Sad

[ComedyPilot]

http://www.pocklingtonpost.co.uk/news/Barmby-Moor-Woman-dies-in.5860757.jp

A woman who lived up the street from my sis in law has been killed in an RTC.

The road is a 50 limit, and she had to cross both lanes from the bus stop to get to the other side and get home.

Why is a car driver's journey so important that they are exempt from driving with due care and attention.

My question: Was the driver travelling at a speed in which he could safely bring his vehicle to a stop in the distance he saw to be clear?

If he was he could have stopped without hitting her, surely?

After all, do 80+ year old ladies just 'jump out in front' of cars?

Now, how does a frail 80+ year old lady cross a road in the dark?

My bet is that quite a few drivers drove past without a thought as to the safety of an old lady trying to cross the road. Would it have hurt to slow down/stop, put hazard lights on (to warn/stop opposite side too) and enable the lady to cross safely?

If you are driving along in the dark, in traffic, and can't see if there is a pedestrian waiting/starting to cross, you are either travelling too fast for the conditions/visibility and are driving without due care and attention?

Somehow, a frail old lady has paid the ultimate price for trying to cross a road. I wonder how much responsibility will be attributed to the driver - who by the way was thankfully un-injured in the collision. Thanks journalists; I really did wonder if a car travelling at speed and hitting an old lady would provide adequate protection for the driver.

I think it was Arch that suggested somewhere that all cars should have a sharp spike in the steering wheel to make people drive carefully.

 

[Arch]

I think it was Arch that suggested somewhere that all cars should have a sharp spike in the steering wheel to make people drive carefully.

An idea borrowed from somewhere, not originally mine...

Sad story. I know that road and don't even like cycling on it much, crossing it as a less than athletic person would be very scary. Sadly it seems that roads must be made nice for motorists, rather than helpful for pedestrians - even in urban areas, peds must be coralled behind barriers, rather than drivers have to watch out - I suppose initially planners thought they were doing the right things, and only now has it all come home to roost. Mind you, even with a crossing there, I think I'd be nervous.

On the subject of slowing, it's a nice thought, but... I suspect if you did that, some smart arse would just overtake you with a hand on the horn. And how many drivers these days would have the wit to see oncoming hazards and think they ought to take notice? They'd probably just assume it was someone parked on double yellows...

 

[ComedyPilot]

An idea borrowed from somewhere, not originally mine...

Sad story. I know that road and don't even like cycling on it much, crossing it as a less than athletic person would be very scary. Sadly it seems that roads must be made nice for motorists, rather than helpful for pedestrians - even in urban areas, peds must be coralled behind barriers, rather than drivers have to watch out - I suppose initially planners thought they were doing the right things, and only now has it all come home to roost. Mind you, even with a crossing there, I think I'd be nervous.

On the subject of slowing, it's a nice thought, but... I suspect if you did that, some smart arse would just overtake you with a hand on the horn. And how many drivers these days would have the wit to see oncoming hazards and think they ought to take notice? They'd probably just assume it was someone parked on double yellows...

And on our 'car-centric' culture goes, mowing down innocent children, old people and all and sundry in between.

 

[Arch]

Well, if they were important, they'd be in cars, innit?

 

[PBancroft]

 

[downfader]

I wrote to the council ages back about how drivers here treat the elderly. I wrote letters to the local paper (not published though). And if they put in railings and an underpass - as some drivers bang on about, no doubt some little scroat would lay in wait with a knife.

Just read another sad story online found throught the yahoo news page:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...walks-free-court.html?ITO=1490&referrer=yahoo

Not just pedestrians and cyclists that pay the price sadly.

 

[snorri]

And on our 'car-centric' culture goes,

More on that topic in the "A barrister" thread in Campaign.

 

[andrew-the-tortoise]

It is very sad indeed, especially as the driver was not exactly young himself.

Another avoidable statistic

 

[ComedyPilot]

I would ask every driver on here to try the following:

Drive along, and try to think, "Can I stop in the distance I can see to be clear?"

You might be in a line of traffic, are you at least 2 seconds from the car in front?

Can you see what's ahead?

Are you prepared if a child, ped, bike or car suddenly appear from behind a parked car?

Only by taking a step back and not being in so much of a rush can we begin to stop the needless deaths.

 

[chap]

That really is horrible. It is bizarre how appallingly flippant many city designers are about the actual needs of the pedestrians. There really is very little in place for those who walk or cycle - a clear sign that something is dreadfully wrong.

 

[Banjo]

Really Sad, we have a similar road near by ,young boy killed last year :-(

Until some real stigma and serious punishment is attatched to causing a road accident then drivers will continue to fiddle with the music ,text there mates and generally only devote about 20 percent of their brain to driving safely.

Have to say though it can be dodgy slowing or stopping to allow peds to cross ,if theres enough room to pass you some clown may fly by and hit the ped coming out from the blindside you have created with your vehicle.I only do it if its almost impossible for another motorist to fly past.

 

[ComedyPilot]

In 2008, over 2500 people were killed on the roads of the UK. That figure is a similar fugure to most years.

On September 11th 2001, 2976 people were killed as a result of the atrocities.

What we have on our roads is wide-spread carnage of a scale similar to the death toll of a terrorist atrocity. There the similarity ends. Our death toll rises every year and has done for decades, yet we blindly carry on.

2976 innocent people died on 9/11 and a nation dragged the world to war to ensure someone paid for it.

Approximately 22,500 people (the equivelant of a small market town) have died on the roads of the uk since (and including) 2001. What has our government done to safeguard us from this real on-going threat?

They have bought duck houses for their ponds, their husband's have masturbated furiously over porn films (that we paid for) and they have carried on claiming expenses for no-longer-being-paid mortgages.

But wait, the judiciary will spare us from the bad drivers?

No, wrong again.

KILLER drivers are spared custodial sentences, and after a short respite are ALLOWED their driving licenses AGAIN?

 

[JamesAC]

I despair.

Right from infancy it's drummed into us that the car is supreme: Stand on the curb, look left, look right etc. It is the pedestrian's duty to ensure that it's safe to cross. Nowhere is there thrown upon the car driver the responsibility of ensuring that his ton and a half of lethal machinery is not a threat or hazard to more vulnerable members of society.

In east London we are plagued with "green man" crossings that are worse than useless. The position and timing of the lights is so bad that cars are still driving across the pelican crossing after the "green man" is showing. Pedestrians are faced with two options: walk out in front of the moving cars, and face out the motorists, or not to cross the road at all. Children are told to wait for the "green man" before crossing: it could prove fatal, when it should be safe. If there was no crossing at all, then you would make no assumptions about the safety or otherwise of crossing at a particular place.

Pedestrians really should fight back. In London, at least, it is illegal to park on a pavement (other than in exceptional circumstances). So, if you see a vehicle parked on the pavement (ie encroaching on what should be a pedestrians' haven) - then shop them.

 

[just jim]

Is it true, or did I mishear this once that more people have been killed by cars/ in cars since the end of WW2 than all those who lost their lives in WW2?

 

[ComedyPilot]

64 years since the end of WW2 at 2500 a year (in this country) is a total approximate avoidable death toll of 160,000.