Miami's hit & run epidemic (law, bus, moving)

[Glasvegas]

It seems like hit & runs are becoming an epidemic here. Another disturbing article in the Herald about an elderly man struck at a bus stop (not even crossing the street!):

Man struck by SUV while trying to board bus in Miami - Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com (http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/08/2057455/man-struck-by-suv-while-trying.html - broken link)

There have been several of these hit & runs in 2011 alone. In other cities and states, this would be much more of a big deal.

Questions:

1) Why is this such a regular occurrence in Miami?

2) What can be done to crack down on it (tougher sentencing, more cameras, more of an effort from law enforcement)?

To me, it's sickening. Hit and run killers deserve to get life sentences. It's a truly disgusting crime.

[ace587]

yeah and they always run away.

[doggiebus]

This is really sad. Not sure how this guy ended up driving on the sidewalk in the first place? We need to find out why these hit & runs happen in the first place. We will probably find out people were not paying attention while driving. Next we need to find out why these people flee the scene. If they have something else to hide then I understand why they would flee, but if it were a true accident I don't understand why they would flee because we all know that if you leave the scene of the accident you will get charged with something for sure.

[gymbuff]

They are either drunk, illegal, or both.

[FlyMIA]

This is not a Miami thing there are hit and runs happening everywhere all the time unfortunately. But with the larger then average illegal immigrant problem in Miami this can be a bigger problem in the city.

Only way to solve this is more traffic cameras (not the ones giving tickets) more camera monitoring traffic so it can get the car and license plate.

[rogerbacon]

If these incidents are increasing due to the proliferation of cell phones then we need to pass laws forbiding talking and texing while driving. I heard they were considering useing the GPS sensor in phones to automatically disable the talking/texting feature when the phone was moving over a certain speed like 15 mph. The problem is that the phone has no way of telling if you re the driver or the passenger.

[Jmlacysr]

Channel 7 just said the suspect has a history of DUI and no drivers license.

[ace587]

Originally Posted by FlyMIA

This is not a Miami thing there are hit and runs happening everywhere all the time unfortunately. But with the larger then average illegal immigrant problem in Miami this can be a bigger problem in the city.

ill prob get heat for supporting but yes, a good reason why people run away is that they are undocumented. no license whatsoever. they must be running for a reason. Ive seen plenty of friends being run over by people who are illegal in this country

[9volt93]

Mane how is miami lol

[doggiebus]

Originally Posted by Jmlacysr

Channel 7 just said the suspect has a history of DUI and no drivers license.

Ahhh, so now I wonder if he was drunk at the time of the accident, didn't this take place at 9:30 am?