8 Pedistrians Killed in My Area

Since when did people stop looking both ways before they step out into the street. And giving way to cars simply because they're bigger.
My mom taught me that when I was 4yrs. old.

Today, everyone just walks right out daring you to hit 'em.

 

The best thing is, driving to a call in the ambulance, sirens, lights all blaring. Approaching an intersection where you need to slow to around 45mph before proceeding through, well, apparently some pedestrians think that the ambulance is going to stop and they proceed to walk across and almost get hit by it.
:rant::rant::rant::rant:

 

I can see both sides of the argument here.

In the 6 weeks I've had my car, I've noticed when pulling out of a parking space, or accelerating after a stop people jumping back in surprise because they did not hear/notice the car was on. Of course, i was not in danger of hitting them, it was just a natural response on their part, i think, of something moving toward them that they did not expect.

Then again, when driving in the city, I often have to slam on the brakes as people nonchalantly amble/jaywalk across the street, purposely not looking in your direction because they know they are being complete jerks.

 

Do you mean these 8 pedestrians were killed by pu trucks or SUVs? Or were they killed by Prii?

I'm confused.

 

I guess they're hoping/assuming you're not looking at something else at the moment. Hey, have good insurance and don't worry about such individuals. . . :evil:

 

I'm confused too. First you say they should put some type of audible device on cars then you say you don't understand why some would want hybrids to make noise. Your kind of wacky.


I just read some of your other posts. I understand now.

 

He's pointing out the flaw in the "Bell the Hybrid" arguement. 8 people have been killed by Pick Up trucks and SUV's (and maybe some other vehicles). We can assume than none of these people were killed by a "non belled" hybrid.

Thus, he is saying that people/lawmakers should be more concerned with the problem at hand rather than finding a solution and then looking for a problem. As Bob Wilson's stats have shown, no blind people have been killed by a Prius in 2007(?), yet 6 blind people were killed by vehicles (non hybrids).

Where is the outcry about SUV's and Pick up trucks killing people (blind and sighted)? Why aren't our lawmakers debating bills requiring modification of these pedestrian killing machines of instant gooey death?

In the end, drivers need to pay attention to the road and pedestrians. Pedestrians need to pay attention to traffic and traffic lights. When everyone is doing this, the accidents and fatalities drop significantly.

 

I re-read his post and see nothing about "Bell the Hybrid" which I am aware of and have seen Bob's discussions here. And nothing about blind people.
Just pedestrians killed by SUV's and pickups which are the majority of vehicles in some areas. So what. What does that have to do with "Bell the hybrid". Maybe it does in his world but his post is so poorly written most people would never make the connection.

But I do like your:

Outcry of SUV's and Pickups "killing machines of instant gooey death".

Nice. Glad this is the internet.

 

Over the years in my area there have been a number of pedestrians stuck and killed by trains (both freight trains and light rail) which appear not to be suicides. Some of these cases occured despite the noise of both train and crossing bells (no, these were not deaf people, in fact one sad case was a couple teenagers walking and talking; they just weren't paying attention to their environment.)

 

I was driving home one day and I had the 'green' light, while a pedestrian was waiting to cross. Honestly I thought he was going to jump in front of me...because if he did I have no way of stopping right away. Some pedestrians are just to careless and daring. In the city, it can be a different story. Most people will jump right in front of a car to cross the street.

Keep your eyes on the road and anticipate dangerous situations. Drive safely.

 

I got startled by a hybrid Highlander Friday morning while walking to work. I was crossing a driveway into the underground parking, knowing it can be dangerous. All of a sudden, I heard the noise of tires crunching on the street just behind me. Didn't hear an engine, but I definitely heard the vehicle. They were watching where they were going, and were accordingly not close to hitting me. But I was startled.

As I thought about it, I thought, and there you have the heart of the matter: Pedestrians, whether sighted or not, need to be careful when in the vicinity of autos and trucks. The drivers of autos and trucks need to be careful when in the vicinity of pedestrians. The hybrid could be heard if you're listening, and the hybrid driver can avoid hitting pedestrians if they try.

If we are concerned that hybrid drivers are going to have problems keeping up their end of this "bargain," maybe we should "bell" the sight-challenged. A white cane might work just fine in past years, but I have trouble noticing them just walking down the sidewalk... there are just too many people, cars, trucks, SUVs, etc to spot that white cane very easily. No, don't have them make noise, but if we're going to do this, give us the receiving end of the signal. Have the blind person's cane transmit a signal that causes a flashing warning light or a not-too-awful noise in all vehicles. It's not perfect, but it makes as much sense as making hybrids (and they aren't picking on EVs for some reason) make unnecessary noise pollution all the time.

 

I hate to be the one to break it to you... but if all you are doing is slowing to 45 MPH as you approach an intersection it is just a matter of time before you kill someone and get sued and have to pay pay out huge sums of money. Slowing to 45 MPH is just reckless driving.
I was a cop for 25 years which including being a supervisor (sgt.) and commander. Cops are taught to slow to 25 MPH when they are running intersections with everything going. Yeah some do not do it and they are taking a huge risk. My point being, they are in a police car that typically handles pretty well and get lucky an awful lot.
You are driving a giant bread box down the street that weighs about 4 tons-if someone steps in front of you, they are dead. You are not going to be able to swerve and control the ambulance to avoid an accident. And before you jump up and down, as a cop I have driven an ambulance code 3 many times at the scene of stuff so bad that the ambulance driver was in the back with their partner trying to save a life and they grabbed the first cop they saw and asked us to drive to the hospital for them. So I understand the handling characteristics of those rolling bread boxes. Slow down and get to the scene to do some good without causing additional accidents. JMHO.

 

Did a quick Google search of Lorena, TX pedestrians killed in the last 30 days. Hmmmm. Couldn't find but one . . . and even that one was back in may ... 3 months ago. Perhaps you could provide a link? Sure hope my inquiry isn't construed as flaming. Wouldn't want to be disrespectful of those who died.

 

I'm not sure it's quite fair to fault the OP for not spelling out "Bell the Hybrid" or "blind people" when posting on PriusChat ... I mean, after all, humor and satire often rely on current events in the hope that engaged readers will make the connection. And "Bell the Hybrid" is kind of a current event, when your audience is PriusChat. Doesn't mean every reader will pick up on it right away, but that's just the nature of the beast. (I don't watch a lot of tv so it happens to me all the time with pop culture references that everybody else gets but me.)

Perhaps we need a Bell the Humor/Satire Act.

-Chap :gdr:

 

Maybe there should be an after market gadget.. like a horn but a lot quieter.
A "vroom" button.. that plays a little engine "vroom, vroom" so you can alert pedestrians in parking lots and such areas without using the horn and scaring the bejeesus out of them!

I was in a parking lot on the weekend.. a couple were dawdling along on on of the lanes in the lot.. I was behind them - stealthing along - I slowed right down.. wound down the window and did the classic "cough cough" to get their attention.. "Oh sorry, we didn't hear you" was the reply. I stopped and we had a chat about the Prius.. I think I converted them!

I can see it now.. all the Prii... coughing along... lol

 

As unfortunate as this series of events (if true) are, the vast majority of pedestrian accidents are caused by the stupidity and reckless nature of either the pedestrian or the driver of the vehicle. There are laws for the reckless. Unfortunatelely, nothing can be done about stupidity.

We have them in my area also. Trailer park on one side of the highway, convenience store on the other. Two fatalities within three months. Both of these individuals could have used the sidewalk (adding an extra 1/2 mile to their journey). Instead they chose the direct approach.

 

Trains are too quiet too!

Sauk Rapids man survives being run over by train

 

Lack of attention to environment will only increase over time, I think.

Previous generation was raised in front of the television, all of their attention focused on it.

This generation has all of their attention on their cell phones (talk and text) and MP3 player headphones.

Even inside the car, we're being trained to pay attention to the GPS and the MFD. Oh, not deliberate training, but .. it's there, and it has a screen, so I'm supposed to look at it, right?

But a pair of teenagers might be totally occupied with each other in any age.

 

I'm sorry but I immediately went warped when I first read the OP and my mind thought to having a loud audible device on the pickups or SUV's that said "Woo Hoo, 3 points" or "Yee Haw, 6 points" when they hit someone.

The big problem is with cell phones and mp3 players, people are just not paying attention. Overall people just not taking responsibility for themselves.

GT