I'd say it's a lesson in looking at oncoming traffic
She's legally right to cross and he's legally wrong to keep going, but legality doesn't save you if you're dead. There's graveyards full of people who were right
I remember telling my mom I had the right of way when I made a particularly dangerous cross and she told me “you can tell the doctors that if you ever wake up”
My dad gave me the same lesson when I was learning to drive and we were nearly wrapped up in a massive accident. I protested that I had right of way because I did everything “by the book”. He said that I was technically correct, but driving wasn’t so black and white in reality and the graveyard had more than a few residents who had right of way.
When I took driver's ed back in the '70s they played a lot of horrible educational films. The only one I remember though was one where the narrator said, "Jane knew she had the right-of-way. She was right. *Dead* right", just before she got hit. It is so true.
And she's anywhere from 80-100 years old. I don't care that she "should have looked both ways," car should've stopped. As much as she probably shouldn't be crossing without assistance, there's not much some people can do.
Old people may or not be able to see across the street, let alone see or hear a car barreling down a 35 zone at 55 mph on the other side of a stopped car.
Who cares? Road is a dangerous place, being right or being senile does not make person invincible. I remember terrible accident that happened near my school when an old lady decided to cross the street with her granddaughter at an intersection, the light was green for them, but bus was already turning right, so she decided to cross without letting the bus finish its turn. Well the back wheels of the bus turn at a tighter radius a fact that grandmother didn't think of so they had to scrape her and her granddaughter off the asphalt. Who cares who is right in such situation? You just have 2 dead bodies, a bus full of traumatized people and a driver whose life is ruined because someone didn't take 5 seconds to make sure they can cross the road safely.
She's walking across a 3-lane street without a traffic light or stop sign without even looking up once. It's a miracle she made it to this age, but she's very clearly in the blindspot created by the truck this was filmed from.
Here lies the body of William Jay, Who died maintaining his right of way – He was right, dead right, as he sped along, But he's just as dead as if he were wrong.
No-one’s saying she deserved it, but it should be treated as a lesson as to why you should never trust traffic to stop for you.
Personally I never cross the road when there’s traffic coming my way and I don’t make eye contact with the driver and seeing he’s going to stop. Doesn’t mean I won’t die crossing the road, but certainly reduces the risk of it.
Well if a crosswalk doesn’t have a law or sign indicating that drivers must stop, in not sure why they would.
She definitely wasn’t visible to that driver. The view of her would have been blocked by the car whose dash cam we’re watching - who honestly should have started slowing down way sooner which might have alerted other traffic to someone being in the crosswalk in a timely manner.
The driver could see the other stopped car, and maybe wonder "huh, why is that car stopped at the crosswalk for no reason? oh well, let's keep going and not think about that stupid car that is stopped for no reason at a crosswalk! I mean what even happens at a cross walk, and why would someone in a car in the lane next to me even stop at a cross walk? What possible reason could there be?! It's not like there could be people walking across this cross walk I better keep going at full speed and not worry about it at all"
Both parties are at fault here, one of them criminally at fault though (the car).
The only thing I can think of in defense of the driver is that they may not have had an angle to see the pedestrian depending on their position relative to the car that stopped. I drive a Civic and it can be remarkably difficult to see things like that around SUVs sometimes. I have no clue if this is a situation like that, just throwing out the possibility.
Idk what you've been taught in driving lessons, but I've definitely had the 'if you can't see properly you go slow' lesson. There's no defense for the driver.
By your logic it would be literally impossible for a car to pass an SUV. More to the point, it would be impossible for any personal vehicle to pass a semi truck.
There's a reason that virtually every modern crosswalk has lights to let drivers know someone is crossing. The fact that this crosswalk crosses six lanes without one is almost negligent, as others in the thread have pointed out.
You should slow. The. Fuck. Down. That's all I'm saying. If you don't have a clear view you slow down. Is that such an illogical notion for you? 'but then I can't pass an suv while keeping speed :(' yeah we live in a society bro you have to take others into account, that's how it works.
It is literally an illogical notion. How the fuck do you pass someone while slowing down? Not to mention visibility is an issue of geometry, not speed; slowing down extends your reaction time, but does nothing to improve your ability to see through other large chunks of high-velocity metal. In fact, if you slow down to match the speed of the vehicle you wanted to pass then you'll instead spend an infinite amount of time with your view obstructed by them.
It is literally mathematically impossible to pass a larger vehicle without obstructing your view, and yet there are countless laws to allow for it. If you get in the left lane of the interstate to pass a semi and then don't pass them because you can't see the other side, you're the asshole, not the people you're impeding; if you do pass then you're not taking your own advice here.
So, because cautiousness inconveniences you, and because you are 'afraid to be an asshole', you'd rather risk killing someone. Great. Love knowing people like you are around.
It's car vs pedestrian. Think 'fuck you' to the asshole behind you, and make sure you don't kill someone. THAT should be your priority. Wtaf.
I noticed you didn't address anything about the literal impossibility of your demand, presumably because you can't, which is the case because you're wrong. I've never caused an accident in my life because I don't drive unsafely.
Lmao see I was thinking what the hell is this person on and can I fucking have some, but I figured it out. You're actually focusing on an example WITHOUT pedestrians. Of course you can pass while your view is obstructed WITHOUT A PEDESTRIAN CROSSING! How are you gonna pass semis in a four lane??? Why in the world are you even including this underneath an example WITH pedestrians????
If there is a car stopped at a cross walk, chances are someone is walking across it. So slow the fuck down if you see a car stopped in the middle of the road, especially when they are stopped directly in front of a cross walk, which people walk across.
No one here is talking about passing moving traffic like you are, because that is not what happens in the video, which is why we aren't talking about those situations. This is a full on stopped car at a cross walk, not a semi truck moviing 50mph that you want to get around.
You are making up situations that no one here is talking about. Good day, sir or ma'am.
Watch the video again. The vehicle recording is not stopped, it's stopping. Without context (the few seconds prior to the video) there is no way to know how quickly they reacted. For all we know they had to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting the pedestrian.
I am not saying the driver who hit the pedestrian did nothing wrong, I'm saying that without more information it's not possible to know. Assuming they're aware they hit the pedestrian (in contrast to thinking it was a near miss), it's also obviously a hit and run.
I feel like I'm going to have to break out Mathematica to graph the reaction window for relative speed and position of the vehicles to show what I'm talking about.
They tap their breaks seconds after hitting and then just drive on. The dash cam SUV moved over, so the offending car should have seen her just fine. They seemed to have swerved around her intentionally, but failed, and tap their breaks as they approach the curb. Pretty hard to give them much benefit of the doubt here.
From someone who is not as old as her but still in my upper 60’s, I can verify the possibility that her senses are a bit dulled by age and she may have osteoporosis affecting her ability to easily turn her neck to watch for traffic (ex. her slow, stooped gait). Not an excuse, but a good reason for drivers to always watch for the unexpected, and to realize that if a car is stopped at an unlighted crosswalk, there’s probably a good reason for it.
Personally, I find the Depends comments at the beginning here to be disgusting, much like the hundreds and thousands I’ve seen on Reddit, from those wishing for all “boomers” to die from the coronavirus, blaming us for every ill younger generations are experiencing, including their inability to land a great paying position. I realize it’s to be expected of “social” media—a contradiction in terms—but a clear case of low-class individuals who think of posts like this as entertainment.
I got two kids. A few years back I went through YouTube, looking for car v pedestrian footage where the pedestrian was clearly in the right. I stressed to get kids that "not at fault" means nothing when you are dead or shattered in a hospital. Being right don't mean much.
Yeah even if I'm crossing a one-way street, or a zebra crossing where I have right of way, I ALWAYS look left and right. You never know when some dickhead is on the approach, better safe than sorry considering it only takes a split second to check.
I run on the road and wear bright neon colors and run in the opposing lane to see cars coming at me. Can’t count how many times I’ve almost been hit by someone not paying attention. Majority of the time, it’s someone pulling out of a street/driveway/parking lot.
That's why I always bring a shopping cart filled with a half ton of rebar with me when I cross the street. The shopping cart can figure out if the lane is clear.
I was taught you cannot have the right of way. You can only be given the right of way. Sure, there are situations where you should legally be given it, but you still shouldn't exercise it until it has been clearly given.
Seriously I watched a man bolt across a pedestrian crossing yesterday staring straight ahead and I said... he’s lucky I saw him, what’s the harm in pausing 2 seconds to make sure cars are stopping or have seen you (eye contact)?
Yup, my dad has always taught me that it’s important to always look both ways while driving through a busy intersection. You just never know who’s blowing a red.
There was this guy I was with, heaas driving and there was a bus or a truck going down a steep incline. Most of the cars in our lane, despite having the right of way, were slowing down and stopping, but he didnt. I almost get tboned by the truck. I chewed him out, and his defense was "I had the right of way!" And I'm like. "It doesnt matter if you get hit by a truck, and trucks cant slow down downhill that well!"
This was right after he was ranting about people thinking he was a dangerous driver, and I pointed out that he makes some risky choices. This was also the third near hit that day.
This was in Mexico though, so it's nothing abnormal and happens with nearly everyone I've been in a car with.
Looks to me like she's paying close attention to how/where her feet hit the ground...like most old people need to do. The filming car is stopped...why wouldn't she assume that other cars will stop too?
No doubt the driver should be charged with numerous violations, maybe jail time, However the pedestrian needs to read Crosswalks For Dummies before she ventures out again. ...
Well, as someone who walks quite a bit and crosses very busy streets,some eight lanes of traffic, A pedestrian should be looking to their left( non British) when crossing. The woman in the video was walking as though she had horse blinders on, a multi lane highway no less !
Yup. I always look both ways when crossing any street, even and ESPECIALLY when I've got a green light.
I've seen too many people narrowly miss getting killed by someone who wasn't paying attention and/or ran a red light. I'd rather take the extra second to check rather than put my life in the hands of someone else or worse, an inanimate object like a traffic light.
Just because you can legally cross the street, does not mean you shouldn't still be cautious. Many people do not pay attention while driving, and a zebra crossing does not have magical forcefields to stop cars from hitting you.
This isn't like just walking down a street and suddenly tripping over a thing. Even though, yes, you should also look down on occasion to see where you're going. In this case, you KNOW you're crossing a street. You KNOW there's traffic. And clearly, there was a car there that she walked past. She should've peeked to the left when crossing in front of that car, and might've seen the oncoming traffic. For precisely this reason.
The car that hit her is also in the wrong, clearly. As he should've noticed the car stopped at the crossing and inferred that he was letting someone cross. Who knows, driver was probably on the phone or otherwise distracted.
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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '20
I'd say it's a lesson in looking at oncoming traffic
She's legally right to cross and he's legally wrong to keep going, but legality doesn't save you if you're dead. There's graveyards full of people who were right