Brawldud t1_ixzav2b wrote
Reply to comment by stephiereffie in The Exceptionally American Problem of Rising Roadway Deaths (includes a focus on pedestrian and cyclist deaths in DC) by woulditkillyoutolift
imo when someone gets in a giant death machine and turns it on and starts flinging it at deadly speeds through densely populated areas for their own benefit, the responsibility lies with them to do no harm.
Blightking t1_iy06p8q wrote
The law very much agrees with you
Brawldud t1_iy08p6g wrote
Courts, law enforcement and public opinion are more inconsistent about this point unfortunately
Blightking t1_iy0zytc wrote
Interested to read how the courts don’t agree. A speeding vehicle hitting a pedestrian should be a very simple tort matter
Brawldud t1_iy19134 wrote
in the US frequently you can murder someone who was walking or biking with your car and as long as you stayed on scene and were not drunk you will face no consequences.
Blightking t1_iy1aziy wrote
At minimum there's tort liability there, even considering contributory negligence. Wasn't able to find anything on westlaw or lexis you're describing. Do you have a specific case/incident/statute in mind?
Quelcris_Falconer13 t1_iy2r1jo wrote
Did the pedestrian have the right of way to cross or were they jay walking?
Blightking t1_iy2rg2l wrote
if right of way, the driver is completely at fault, if jay-walking, depending on the actions of the driver and the circumstances, the pedestrian would have contributory negligence.
Quelcris_Falconer13 t1_iy2u0ap wrote
Yeah I know. I’ve seen a lady ina. Wheel chair get hit. She was ina cross walk but didn’t have the light. Rolled out in front of a truck and got hit when the light for the truck turned green. Driver didn’t see her directly in front of his vehicle and he hit and she flew. She was alright just bruised up and they called the cops and the cops said told her that because she was crossing without the light, she was at fault. She even admitted it was pretty stupid of her.
Blightking t1_iy435kv wrote
no qualms with that result. pedestrians don't have the absolute right of way.
Working-Grapefruit42 t1_iy16j5u wrote
Not if the pedestrian caused the accident… for example if a pedestrian runs out in the street where there’s no cross walk it’s not always the drivers fault. Any typically insurance will take care of it for cases where the pedestrian isn’t in the crosswalk or the driver isn’t “in the wrong”
Blightking t1_iy1bl31 wrote
oh yeah if someone runs out into the street that's typically their fault. Basic negligence. A driver adhering to the law (not speeding, not texting [plaintiffs can request records of phone activity during the period in question to establish liability in discovery], etc.) obviously shouldn't face any legal liability.
Working-Grapefruit42 t1_iy16bvh wrote
That’s not at all how physics works my good sir.
Brawldud t1_iy1966e wrote
explain
Working-Grapefruit42 t1_iy1bk0y wrote
The average breaking distance for a car going 15 miles an hour about 45 feet, and that’s assuming The driver saw the object while they were at least 30 feet away. and that’s for small cars with new breaks A lot of people don’t understand the math behind their everyday life when you are driving a car typically at 25mph you are going actually going about 37feet per second or about 12 meters per second. The average pedestrian pops out about 40-50 feet ahead of u. So there’s not much most drivers can do when someone pops out of nowhere the driver can’t just stop their car. Physics just doesn’t work to make the driver accountable for pedestrians because the relative speed of each object to so vastly different. Cars going the same speeds have a better chance of missing each other because of that relative speed everyone is kind of on the same plane but with cars and bikes they’re not moving close to the same relative speed so when they pop out thinking they can make it. They’re are not accurately judging what it takes for that “giant death machine” to stop moving and how fast it’s actually coming at them on pedestrians account
I hope that makes more sense for you
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