I Almost Killed A Child

[JaX NeMo]

Well, i didn't stuck the child though. I swerve pass him and stopped. And he walk right smacked into my side mirror. So, in other words, he banged into my car.

Driving slow is a problem for me, and I think a problem for a lot of people. But I do drive slow where I would be expecting people to be jumping out from nowhere.

 

[jonnythan]

Just be happy that no one was more seriously injured and go on with your day..

 

[CBulla]

This seems to be an epidemic. To set the scene, in the State of Florida a pedestrian has the right of way in a crosswalk, unless the crosswalk is at an intersection where the pedestrian must obey the traffic control device (http://www.dot.state.fl.us/Safety/ped_bike/laws/ped_bike_pedLaws.htm).

I believe folks haven't read this in some time. Rarely do I see even the pedestrian laws being observed by those on Sneaker Express, much less BASIC traffic laws (right of way, speed, simple lane changes, etc.) under any of the possible FL driving conditions.

It's sometimes compounded for me since my Jeep Wrangler isn't exactly stock (6" Long Arm Skyjacker lift kit with 35" AT's) and while it hasn't effected the operability of the vehicle much, I know for a fact that if I hit some twit who steps off a sidewalk or makes a turn without looking or STOPS without warning (real close a few times), the reciever is going to NOT walk away without serious ache.

I can only imagine what its like in some other countries where driving laws are different than what we deal with here. A former employer of mine traveled to India to work on setting up the new employee's that were eliminating my coworkers positions (5 from India for the price of 1 US employee, such a deal! To bad its not working out) and he told me of the horrors... Enterprise wouldn't even rent to folks from the US without a hired driver since there is basically anarchy on the streets. In the 4 weeks he was there he watched a guy on a motorcycle get crushed by a truck, numerous pedestrians get knocked down like bowling pins, so many collisions and side swipes he lost count... pictures and video were taken to back up much of this.

I don't know what its like in Malaysia, but if its anything like that your lucky your still alive... for that matter, if its anything like here its no wonder any of us are!

 

[CBulla]

Driving slow is a problem for me, and I think a problem for a lot of people. But I do drive slow where I would be expecting people to be jumping out from nowhere.

Drive my ride, speed is a non issue.. not that you can't attain it, but visions of doing my best Bigfoot or GraveDigger impression come to mind. Not to mention, it ain't built for speed.. its built for sand & trails.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/15838/cat/500/page/2

its on the left... Dive4Fun's is on the right.

 

[simbrooks]

Sometimes drivers drive too fast, without care or without concentrating, same can be said for the pedestrians who just walk out in the road rather than stopping and waiting, looking, listening etc.

Sometimes you just get hit and you arent even off the sidewalk - around 1999 i think it was, i was walking up to a road to cross, i was stood with the line of bricks that edges the sidewalk just in front of my toes - ie i was reasonable far onto the sidewalk, looked one way, then as i turned to check the other i saw about a split-second of a truck's wing mirror a few inches away from my face headed directly for it, i estimate it was doing 40+ in a 30mph zone and was way too close to the edge of the road. I turned and moved backwards as quick as my reactions would let me and just caught a glancing blow to the chin, teeth and nose. This truck was about the size of the largest uhaul truck, just one step down from a semi and the bottom of the wingmirror is about my chin height when standing on a sidewalk. I quickly checked for bleeding and lost teeth, i kind of lost feeling there for a short time, nothing missing or too busted up - i was lucky, the truck was long gone by the time i pulled myself back together. By the way dont get in a fight with me, i have taken several to the face and have never gone down

I also nearly ripped right through a car when they pulled out in front of me off a side street about 30ft ahead of me while i was doing the speed limit of 60mph, not fun, i think my heart skipped several beats as i went on the other side of the road (thankfully clear of traffic at the time) - but some people really are blind and stupid. I would have been a passenger in that guys car or a siamese twin in a second or so if i hadnt have avoided him.

 

[JaX NeMo]

In Malaysia, those kind of things doesn't happen. Except that some of the road system here are very crappy. Imagine you have a u-turn on the right hand side (fast lane) of a highway that goes 90kph up ahead about 1-2km and you will most likely bang into an old junk 1-2km away driving on that FASTEST lane at 60kph spraying black smoke from the exhaust.

And you can have extremely straight roads that doesn't allow you go more than 60kph.

Or motorcycle (not superbike) that hogs the whole road going slow and spraying white smoke plus, no helmet.

However, over here, the king of the road bully are usually motorcycle. These people are inferior and likes to pick fight with you most of the time.

 

[ShakaZulu]

It's even better in California, where pedestrians have the right of way. Then they go to visit other countries or even neighboring states where they then get run over cause they just walked without looking. There are crackheads out there driving and a vehicle can cause way more damage than your leg, so the pedastrians should look around every now and then. Stay off the road, it's there for the cars. Got to love natural selection.......

 

[Jafo123]

It's the no fear thing. I see more and more people these days that just aren't afraid of anything no matter the outcome.

 

[KidK9]

The sky is falling, we're all gonna die. Pessimism is a *****.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Well, i didn't stuck the child though. I swerve pass him and stopped. And he walk right smacked into my side mirror. So, in other words, he banged into my car.

I had a deer run into the side of my car once. He was more concerned with where the female he was pursuing was going that he was with where he was going. She darted in front of my hard braking but not quite stopped car and he ran right into the drivers side door, looked at me in a bit of a daze and then ran off again. He did a bit over $700 in damage.