Cobb County show total distain for pedestrian safety. (Nelson: 2014, felony)

[oakhurstlauren]

Originally Posted by jp01358

They are usually charged. I don't know that I would have charged the mom, but maybe Cobb County is trying to correct a problem (the problem being people jaywalking and putting their children's lives in danger). It would be great to have a crosswalk there, but you can't have a crosswalk everywhere that people might be tempted to jaywalk.

It's obvious that a crosswalk is needed there. Charging the Mom in this case is just ridiculous. It's funny that you think the big problem is jaywalking and not that no one noticed there is a huge apartment complex across from the bus stop and not a crosswalk in sight. And that other posters seem to think the problem is that this lady has kids and no car The comments on this thread are truly disgusting.

[jp01358]

Originally Posted by oakhurstlauren

It's obvious that a crosswalk is needed there. Charging the Mom in this case is just ridiculous. It's funny that you think the big problem is jaywalking and not that no one noticed there is a huge apartment complex across from the bus stop and not a crosswalk in sight. And that other posters seem to think the problem is that this lady has kids and no car The comments on this thread are truly disgusting.

You don't think the mother should bear some responsibility for her child's safety?

[oakhurstlauren]

Originally Posted by jp01358

You don't think the mother should bear some responsibility for her child's safety?

Absolutely, and I think her child being dead is punishment enough for that lapse in good judgement. However, Cobb County court system is sick for charging her and for not acknowledging that perhaps a crosswalk should be put there. I have friends who have kids in CC schools, they live just under a mile from the school so they are not eligible for the kids to ride the bus. Where does that leave them? Leaving work everyday to pick their kids up because they are scared to death to let them walk anywhere? They have a car, and are still wrapped up in the sad shape of pedestrian affairs. It's time for a shift in thinking with regards to pedestrians, even if it is the suburbs.

[jp01358]

Originally Posted by oakhurstlauren

Absolutely, and I think her child being dead is punishment enough for that lapse in good judgement. However, Cobb County court system is sick for charging her and for not acknowledging that perhaps a crosswalk should be put there. I have friends who have kids in CC schools, they live just under a mile from the school so they are not eligible for the kids to ride the bus. Where does that leave them? Leaving work everyday to pick their kids up because they are scared to death to let them walk anywhere? They have a car, and are still wrapped up in the sad shape of pedestrian affairs. It's time for a shift in thinking with regards to pedestrians, even if it is the suburbs.

The Cobb County court system is not in charge of deciding where crosswalks go. And yes, it sucks that her child died, but to excuse her from legal responsibility because of the grief of losing her child is not how the law works. Under that theory, the man who has a lapse in judgment and goes into a rage and kills his wife should not be prosecuted. After all, he just lost his wife and maybe regrets his decision. The law is concerned with apportioning responsibility for the death of this child. If the mother is partly to blame, and acted contrary to the law in causing the death, then she should be brought up on criminal charges.

[atlantagreg30127]

Crosswalks and traffic signals cannot be plunked down just wherever folks want them, just because there are apartment complexes nearby or because some of the people in those complexes do not have cars. In many areas in the metro outside of the city, they will not allow traffic signals within 600+ feet of one another, unless there has been years worth of red tape to make an exception. People could petition the county to have a crosswalk/signal put in around that apartment and wait, and hope, and wait, that it might get done. My guess is, if you do some research, you'll find that few (if any) people who live in those apartments where she lives have ever taken the time or trouble to do that - including the Mom in this story.

If we placed signals and crosswalks everywhere where we regularly see people who don't have cars darting across traffic, then those of you who do drive would be stopping about every 150 feet at those crosswalk signals, and then complaining about how many times you have to stop, etc etc. You cannot fully accommodate everyone. Someone has to go out of their way sometimes - sometimes it's the drivers, and sometimes it's the pedestrians.

Do I personally think this Mother deserves actual jail time for not taking her kids to a crosswalk? No. The ultimate person responsible for this is the deadbeat driver who shouldn't have had a license to begin with given his past history. But Mom did share some responsibility for what happened by not properly restraining her kids and not taking them to a proper crosswalk/signal to cross; had she done so, they could possibly have avoided the idiot behind the wheel of the car. Is it extremely hard to have three children and no car in Atlanta? Yes it is. But no one forces you to have three kids when you can't safely transport them. "Personal Responsibility" are two VERY lost words in many of our vocabularies - maybe we need to relearn them (this applies to how safe we keep our kids, AND people who drive who shouldn't be behind a wheel).

[shivtim]

The fact remains that what she was doing is NOT illegal. In the state of Georgia, according to code 40-6-92,pedestrians have the right of way even if they are not in a crosswalk, as long as the adjacent intersection does not have a crosswalk. Confused? Look at this:


Crossing there was absolutely legal. I'm shocked that the mother was charged. The fact that she was charged with vehicular homicide while she was not even driving is just flabbergasting. The final insult is that she could receive more jail time that the repeat hit-and-run (possibly drunk) driver who killed her child. He served only three months for a deadly hit-and-run.

[jpatlanta]

Reading some of the coments reinforces what I said in my initial post. Cobb county couldn't care less about pedestrians and their safety and is acting backwoods as usual.

Out of interest why can Cobb spend millions to improve an intersection to improve drive times by a few seconds but not pay for safe crossings near bus stops and schools? Why is Cobbs priority always to build wider and faster roads and stop alternative transport options any way they can?

If this had happened even down in Fulton near Chastain Park for example, and it was a wealthy mother crossing Wieuca road with her kids going to drop them off at school I bet the judgement would be different and there would be a crossing put up in a few months.

[oakhurstlauren]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

If we placed signals and crosswalks everywhere where we regularly see people who don't have cars darting across traffic, then those of you who do drive would be stopping about every 150 feet at those crosswalk signals, and then complaining about how many times you have to stop, etc etc. You cannot fully accommodate everyone. Someone has to go out of their way sometimes - sometimes it's the drivers, and sometimes it's the pedestrians.

We have crosswalks in Decatur everywhere. No one complains about stopping for pedestrians. The schools in conjunction with the city actually survey parents every year to find out where they think we need to add MORE crosswalks or crossing guards. It's just a different mentality. Pedestrians should have the right of way. Walking should be encouraged and a safe endeavor for everyone. It should never be viewed as a walker vs. driver problem. Everyone can be accommodated easily, slowing down so that people can pass in a crosswalk will only keep you from getting to that red light for a few extra seconds.

[jp01358]

Second degree vehicular homicide is a misdemeanor. I doubt she'll do any time at all.

[jpatlanta]

Originally Posted by oakhurstlauren

We have crosswalks in Decatur everywhere. No one complains about stopping for pedestrians. The schools in conjunction with the city actually survey parents every year to find out where they think we need to add MORE crosswalks or crossing guards. It's just a different mentality. Pedestrians should have the right of way. Walking should be encouraged and a safe endeavor for everyone. It should never be viewed as a walker vs. driver problem. Everyone can be accommodated easily, slowing down so that people can pass in a crosswalk will only keep you from getting to that red light for a few extra seconds.

I think in Cobb there is also corruption at play as well as the backwoods mentality. Developers can't sell houses on land in west Cobb etc they bought from their mates in government if there aren't new wider faster roads to make the long commute bearable. This is a bigger priority than building a pedestiran infrastructure or extending Marta etc.

Also not forgetting the concrete industry bankroles most of the encumbants campaigns. Mix this in with an exploitation of a general fear in the Cobb population about "pedestrians" being murderers and "indivdual rights" over pedestrian rights and we have the situtation that led to this verdict and the unwillingness to even accept a pedestrians basic right to cross the road safely.