Something really bad happened this weekend and I would like to know...

[newchickgal]

It is tragic but how could the driver see someone walking along the side of the road? It was in the middle of the night and the person was wearing black. Bad combination.

 

[bkreugar]

Quote:
X2 - Unless it turns out the driver was somehow negligent (like being drunk or on drugs), it was most likely an accident with no criminal malice or intent behind it.

They definitly ruled out drugs/alchohol AND speed. I guess I and the kids would be able to put morse sense to it IF we had someone/something to blame and charges would help that. My husband says SHE will tear herself up for the rest of her life over this so its not like she will get off scott free.

 

[bufforp89]

Quote:
I'm inclined to agree with this....Seems like she will punish herself enough in the years to come. I can't even imagine the guilt that she must be feeling. Very sad situation all the way around.

 

[SillyChicken]

Want to blame someone, blame the kid and his parents for not teaching him any better or allowing him out that late at night. It is a tragic loss, yes, but I think people tend to want to blame the wrong people some times and overlook the root cause of the problem. Had the kid been at home, and in bed like he should have been, this wouldn't have happened... and now, the kid and his parents have probably also ruined that woman and her families life along with their own.

Put yourself in that woman's position- you're driving down a dark road and wham there's someone dressed in dark clothes on the wrong side of the road right there, you hit him.......did you hit him on purpose? I could see if she was drunk or impared... then some of the blame would be on her and she should be charged. I know it's hard to see this side cause the OP is connected with this and the reactions are emotional based, but realistically, the driver is not the one to blame.

I just think too many people expect everyone else to be responsible for their bad decisions, except for themselves.

 

[newchickgal]

Quote:
I agree

 

[babymakes6]

My brother-in-law was in a similar situation 10 years ago. It was winter, he was traveling on a 4-lane highway WITH a wide shoulder. We had just had several big snowstorms and the snow had piled up on the shoulder, leaving very little shoulder. Another driver had a flat tire on the left side of his car. His car was on the shoulder, but he wasn't. My BIL hit and killed him, because he was lying on the white line trying to change his tire in the dark. He also had dark clothes on. My BIL never even saw him. He heard his pickup hit something and pulled over to check what it was. The driver behind him saw it happen and was the one to tell him what he hit. He felt horrible-and still does, I'm sure, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was not speeding, drinking, on drugs, or anything else. Accidents do happen.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
That right there.

 

[Royd]

Sorry for your daughter, but the onus is on the parents of the kid. They have, obviously, spent their years with their heads somewhere they don't belong.
Pedestrian rules for walking along a road have existed since I was a child and walked to school. 1959. You walk FACING traffic. That way, you can get farther off the road if a car looks too close.

If you are on a bicycle, you ride WITH traffic, thus decreasing the speed of an impact, if it does occur.

Visibility rules are more recent, but reflective devices and high grade stobes are cheap.

As a cyclist, I will be seen. If you run over me, it's because you were totally negligent or you chose to hit me.

 

[WriterofWords]

It's very hard and having dealt with this same thing with my students it's not going to be easy for them to understand that he was at fault for his death. All they see is someone hit him, punish them. They won't see that he was in black, on a dark road, walking where and when he shouldn't have been. The most negligent party here is him, and then his parents for letting him be out that late.
We had a young man walking in black, with traffic, around 1am, and wearing headphones. He never looked behind him, he turned and walked straight into the path of a pickup truck. The driver of the truck has since committed suicide because even though he couldn't have prevented it, he blamed himself, the community made him feel horrible, the kids vandalized his home and truck, threatened his family, he got death threats on the phone and in the mail, and then when he killed himself everyone pointed and said See? He was guilty or he wouldn't killed himself!
The race card will always be played, unfortunately our world is segregated worse than ever. When you have the Black Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and other racially dividing entities it will always be this way. Unfortunately if an Anglo person is driving it doesn't matter who jumped in front of the vehicle, they will want the driver's blood because of the racial divide.
It is going to be very hard on your daughter, I'm so sorry for that. It's something she will remember her entire life and if it has her telling her future children to dress brightly and stay off dark roads, something good will have come of it. There is nothing we as parents can do but hold them until it passes enough that you can talk about him and remember him, and let her know that it is ok to grieve, that it's ok to cry, and it's ok to remember him every single day,, but it is also ok to let him go.

 

[bkreugar]

Yes I was ASTOUNDED that they gave address of woman that hit him. Thought that was pretty neglient and yes I hear the kids say they want to show their anger to woman.

Yes He had pretty carppy home life with only a father who did not put much effort into raising him. I sure would never let my DD out that late or walk anywhere that late.

Still sucks all the way round. Viewing is tonite. They are selling tshirts cuz the dad does not have enough money to pay for buriel.