossing, hence the reason the driver’s not being charged. Drivers should be aware yes but it’s not expected that children will dart out onto the road, frogger-style trying to cross outside crosswalks, much the reason I am afraid of my dumb dog doing it.
But if the crosswalks are unreasonably far apart then pedestrians are being encouraged by the state to engage in unsafe behavior. As I said, they could erect a small fence to prevent unsafe crossings. This is a failure of the state to serve its people.
I’m not sure how to feel about the driver not being charged, but one should drive with the expectation that unforeseen hazards will pop up at any moment, especially children. I would not be shocked to learn that he was driving one of those enormous American cars that makes it impossible to see short adults, another failure of the state. Or that the speed limit was too high. These things would make me feel the fault is more on the state than on the driver. (But it definitely isn’t on the parents.)
As for your dog, just keep it on a lead. It’s the safest thing for everyone if all dogs are secured properly while going about town.
e: Also his age. How good is the vision and reaction time of this 76-year-old man? How often are they re-testing drivers?
Jaywalking laws, like most laws, vary by State. In Illinois, for example, the pedestrian ALWAYS has the right of way. I think jaywalking can still be a local-level crime, but even if it is, the driver is always at fault for hitting a pedestrian.