senseless death and assholes who hit and run

[telecom_goddess]

I'm kinda hating on a couple of things. Yesterday a friend of my two oldest daughters was killed while walking along a road in our neighborhood where there are no sidewalks. He was hit by a car from behind and later died at the hospital. He was only 18 years old.

It's not like I knew him all that well myself but he was a close friend to my kids and I feel bad for their loss, and for his parents and sister who lost a member of their family. I'm mad that this area still has roads that have no sidewalks and that are extremely unsafe for pedestrians. It's setup to be car friendly and NOTHING else. I'm also mad that someone has the fucking nerve to hit someone and then LEAVE the scene. This poor kid was knocked 15 feet in the air so it's not like they didn't know they hit someone. I think people like that need to have the shit beat out of them after they get arrested for murder.

That could have been MY kid out there getting hit. By some stroke of fate it wasn't....but it could have been SO easily. I want to keep my kids home and never let them go out on the streets again...but I know I can't ....they can't live in a bubble as much I would like them to sometimes.

I guess this isn't a point for debate so much but I wasn't sure where else to put this.

[MaggieTheCat]

That's horrible. I'm so sorry for your, and your daughter's, and the boy's family's loss. Do they know who did it?

[LexiaFira]

i think this is the one she meant. found it on facebook/news
http://www.kgw.com/news/hitandrunlea...101627223.html

[BlaqueKatt]

That could have been MY kid out there getting hit. By some stroke of fate it wasn't....but it could have been SO easily. I want to keep my kids home and never let them go out on the streets again...but I know I can't ....they can't live in a bubble as much I would like them to sometimes.

Hate to say it but if the kid had lived-he'd probably be on the receiving end of a ticket, and possibly being sued for any damage to the car-if he was hit from behind it means he wasn't walking against traffic-the laws that all states have stating pedestrians walk in the roadway against traffic are for this very reason.

This poor kid was knocked 15 feet in the air so it's not like they didn't know they hit someone.

If it was dark and the kid was wearing no light-colored or reflective clothing-they very well may have thought they hit a deer-or some other animal, after all pedestrians are not supposed to be walking with their back to traffic, meaning you hit something on the side of the road you assume it's not a person as a person is not supposed to be there-they should by law be on the other side of the road.


I'm not heartless-but the driver wasn't the only one that did something wrong-more wrong does not absolve the deceased's -sorry no other way to put it-stupidity.

[MaggieTheCat]

I don't know anywhere in the U.S. where it gets dark by 5pm, especially so dark that you can't see that you hit someone. The video in the link was shot at night time, but it looked much later than 5pm, unless it gets dark REALLY early up in Portland compared to down in Texas.

It's true, they should not have been walking with traffic. But depending on what kind of road it was, it may have been difficult to get to the other side to walk against it. At the apartment complex I used to live at, the road that you'd take to get to the nearest main road only had a sidewalk on one side of the road and only until you got to about halfway to the main road. I always preferred walking on the sidewalk, even if I had to go with traffic, and crossing the road once the sidewalk ran out was sometimes tricky because there was a hill and you could not see what was coming too well.

[telecom_goddess]

It was in broad daylight....oh and yes that link is correct. As it turns out the driver turned herself in so they do know who did it now. They are trying to figure out if she committed a crime...um yeah she did the minute she left the scene.

He was wrong to walk with traffic like that but still there is no reason for it be so unsafe for pedestrians. There are a lot of curves and hills around here that if you just wing around them you could very easily hit someone no matter what they were doing because there is no room for them to walk.

I'm not sure when the video or if the video will be posted but my daughter Chelsea actually had a featured interview on KGW news in regards to this. If you see it though she's not actually sitting at our house she's at a friend's place. She confirmed one of my fears that she sorta blames herself for this because he was on his way to our place when he got hit. She said she knows she's not to blame but still....she feels if it hadn't been for her it wouldn't have happened...which is what I was afraid of.

Sigh....I really really feel bad for his family.

[aurelemsrealm]

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's loss and that of her friend's family. Witnessing the accident must have been especially tough for his sister.

A disturbing thing I notice where I live is that a number of people in my neighborhood will walk right down the middle of the street even though there are sidewalks on both sides of the road. We live near downtown with a high number of homeless, drugs and prostitution. I often wonder how many of these people are even aware of where they are when they just wander down the road like that. The only time I walk is when I walk the dog, and I only walk where I know sidewalks are available. As crazy as some drivers are, I prefer not to walk along the roads unless it's absolutely necessary.

[blas87]

Ohhh..that.

Drives me insane as well. We have sidewalks all the way down the damn street, but whenever the bus drops people off around here, they get off, step away from the sidewalk, and walk in the middle of the damn road until they get to their building.

It's been so bad that I learned what time the bus drops people off the afternoon here so that I get home from the gym/errands on Friday/Saturday before or after. There were too many close calls.

[HYHYBT]

You know how sometimes an aisle at the grocery store will be blocked because some people are just standing around in a circle talking in the middle of it? I saw that on a street today. Five or so people, facing each other, standing in the middle of the crosswalk. The street *is* wide enough there to get around them, but still.

[telecom_goddess]

You know how sometimes an aisle at the grocery store will be blocked because some people are just standing around in a circle talking in the middle of it? I saw that on a street today. Five or so people, facing each other, standing in the middle of the crosswalk. The street *is* wide enough there to get around them, but still.

What the hell is wrong with people.....I swear to god as a whole the human population is getting dumber by the year.

BTW there is still no new info on who did the hit and run, other than she turned herself in. No word on who it is or if they are being charged.

[Greenday]

http://www.app.com/article/20100829/...fatal-accident

Just saw this on my local newspaper's website.

Three years? Three? Really?

[telecom_goddess]

OMG....that is NOT enough in my book. I still don't know what is going on with the woman here....I don't think they have charged her with anything yet. But they HAVE to charge her with leaving the scene don't they? Even if she came foreward later she did leave at the time....

[Greenday]

Well, in NJ, leaving the scene of an accident, if someone is injured, is 9 points and a license suspension. So odds are the driver will get something. Gross negligence charges at the least.

[telecom_goddess]

Well, in NJ, leaving the scene of an accident, if someone is injured, is 9 points and a license suspension. So odds are the driver will get something. Gross negligence charges at the least.

What's the penalty if the person dies?

[Greenday]

I only specifically know the driving penalties specifically.

But the criminal penalties for hitting someone and running will probably depend on what happened. Did the person just run out in front of the car? Was the driver drunk or high? Was the driver speeding? Did the driver have a car with any equipment failure (lights out or bad brakes)? A lot more factors.

But my guess is, for a hit and run that involves someone dying, it will be AT LEAST gross negligence. Manslaughter charges are always a possibility. Murder II is pretty unlikely I'd imagine.