I scared myself shitless yesterday. I was driving along 54th Avenue and about to turn onto Oak. It was a green light and I pulled to the middle of the intersection and prepared to make a left turn. There were no cars, but I hesitated because there were two East Indian girls, about 4 or 5 years old standing on the curb. I waited a few seconds and they didn't move because it looked like they were waiting for their mom who was about 1/4 of a block back. I hesitated one more second just to make sure they weren't going to cross the street, and then I turned onto Oak.

They crossed the street.

I slammed on the breaks as fast and as hard as I could. They didn't just walk normally across the street. As soon as I started turning, the two girls ran as fast as they could, trying to get to the other side. The youngest girl trips on the ground 2 feet from me and hits the car. I screamed because I thought I had hit her, but my dad who was in the passenger seat said that it was alright, she only slipped on the ground.

OMG. I was so scared that I had killed a little girl or something. I looked up and the girl was running back to her mom, and the mom was cursing at me in a foreign language. She should spend the energy teaching her daughters to learn how to cross the street instead.

Now my question is, if something had happened, would it have been my fault? Probably right? Would I have gone to jail or something for murder? Damn, I'm still shaking from that.

 

Hell no it wouldn't have been your fault. Luckily no one was hurt, but that would have been her fault, or her mom's fault for not teaching her properly. In fact, if I were you, I'd probably start yelling back at the mom.

 

But isn't it my fault because I'm driving the car? I always thought that pedestrians are always 100% right and that the driver is always at fault b/c they are behind the wheel.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by babygrass
[B]But isn't it my fault because I'm driving the car?

 

bs rules the people make up. it's not your fault.

 

gotta love the great parenting.

 

It's all your fault. It's always the female driver's fault! J/K

 

Obviously you are an attentive driver because you were aware they were there and stopped in time. If you had hit them hard it would of meant that you weren't paying attention and it would of been your fault. We all take a lot of responsibility on when we drive. I was at a red light one time and across the intersection from me was a semi at that redlight when the light turned green I proceeded when I got across the intersection the semi was still sitting there when I got even with the back of it a baby carriage came right out in front of me a women was pushing the carriage in front of her w/o looking to see what was coming fortunately I stopped in time and of course she had to yell at me but I lit right back into her! Some people just don't think at times!

 

BG.. it would not have been your fault .....period!! The driver isn't always in the wrong. Sorry if this sounds flippant, but a child running in front of you with no warning is no different to a dog or deer running into your path without warning. As usual the parent who was bad-mouthing you is the person at fault here for not paying proper attention to kids of that age.

Pedestrians have the same reponsibilities in crossing the street with proper care as you do in driving along it. That's why the offence of jaywalking exists.

The only time a pedestrian has absolute precedence is on a pedestrian crossing. No matter how stupidly they step or run onto the crossing in front of you without warning they have right of way. I'm talking about a crossing without traffic light control obviously.

 

BG, good job on getting the car stopped quickly. The fact that you were alert and watching what was going on saved the little girls life and kept you from living your life wondering if you could have done something more. It's a hard lesson that many don't learn until it's too late. You had your first major driving lesson and you passed. Please, never forget how quickly and easily things can go wrong when you're behind the wheel or distracting the guy behind the wheel.

Again, GOOD JOB!