Wow, can people really be that stupid?

[redhen]

I'm not going to argue with you Mac. You have your opinion, and i have mine.
Who's right?

The fact still remains that if they were REALLY soooo concerned about her speeding..then they should have AND could have done other things..(like get her plate #..etc..) You simply do not jump into the middle of the road and try to obstruct traffic. Period. THEY could have caused a serious accident.

 

[Bettacreek]

Thanks Redhen, dead on. Public streets are not playgrounds or hiking trails. There are safe places to walk or have your children play. Our tax dollars make streets for vehicles (motorized and non-motorized), hiking trails and playgrounds for people to walk and play on. They also pay authorities to check sidewalks and make sure sidewalks are in good condition for people to use (here, people pay to put their own sidewalks in). So, yes, if you're playing in the middle of the road, you're at fault.

 

[GrayDragon]

Quote:
They can. And they will. Not only that, but some will intentionally delay you. It's made the news a couple times. On one occasion, people were trying to get their dog to the emergency vet, and the cop deliberately delayed them until the dog died in the car. On another, they were trying to get to the hospital to be with a beloved parent in their final moments, and the cop intentionally delayed the husband until the parent was dead.

Some are decent, understanding human beings and may actually provide an escort.

Quote:
It's called a 'sidewalk'. A pedestrian has no business walking in the street, child or otherwise. When walking or riding a bike, you need to be by the side of the road, out of the path of traffic. If you are otherwise, you are the one causing the problem. For all the talk of a 'pedestrian's rights', the laws of physics trump any perceived right. If a pedestrian tangles with a moving vehicle, the pedestrian loses. If someone lacks the common sense to realize that, then yes, the term idiot does fit nicely.

And, contrary to popular belief, if a pedestrian does deliberately jump out in front of a moving car, especially when no crosswalk is involved, the pedestrian is at fault.

 

[wombat]

Quote:
Sure they will. Go look up your state's code. I expect that it says that you can't exceed the posted speed limit. I highly doubt that it says that you can't exceed the posted speed limit unless you have good excuse.

If you're not driving an emergency vehicle, you'll probably get a ticket if you don't obey the rules of the road. A cop might use discretion in deciding not to ticket you, or a judge might decide to dismiss the charge later, but you can't simply ignore the speed limit or roll through red lights because you have an emergency.

I don't know what the original poster's emergency was; it wasn't stated other than that it required going to the hospital. I would bet 9 time out of 10 if you give that story to a cop, they'll tell you that you should have called an ambulance ... unless you live in an area so rural area that there aren't any. You won't make it to the hospital so fast if you cause an accident on the way there.

If my kids, or my neighbor's kids for that matter wre out riding their bikes on the street, and I saw someone coming down the street driving too fast, I'd be yelling to the kids to get out of the road, not distracting the driver so they were looking at me and not seeing the kids a block further down. On the other hand, how were the people yelling to slow down to know that the speeding car going through their neighborhood was driven by someone with "an emergency"?

 

[Bettacreek]

It doesn't matter what the reason. If you see a car hurdling at a child, you get the darned child off the road, not yell at the car. It doesn't matter if the driver is just a drunk hopped up on cocaine, you get the child to safety before you worry about being aggressive towards the driver. Anyways, as I said before, I stand firm that streets are not playgrounds.