Two pedestrians killed in Oakland (2013, buy, live)

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Needless to say, but especially in Oakland, with the number of students and other disabled individuals in the neighborhood.


If you have to go through Oakland, you can't be in a hurry.


The city put all those railings up on 5th Avenue for a reason- this week's accidents weren't the neighborhood's first, the pedestrians aren't always paying attention so its up to the drivers.

It's up to both drivers and pedestrians to pay attention.

Pedestrians aren't exempt and there's zero reason to make excuses for them. They shouldn't need their hands held. Even crossing guards only escort elementary school children across the street for the most part.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by erieguy

It's up to both drivers and pedestrians to pay attention.

Pedestrians aren't exempt and there's zero reason to make excuses for them. They shouldn't need their hands held. Even crossing guards only escort elementary school children across the street for the most part.

^ This.

I drive around Oakland more in a day than most of you do in a week---even those of you with offices there. This is truly tragic, and I'm going to refrain from assigning blame until it's determined if a motorist ran a red light/turned without yielding to the pedestrians OR if the pedestrians just got off the bus and treated it like a school bus by crossing in front of it, as I see very often.

Motorists, (uni)cyclists, AND pedestrians in Oakland ALL do a terrible job of obeying traffic laws. ALL of us need to do a better job!

[BigPizzaHutFan]

I wonder why the guy who killed Meera Bali was never charged. I guess what they say is true: if you want to kill someone and get away with it, do it with a car.

[charisb]

Originally Posted by erieguy

It's up to both drivers and pedestrians to pay attention.

Pedestrians aren't exempt and there's zero reason to make excuses for them. They shouldn't need their hands held. Even crossing guards only escort elementary school children across the street for the most part.

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

^ This.

I drive around Oakland more in a day than most of you do in a week---even those of you with offices there. This is truly tragic, and I'm going to refrain from assigning blame until it's determined if a motorist ran a red light/turned without yielding to the pedestrians OR if the pedestrians just got off the bus and treated it like a school bus by crossing in front of it, as I see very often.

Motorists, (uni)cyclists, AND pedestrians in Oakland ALL do a terrible job of obeying traffic laws. ALL of us need to do a better job!

While I agree that it is everyone's responsibility to pay attention I do feel there is more onus on a driver. Why? Because the consequences are far worse. Just think about how you would feel if you killed a pedestrian, even if they were behaving irresponsibly. I think most people would be a bit tortured by this.
I knew someone who killed a child that ran out into a street. It was completely the child's (well, actually the parent's) fault, but the driver had significant PTSD and couldn't drive any more.
Being 'right' isn't always the most important thing, annoying as that might be.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by charisb

While I agree that it is everyone's responsibility to pay attention I do feel there is more onus on a driver. Why? Because the consequences are far worse. Just think about how you would feel if you killed a pedestrian, even if they were behaving irresponsibly. I think most people would be a bit tortured by this.
I knew someone who killed a child that ran out into a street. It was completely the child's (well, actually the parent's) fault, but the driver had significant PTSD and couldn't drive any more.
Being 'right' isn't always the most important thing, annoying as that might be.

I don't disagree with any of that.

However, pedestrians aren't exempt from paying attention. If you're not capable of crossing a road properly and paying attention while doing it, stay off the road. Same goes for drivers driving and cyclists cycling. Do it properly or don't do it.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by BigPizzaHutFan

I wonder why the guy who killed Meera Bali was never charged. I guess what they say is true: if you want to kill someone and get away with it, do it with a car.

Do you have further information on this accident showing the driver was at fault?

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Do you have further information on this accident showing the driver was at fault?

Curious of this myself.

[Benzman66]

Originally Posted by BigPizzaHutFan

Crossing on red does not give motorists a license to flatten you and crush the life out of you with no repercussions.

The article said nothing about whether the car stopped or not. None of them have.

Yes, the driver of the SUV that hit them did stop soon as it happened and remained on scene the whole time.

[Goinback2011]

They should take out the traffic/pedestrian signals and make it a 'shared space' zone.

That'll make it safer.

[BigPizzaHutFan]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Do you have further information on this accident showing the driver was at fault?

The driver hit and killed someone.

This is a part of our horrific car-centric culture by the way: a man hits and kills a pedestrian and the driver is the one who gets the benefit of the doubt. The pedestrian is assumed to deserve their fate unless it can be proven that the driver was negligent above and beyond the level required to hit and kill a pedestrian.

"It was just an accident" is not valid response. All accidents are preventable.