My poor daughter witnessed a fatality today

In high school we saw a movie called "Signal 30" and it was graphic and it stuck in me. When I was 10 my brother wrecked my dad's car by broadsiding a semi truck nearly killing all three passengers. When I was 13 I saw the car trying to beat a train at a crossing . I can still see the face of the passenger staring in to nowhere with the street lights reflecting off his face. The driver was killed on impact and the passenger died in the hospital. I have never had so much as a fender bender driving for 56 years.
 

Sunny said:
It's always been my understanding that the driver of a vehicle is responsible, even if the pedestrian did something careless. By driving a big, powerful machine, which a car is, the driver must look out for anything and anybody that is smaller and weaker, even if they are doing things that are less than brilliant.

So, "He stepped out into the road without looking," or "the bicyclist swerved into the car lane" don't qualify as excuses. The driver always has to be prepared for that to happen.
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Those are not "excuses", they are reasons of fact. And in our local courts, they will be considered as such, if proven by witness , or evidence then blame will be assessed. Who ever set the accident in motion is usually found to be at fault.
 

rgp said:
Isn't that exactly what they are trying to avoid ?

Every time I hear of a pedestrian/auto accident or bicyclist/auto accident, I have to wonder. What was the pedestrian/bicyclist doing in the street ? It is almost never heard of, that the car came up on the sidewalk . Yes I know technically a bicycle has the right of way, but I have seen many'a fool riding their bicycles in a reckless , devil may care fashion. I'm not talking about kids either, I'm talking about adults that should know better.

Should the auto driver be charged [they almost always are], just because the "victim" was careless ?

I need to know more about the incident .
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Sunny said:
It's always been my understanding that the driver of a vehicle is responsible, even if the pedestrian did something careless. By driving a big, powerful machine, which a car is, the driver must look out for anything and anybody that is smaller and weaker, even if they are doing things that are less than brilliant.

So, "He stepped out into the road without looking," or "the bicyclist swerved into the car lane" don't qualify as excuses. The driver always has to be prepared for that to happen.
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You are quite mistaken. And the law is not on your side. The fact that a car is bigger & more powerful than a bicycle (or motorcycle) has absolutely nothing to do with who is at fault.
Of course, a driver has to avoid hitting anyone or anything, including a stupid pedestrian, but it can't always be avoided. In those cases, whoever is at fault has to pay the price. And sometimes the price of stupidity is high.
 
Bonnie said:
Sorry for that experience Mrs R. They will only relive it for some time to come.

We were headed on a road trip, on Interstate 10, from Texas to Florida one day several years ago. Coming over a hill in LA. there was the strangest, gruesome sight I've ever seen. Across several lanes were 3 dead bodies lying in the road, all men, along with the contents of a trailer that exploded open all over the road and median .... clothes and belongings everywhere!
Never did get the story of that tragedy ... overloaded? jackknifed? And how did they all get thrown into the road?

Police hadn't gotten there yet, but we heard the sirens in the distance.. A crowd was forming on both sides of the interstate.
You just don't forget scenes like that! It ruined our getaway for sure.
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The 3 fatalities were probably people riding in the trailer while it was being towed by a vehicle - something the trailer was not designed for.
 
win231 said:
You are quite mistaken. And the law is not on your side. The fact that a car is bigger & more powerful than a bicycle (or motorcycle) has absolutely nothing to do with who is at fault.
Of course, a driver has to avoid hitting anyone or anything, including a stupid pedestrian, but it can't always be avoided. In those cases, whoever is at fault has to pay the price. And sometimes the price of stupidity is high.
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How am I mistaken ?
 
win231 said:
I said "Sunny" is quite mistaken.
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In our state a pedestrian was hit by a car in a crosswalk, however the pedestrian was walking against a red light. Pedestrian found completely at fault, didn’t even get their medical bills paid for-as his sister told me.
 
Aneeda72 said:
In our state a pedestrian was hit by a car in a crosswalk, however the pedestrian was walking against a red light. Pedestrian found completely at fault, didn’t even get their medical bills paid for-as his sister told me.
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Exactly as it should be. I've had some very close ones with pedestrians. I've seen some that probably have a death wish - walking in the middle of a pitch-dark street, wearing black.
 
Sunny said:
It's always been my understanding that the driver of a vehicle is responsible, even if the pedestrian did something careless. By driving a big, powerful machine, which a car is, the driver must look out for anything and anybody that is smaller and weaker, even if they are doing things that are less than brilliant.

So, "He stepped out into the road without looking," or "the bicyclist swerved into the car lane" don't qualify as excuses. The driver always has to be prepared for that to happen.
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That's not true here.
 
win231 said:
Exactly as it should be. I've had some very close ones with pedestrians. I've seen some that probably have a death wish - walking in the middle of a pitch-dark street, wearing black.
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..and another annoying thing is here in the countryside we have long narrow bendy country lanes deep within woodland and ... leading to our house, yet busy with traffic. No street lights at all.. yet cyclists insist on riding in the dark wearing no Hi-Viz clothing or even lights sometimes.. yet if we hit them we'd be charged with undue car and attention as the driver of a vehicle.. !! Don't get me started on cyclists with no Insurance... :mad:
 
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