ally77 said on October 25, 2006 20:39:

Well David I don’t know what to say to you, except keep postiive thinking..... hopefully she will be okay. At least you stopped at the scene a lot of people would drive off....

What have the police said to you?

coyboyusa said on October 25, 2006 21:52:

wowo thats scarey thats another reason i don’t drive in the states peopel don’t look where they are going, poor old thing why anyone would let a woamn that old cross streets by herself ...

ncurran said on October 25, 2006 22:53:

I hope she’s OK. Like ally mentioned, what did the police say? I’m sure you had to be interviewed, but i hope you dont get charged. Shouldnt be a problem if you werent driving irresponsably. As a driver I can imagine the scenario. Some old people as just as much a hazard walking on the streets as they are in a car. They often walk across the road with total disregard for oncoming traffic...still if it was a pedestrian crossing, then technically you might be to blame, depending on the actual situation. Try not to feel too bad about it, it was an accident and there is not much you can do about it

LittleSpooky said on October 26, 2006 05:21:

To echo Oldag a little here: One of the things I’ve discovered in my time on the road as a professional driver and just as your “average Jane” behind the wheel, people will step out in front of you, fully expecting you to stop because they are in the crosswalk. The average weight of a car is approximately 1.5 - 2 tons. So, basically what that means is if you are travelling the speed limit (say 35 mph), for every mph you are travelling, you need X amount of feet to stop.

I was involved in a low speed accident in a bus. Travelling 3 mph. It took me 6 feet (72 inches / 182cm) to stop my bus. SIX FEET. Busses weigh on the average of 34,000 pounds (17 Tons). Imagine if a person had stepped out in front of me 3 feet away. I would have hit them, guaranteed. So the questions I have are:

What did the police say? How far away was the person from you when they stepped off the curb? How fast were you travelling (posted speed limit / above / below)? Was the sun in your eyes at any point in time? How were the road conditions?

All of these play a factor in the accident. David, I hope all is well for you and that you can “get your head” around it.

And Coy, when you’re 60, I’ll make sure you’re in the nursing home, strapped down where you belong, okay?

(My grandfather’s in his 70s and went hunting this past weekend and did just fine. The only problem: 8” of snow at the cabin, making walking a bit difficult. Don’t be so insulting.)

pwbbounce (moderator) said on October 26, 2006 07:16:

OMG David. Are you okay? Have you heard about the old woman? Hope everything turns out okay for you :-) Let us know

ally77 said on October 26, 2006 15:37:

David how are you....

Ary-Sya said on October 26, 2006 16:20:

so she is not so good...have you talked to her?

Ary-Sya said on October 26, 2006 16:24:

Ok, i didn’t know. what can i say, i think just good luck to both.

davidc4 said on October 26, 2006 16:27:

i think we shoyuld be allowed to at least fone the hospital but thats the way the do it.i wouldnt mind but im losing my mind slowly with worry.im gonna try and fone police again tomo and c whats going on

ally77 said on October 26, 2006 17:06:

David don’t worry, it sounds like a accident your just unfortunate that you are the driver, from what you say the weather conditions didn’t help and you where not speeding.

She should have been observant as well to oncoming traffic... don’t blame yourself... accidents happen!

LittleSpooky said on October 26, 2006 18:39:

I have to agree. It sounds like she had decided not to wait and took her chances.

Galadriel said on October 26, 2006 19:23:

It may sound stupid.
But what if you searched for a good psychiatrist, I mean someone real to talk to?

Oldag75 said on October 26, 2006 21:03:

Half a mile east of my house is a busy street, about a mile away from a major-city downtown (skyscrapers and such) area. The neighborhood is really crappy, with several old beat-up apartment complexes..... which, at this time, harbor a large number of Hurricane Katrina evacuees who fled here from New Orleans last year.

A noteworthy number of these Katrina evacuees, when they want to cross this busy street, SIMPLY WALK RIGHT INTO THE STREET, REGARDLESS OF THE TRAFFIC FLOW. They fully assume that drivers will brake or swerve to avoid hitting them... and they need to get to the other side, to visit the convenience stores and purchase their beer... so they brazenly walk into the traffic.

Yeah, this is far different from an elderly woman negligently (for whatever reason) crossing a street and getting hit by a lawfully operated auto. But, it’s amazing that we haven’t seen any of them get splattered all over the pavement.

ally77 said on October 27, 2006 12:08:

Yeah the NHS is crap at referrals!

roxlad said on October 27, 2006 15:35:

@davidc4 if you didn’t speed and the woman stepped in front of the car then it’s not your fault, when it rains many accidents happen and not because you want them to of course so just keep praying that she is ok and try to think positive.

Ary-Sya said on October 29, 2006 20:25:

yes, tell us how is going

davidc4 said on October 31, 2006 13:31:

not good news im afraid she is still in intensive care in Walton Hospital i found out her name is linn or lynne and im still waiting to find out any ,ore news off the police

davidc4 said on October 31, 2006 13:56:

just so so.

i could be worse

then again compared to linn i dont think i can complain much im just in a bit of a weird state but nothing that wont pass with the help of a bit of info off the police and linn getting better.

davidc4 said on October 31, 2006 14:06:

cheers.

heres hoping that everyting will be ok

what a week

davidc4 said on November 1, 2006 15:28:

Pedestrian serious ill after crash
By Staff reporter
A PEDESTRIAN remains in a critical condition in hospital after being knocked over by a car in Moor Lane, Widnes, last Wednesday lunchtime.

The 44-year-old woman was hit by a blue saloon driven by a 22-year-old man at the junction with Kingsway at 12.38pm.

She was taken to Walton Hospital with serious head injuries.

continued...
Anyone who witnessed the collision should call Mike Jones at the Widnes road policing unit on 01244-613 928.

9:17am today

just_like_that said on November 2, 2006 08:16:

Our thoughts are with you sweetie.

Look after yourself cos you can make yourself ill with all this worry!

Ary-Sya said on November 2, 2006 16:22:

i agree, our thought is always with you!

davidc4 said on November 3, 2006 03:20:

she is in a coma and it isnt looking good i keep getting fed lots of info from diff people and cant work out wots rumours and which is truth

LittleSpooky said on November 3, 2006 06:15:

Tell them at the hospital that you want to give her flowers or something like that and see if you can find out that way.

davidc4 said on November 14, 2006 00:41:

she is still in a coma in walton hospital and its not lookin too good at all

davidc4 said on November 20, 2006 14:18:

finally had news that she has woke up but havent heard how she is only that she is still in intensive care but at least shes woke up....massive relief.

ally77 said on November 20, 2006 22:33:

That’s good David.... it’s a positive step for her and for you! Fingers crossed for you! Keep in touch, maybe we’ll get that night out next year! ;)

Ary-Sya said on November 21, 2006 16:17:

ye, the first step has been made, good thing that.

rox-kuryliw said on November 22, 2006 23:54:

AND why does no one EVER want a night out with me ! !? rude honestly !. lol

davidc4 said on January 2, 2007 17:33:

hello again everybody just thought id let everyone know that the woman woke up the other week but i still havent heard anything on her condition other then sge was talking again which is good.
i hope she was home for xmas but i have no idea on where she is now

i scrapped the car a pic of which is on my myspace profile www.myspace.com/sleeping_in_my_car

ditroia said on January 4, 2007 17:48:

Try not to punish yourself too much, It was an accident. Now that she is awake there won’t be any problem.

Best of Luck

Dave

Never Left The Joyride..
Visit http://www.roxette20.eu/

davidc4 said on January 24, 2007 15:51:

its not quite over with....if only it were that simple...i had to give another statement today...as for the woman she is still in hospital unable to remember much and cant walk properly they have said it will be a slow and painful recovery and that it will take months and months to fully recover.

RJ1976 said on February 10, 2007 07:34:

Davidc4

whateveriam said on June 14, 2007 14:11:

Oh no, bad luck sweetheart! *hugs* At least it’s not anything worse

’Even if I am in love with you. All this to say, what’s it to you?’

davidc4 said on June 18, 2007 17:56:

they blamed me and never mentioned that she failed to look before crossing which annoyed me....i know she is ill and its awful but i didnt see why i should take the whole blame.....it takes two to tango after all.

LittleSpooky said on June 18, 2007 23:51:

Normally, I’d agree with you Neil, but after being a professional driver for almost 8 years (public transit) and watching pedestrians and other vehicles and bicyclists do some of the damndest things on the road, you’d be surprised.

Now... one would assume (love that word) that when someone steps out in a ped crossing, that a vehicle should stop for them. Does anyone here understand the concept of basic physics?

I’ve done this once before, let’s do it again:

Let’s use a bus, since I’ve done more distance calculations for that type of vehicle rather than a car:

Standard bus length that I drove: 40ft long. Standard weight: 34,000lbs empty. Now... a bus traveling at 3mph requires a minimum of 6 feet to stop in. How do I know? Not proud to admit it, but got in a wreck with a stationary object. I was traveling at 3mph, and the scratch mark down the side was 6ft long. And that’s with jumping on the brakes almost immediately after impact.

Now... a bus traveling at approximately 35mph requires a “safe” stopping distance of AT LEAST 100ft. Why? That’s to prevent passengers from being thrown and injured. I’ve brought a bus down from 35 to almost 0 in 50ft. That was not the most comfortable thing in the world, but hey... it was either that or hit the car in front of me that had decided to cut me off and then slam on his brakes. I was already in the process of slowing down from 45mph, and had to make an even faster deceleration than planned.

Now, David didn’t specify what the road conditions were or any of the following:
His speed, the distance from the ped crossing, time of day, whether or not there were any vehicles obstructing his view, where the position of the sun was in relation to him (was it behind him or in his eyes in front of him?)

So to say that “justice was served” is quite a load of bull-manure from where I stand. NONE of us were there, were we? Did we witness this accident? No. I’m going based upon stuff that I’ve personally witnessed as a professional driver. Here’s another little ditty:

Salt Lake City held a Mayor’s Convention a few years back. Dunno what the scoop on that was, but I do know that almost every mayor from across the US was here, along with a little entourage. I had just discharged some passengers at a stop near an intersection. This was a “near side stop” (stop just before the light). The light was still in MY favour, so I’d pulled back into traffic and was in the middle of the intersection when this group stepped right out in front of my bus. Lucky for them, I wasn’t traveling more than 1 - 2 mph and there was 6 - 8 ft between me and them.

Result? I immediately applied my brakes AND the horn, and the group quickly returned to the corner they started from. Had they not... I would have missed them, yes, but the car that was traveling up my left wouldn’t have been so lucky. He couldn’t see through the bus. Nor would the cars approaching from the opposite side.

Moral of the story:

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS AT ALL TIMES!!! Peds and motor vehicles alike. But NEVER, EVER assume that you have the automatic right-of-way. It ain’t gonna happen. The sad thing is, I remember my mom teaching me to look both ways before crossing the road, and to wait until it is safe to do so. People don’t do that now-a-days. They just walk right out in front of you, thinking they own the road. Until they meet the business end of someone’s car.

David: Best of luck to you, and hope that the local transit can get you around (or you can at least bike to where you need to be).

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tattooed White Trash

ncurran said on June 27, 2007 21:41:

Except the highway code is not legally enforceable for pedestrians. Driving laws on the other hand, are quite straight forward, and under law you are responsible for stopping at a pelican crossing for pedestrians. You cannot be charged for “dangerously walking”. If you were driving up to a pedestrian crossing at 35mph without looking to see if anyone was waiting to cross, then it was irresponsable driving...there is no denying that. Especially if as you say it was raining heavily, you shouldn’t have been driving as fast as that in a built up area.
As to what law you broke, surely you can tell us that? I was not in court, so I don’t know what you were convicted of?

RobS said on June 29, 2007 10:13:

davidc4 said on June 28, 2007 02:53:
“i think you will find that in the Highway Code there is a section that clearly states that a pedestrian must stop and wait at a zebra crossing until all traffic has come to a stop.”

That’s exactly what i always do. You never know what the person behind the wheel is doing/thinking, even though they should have their mind on the road.

I’ve had to brake suddenly quite a few times when approaching a pedestrian crossing because of my own fault of looking at something on the side of the road.

I would think that most people would use common sense to make sure that a vehicle is slowing down/stopped before walking onto the road.

LittleSpooky said on July 3, 2007 23:09:

Can you appeal the decision?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tattooed White Trash