quote: Police said that the driver of the car was distracted, and her son sitting in the back seat alerted her.
"She didn't see the bus stopping," Detective Lou Chatel said. "He called out to her, and he yelled out to her that the bus was stopping. Mom swerved to avoid hitting the bus, and what she did was go off the road and struck those girls."
quote: "Nothing scares you more than seeing your child flying off through the air off the roof of a car," she said.
quote: The children on the bus were unhurt, as were the driver of the car and her son. Police said that the driver will not be charged, and they said they the accident was caused by driver inattention.
(bold mine) This woman was not paying attention to her driving. She was behind a bus that she knew would possibly be picking up children. In my opinion, if she was distracted enough to almost rear-end a bus she was either going way to fast and/or was way to close.
I know that I would be greatly disappointed in a police officer that didn't charge her for being so negligent in her driving that she hit 2 children.
Makes me think that if the kids had died she still would have gotten away with it.
posted
Yeah, I agree that she should be charged. "Driver inattention" shouldn't mean you get away with it. What if I'm holding a gun, not paying attention, and fire it into a group of people? Should I be absolved of responsibility because I was distracted? I mean, an "oopsie" might make it not a criminal act, but there should still be accountability of some kind.
-------------------- They just don't make crazed, beserk robots like they used to. --Sheen Estevez, Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
If I manage to post something swipe-worthy that you would like to make your sig, you may do so with my blessing. Posts: 2486 | From: East Stroudsburg, PA | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
They can still sue in civil court for damages. Just because there's no criminal charges doesn't mean the driver will be getting away with it.
Posts: 439 | From: Redondo Beach, CA | Registered: Sep 2005
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Wow! I can't believe she's not being charged.
My parents' garbage man was killed last month by a driver who was fiddling with his heater and didn't see the massive garbage truck with the flashing lights stopped on a straight road. I don't know if he's being charged with anything. Our local paper only archives on the website for 14 days.
-------------------- "Is it ME? Am I a MAGNET for these idiots?"~Pearl Forrester MST3K Die-Hard Engineers, Big Red One my Dad's website "Must be a 'snopes' thing..." ~my entire family when I try to explain something. Posts: 4524 | From: South of Madison, Wisconsin | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I was also "distracted", in my case by a screaming toddler in my backseat, and ran into a bus. Not a school bus, a city bus, on the freeway.
I believe I was cited, but I can't recall for what at this point. In my instance though, no one was injured, although a woman riding the bus did try to claim whiplash. In any case, it was certainly my inattention that caused it, and I saw no point in denying my fault to the police.
-------------------- "He feeds the sparrows of the field, but He doesn't sit there and cram worms into their mouths." -- Mouse Posts: 396 | From: Pasadena, CA | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
I have to say, I misinterpreted the title of the thread in a way that it seemed to be suggesting that hitting your child with a car was an excellent way to stop them from suffering injuries.
"Oh no! My little Johnny wants to start playing ice hockey, my precious boy is going to be hurt! Whatever shall I do?"
"Worry no further Mrs Smith, scientific studies have shown that running over your little Johnny with the family car significantly reduces the chances of him being injured!"
"Oh, thank you voice-over man! I'll get the car warmed up right now!"
Yes... my brain works in weird ways.
-------------------- "victory thru self-deception" Posts: 2211 | From: Western Australia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by UrbanReindeer: I was also "distracted", in my case by a screaming toddler in my backseat, and ran into a bus. Not a school bus, a city bus, on the freeway.
I believe I was cited, but I can't recall for what at this point. In my instance though, no one was injured, although a woman riding the bus did try to claim whiplash. In any case, it was certainly my inattention that caused it, and I saw no point in denying my fault to the police.
I've been startled by one of my kids screaming suddenly or distracted by my kids hitting each other. I think you would be hard pressed to find a parent that hasn't. And I did go off the tar once when my daughter startled me with one of those screams.
I wish they had said what distracted her. It's one thing to be distracted by kids screaming. It's something altogether different if she was putting on makeup, reading, eating, talking on the phone, sewing, crocheting/knitting, etc. (all of which I have seen btw)
quote:Originally posted by tribrats: Salamander, you have it all wrong! Running over them doesn't help. You have to pick the car up and strike them with it!
So that's what I was doing wrong!
quote:Originally posted by Tacitus: Does dropping it on them count?
Good question, certainly being hit by a falling object counts as being "struck" but people usually go to the bother of mentioning the direction since getting whacked from somewhere on the Z axis is less usual that from either the X or Y axis.
Under the consideration that there was no mention of direction, I would have to tend towards a "no"... although still cautiously recognising that the direction of the strike may not influence the safety of the child.
-------------------- "victory thru self-deception" Posts: 2211 | From: Western Australia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by UrbanReindeer: I was also "distracted", in my case by a screaming toddler in my backseat, and ran into a bus. Not a school bus, a city bus, on the freeway.
I believe I was cited, but I can't recall for what at this point. In my instance though, no one was injured, although a woman riding the bus did try to claim whiplash. In any case, it was certainly my inattention that caused it, and I saw no point in denying my fault to the police.
I've been startled by one of my kids screaming suddenly or distracted by my kids hitting each other. I think you would be hard pressed to find a parent that hasn't. And I did go off the tar once when my daughter startled me with one of those screams.
I wish they had said what distracted her. It's one thing to be distracted by kids screaming. It's something altogether different if she was putting on makeup, reading, eating, talking on the phone, sewing, crocheting/knitting, etc. (all of which I have seen btw)
I agree, i can think of a few times, i've been distracted by a kids crying or screaming. However, i dont think this was the case here, as her son was old enough and aware enough to say something like "Hey mom! Watch out for that bus!"
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i'm a figment of my own imagination, sometimes i don't exist Posts: 1099 | From: Kitsap County, WA | Registered: Oct 2002
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posted
I asked my mother, since I lived with her at the time of that accident, if she could remember what I was cited for. She insists that in fact I was not cited for anything. She theorized that the fact that I'd totaled my car was sufficient punishment.
So never mind! I guess maybe they don't cite you for inattention.
-------------------- "He feeds the sparrows of the field, but He doesn't sit there and cram worms into their mouths." -- Mouse Posts: 396 | From: Pasadena, CA | Registered: Jan 2006
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quote:Originally posted by kmcm: I agree, i can think of a few times, i've been distracted by a kids crying or screaming. However, i dont think this was the case here, as her son was old enough and aware enough to say something like "Hey mom! Watch out for that bus!"
I don't know why this statement made me giggle, probably because it gave me a mental image of my 9-month-old. I can say with absolute certainty that if my child said "Hey mom! Watch out for that bus!" I would promptly wreck my car. But I can drive fine when she's crying and/or screaming.
Posts: 2115 | From: Texas | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by UrbanReindeer: I was also "distracted", in my case by a screaming toddler in my backseat, and ran into a bus. Not a school bus, a city bus, on the freeway.
I believe I was cited, but I can't recall for what at this point. In my instance though, no one was injured, although a woman riding the bus did try to claim whiplash. In any case, it was certainly my inattention that caused it, and I saw no point in denying my fault to the police.
I've been startled by one of my kids screaming suddenly or distracted by my kids hitting each other. I think you would be hard pressed to find a parent that hasn't. And I did go off the tar once when my daughter startled me with one of those screams.
I wish they had said what distracted her. It's one thing to be distracted by kids screaming. It's something altogether different if she was putting on makeup, reading, eating, talking on the phone, sewing, crocheting/knitting, etc. (all of which I have seen btw)
Distracted = distracted. One reason is not greater than the next. If you are driving a car, your job is to drive the car.... period. IF you believe that your children are in distress, put on your hazards and pull off the road.
If you T-bone me and kill me because your child was teething, I am no less dead than if you T-boned me because you were putting on make-up.
-------------------- "We take evil really seriously" Posts: 175 | From: Tokyo, Japan | Registered: Aug 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Wolf333: Originally posted by tribrats: Distracted = distracted. One reason is not greater than the next.
No, but some sources of distraction are unexpected and therefore not preventable.
quote:If you are driving a car, your job is to drive the car.... period. IF you believe that your children are in distress, put on your hazards and pull off the road.
Good advice. However, children sometimes scream unexpectedly, without giving any clue that they are in distress. Without, in fact, even being in distress: sometimes they just scream.
The best non-child analogy I can think of is being suddenly stung by a hornet. If you know you have a hornet in your car, obviously you should pull over and take care of the situation. But if the hornet stings you before you even see it, the best you can do is manage despite the distraction.
quote:If you T-bone me and kill me because your child was teething, I am no less dead than if you T-boned me because you were putting on make-up.
Of course, but in the US, intent is often considered in the way crimes, including homicide, are handled. Involuntary manslaughter and premeditated murder leave their victims equally dead, but the perpetrators of each crime will be treated very differently by the law.
It seems reasonable to me that a driver who chose to be distracted should be punished more severely than one who was unexpectedly distracted.
-------------------- How homophobic do you have to be to have penguin gaydar? - Lewis Black Posts: 8322 | From: Columbus, OH | Registered: Aug 2005
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I guess maybe they don't cite you for inattention.
