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Person walks in front of bus, is struck by bus
05/24/2012 6:08 PM by John M
According to cbs6, a school bus carrying MLK students struck a pedestrian this afternoon on Nine Mile Road. There were no injuries and “the pedestrian was ticketed for walking in front of the school bus”.
Saw the immediate aftermath of this first hand. Women seemed older and her hysterical family member was yelling at police.
Struck by bus but no injuries? Am I reading this right?
The bus was turning out on to nine mile. Couldn’t have been going fast based on the intersection. Very tight for a bus
@3 – I’m guessing you don’t understand physics well. Why don’t you go jump in front of even the slowest moving bus you can find and see if you get “no injuries.”
you can’t help but be an ass
Well! I never!
To be fair, you are the one that chimed in with a completely uninformed opinion. Read the comments on the story linked to above and it turns out that lo and behold, there did actually turn out to be more to it. The person hit by the bus has cracked ribs and is in intensive care.
All I was saying originally was that it just smelled like sloppy reporting on the part of channel 6. If you wanted to make excuses for them, go ahead but don’t expect me to not call you out on it.
The part about you jumping in front of a bus is purely tongue in cheek. I would miss your amusing commentary greatly if that happened so please look both way before you cross.
Real shock that they’re suing. I mean really, I am just so surprised. ::rolls eyes until they fall out of head::
Unfortunately, I’ve recently noticed that there is a lack of basic survival instincts when it comes to people crossing the street. When I attempt to cross a street, I first look both ways. If a vehicle is approaching, I gauge the distance and either enter cross or wait until I can. I keep hoping that Darwin will step in and help thin the herd of suicidal street-crossers…but alas. I guess we’ll keep reading about this type of situation more often.
In Virginia, are school buses the exception for yielding right of way to pedestrians? Does anyone know the best way to look up the law on this?
Traffic school/drivers ed courses always stress that pedestrians have the right of way over motor vehicles; especially at intersections and cross walks.
Since every other motor vehicle must yield right of way to pedestrians, I can understand how the victim might have thought the school bus would do the same for her.
I wonder if this was ignorance, accidental, or alcohol related. Or was it suicide by bus?
As anyone who ever bikes about town can attest, bus drivers can be amazingly aggressive. But I also know from driving around our neighborhood, some pedestrians seem completly oblivious about traffic patterns.
Let me understand you correctly, Carolyn. You are wishing a death sentence on anyone simply trying to get from point A to B and doing so with the temerity to cross the road in front of an automobile?
Aside from those outright wishing death upon their fellow citizens, why do so many others accept that the simple act of trying to travel in a city on foot should have to do so with constant fear of bodily injury or death? Automobiles have brakes; they can slow and/or stop when a person crosses in front of them. Preserving the speed/throughput of auto traffic should not take precedence over others’ lives.
Slow down while driving! YOU watch for pedestrians while driving! YOU are the one placing others at risk by operating a large, heavy, dangerous vehicle. YOU are responsible for preventing the injury and death of vulnerable road users.
I am originally from NOVA/DC and I am always amazed at the lack of street smarts pedestrians show in Richmond. People rarely cross at the crosswalks (which is illegal in DC and you will get a ticket for jaywalking). And, very few pedestrians use the “buttons” on the street lights to help them cross the street.
One of the most dangerous intersections for pedestrians is at 21st and E. Main. Most people do not use the cross walk (??!!) and just try to dodge cars as they cross this very busy section of the road. I am really surprised that the there are no “buttons” on the traffic lights at this intersection to help people cross the road.
I completely agree with Luke. I don’t care how stupid the pedestrian in question may be. When a car collides with a pedestrian, the pedestrian always loses.
I’m trying very hard not to express a lot of anger about some of the responses to this post. Pedestrians are not always at fault. I used to walk to and from work until the day that a driver hit me when I was on a crosswalk with a walk signal. He was nowhere near the intersection when I started crossing and I was just 2-3 feet from the sidewalk when he turned and sent me flying. 18 months later and I’m still recovering. And he was sent home without even a ticket.
When driving, you are essentially operating lethal machinery. Put down your cell phone, be attentive to your surroundings, and exercise caution. And if you can’t manage to do that, do everyone else a favor (other drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians, pets) and turn in your license.
@10: Unless the bus had a green turn signal, the pedestrian would have had the right of way. If there was a green turn signal, the bus would have had the right away and the woman would have had the yellow/orange hand symbol to wait.
I couldn’t remember what was there so….
I just goggled the image on street view and SURPRISE there are no pedestrian signage and it doesn’t appear that there are specific turn signals for traffic turning on to Nine Mile from Creighton. Also, the image shows that where she crossed, there was no crosswalk. She would have had to be crossing over from the shopping center side walk. She wasn’t.
My guess, she was ticketed for crossing where there is no cross walk. Had she crossed at the cross walk, the bus would have been turning left and she would have had the right away.
When pedestrians dart out in front traffic without using a crosswalk or jay walk against the light, they are putting themselves (and possible others) in danger. While I am not saying the drivers should not be careful, pedestrians have a duty not to be reckless and should follow the law.
I cannot believe the way that pedestrians have NO right in this city. I cannot count the number of times that I have seen cars drive right at people who are crossing at a corner WITH A CROSSING LIGHT. This has happened to me many times. If you are driving around downtown you will notice that pedestrians do not cross when the WALK light is lit. This is because turning vehicles do not honor that and will drive right into them and they know it. The safest way to cross a street in Richmond is to do it mid-block where you can look both ways and try to find a break in traffic long enough to run across. I REALLY wish the police would start a program of ticketing every person who does not stop for a person in a cross walk or crossing at an intersection with the light for a few months. Then you people can start bitching all you like about jay-walkers.
I was hit once, although I looked both ways (right and left). The vehicle came from around the corner very fast. I was seriously injured. There was no way I could have seen the vehilce before it came around the corner. It is not always the pedestrians fault. And yes, I do believe pedestrians do have the right of way. Drivers need to slow down, look for oncoming pedestrians…. especially when turning corners. I’d bet many of the readers would have been sympathetic if the victim had been been a dog.
“I’d bet many of the readers would have been sympathetic if the victim had been been a dog.”
I don’t know about that but if it were a mouse, you’d never hear the end of it…
@Alex….. LoL You might be right!
I am sure there are just as many stories about pedestrians that have run out right in front of your car that you had to slam on the brakes to avoid. I have never hit a pedestrian, but there have many close calls. There is no excuse for lack of personal responsibility, whether you are behind the driver’s wheel or you are in the street.
@Tiny. A most logical, responsible, response. If I were on FB, I’d “Like” it. 🙂