Crossing The Street With The Light - Not As Safe As It Should Be
Posted by
Bob CarrollFebruary 15, 2007 6:30 AMJust trying to walk across the street in a crosswalk and with the traffic light should not make anyone a traffic fatality.
Four-Year-Old Killed by Hummer Shouldn't Have Died in Vain
The death of four-year-old James Jacaricce at the intersection of Third Avenue and Baltic Street in Brooklyn yesterday didn't make a huge splash in the news. But it should have. What were James and his 18-year-old aunt, Ta-Nayin St. John, doing when they were mowed down by a three-ton yellow Hummer making a turn? They were just trying to cross the street. In the crosswalk. With the light.
According to the Daily News, the driver, Ken Williams, said that the height of his vehicle prevented him from seeing the two walking in front of him. Because he stopped at the scene, and because he hadn't been drinking, it seems his only penalty will be a ticket for failure to yield. That, and having to live with the consequences of his actions.
The article then discusses other pedestrian-vehicle accidents on city streets and asks why are we not doing more to prevent them.
Thank you, Sarah Goodyear at StreetsBlog, for putting the spotlight on these tragic injuries and deaths.
The Florida Suncoast may not be the home of many Hummers, but it is the location of a number of pedestrian-vehicle collisions each year. Sometimes the pedestrian is partially at fault (by walking, for example, 10 feet to the right of the crosswalk). But, most often the driver is not paying attention. Remember we are talking about people walking across a city street. Should it be a surprise to someone driving in downtown Clearwater, Tampa or St. Petersburg, that an elderly lady would attempt to walk across a city street? Or, that a student on the way to school would do the same?
When I have had the opportunity to take the deposition of drivers who have struck pedestrians in these situations I have been the one who is surprised to learn that the victim suddenly appeared from nowhere on the hood of the car. Pedestrians do not materialize on hoods of cars. They walk from the sidewalk or curb across the street. In fact, they often get well into the street before the collision occurs.
I join Sara Goodyear and express my frustration with inattentive city drivers who fail to see what is there to be seen if they would only look.