A woman and her daughter were hit by an 18 year old driving a BMW last Thursday in Calgary. The 6 year old daughter has died and mother is in critical condition.Crosswalks in this city are very dangerous. Both while driving and as a pedestrian I have witnessed many instances of drivers either not seeing, or not caring to stop at a crosswalk where pedestrians are waiting to cross, or have already begun crossing. I find many crosswalks are difficult to see, with signage or even the crossing itself blocked by parked vehicles. I also find myself getting tricked by pedestrians who are on the sidewalk at a crosswalk, so one assumes that they are preparing to cross - but they are not. Which of course, leads to the punishment of horn abuse (at the very least) from impatient drivers behind me for having stopped.
Crosswalks have to be made more visible. Roads already suffer from sign pollution and it gets more and more difficult to see important signs. Crosswalk signs in Calgary are white - this does not strike me as a wise colour to choose to represent an important safety announcement. If it's necessary to put lights at each one - so be it. But even the roads need better markings. A pair of thin white lines crossing the road is not enough. We need those big, wide ladder stripes across the road. Pedestrians also need to be taught to indicate their intentions like they do in Toronto. In Toronto, pedestrians indicate their intent to cross by holding their hand out in front of them like a railroad barrier. It doesn't sound like much, but it's very effective and quite noticeable.
I understand Calgary's initiative to fine people more money ($115) for not stopping at crosswalks, but without enforcement, the measure is mostly meaningless. But the question remains - what is going to happen to this 18 year old girl who hit the pair of pedestrians, killing one (so far). Does she deserve to go to jail? I think jail is a bit harsh - it was an accident after all and there's no telling yet what caused the girl not to see the mother and child as they were crossing. Was she on her cell phone? Was she distracted by something? I think the cause, once it's discovered, can be related to poor driving skills. But didn't this person pass a driver's test? So what's the problem?
Darlene and I were discussing this today and we agreed that people need to come to terms with the consequences of driving in a manner that puts others' lives at risk. It's difficult decision, but I think attitudes might change if the penalty were severe. I think anyone who drives in a manner leading to someone's (unintentional) death, they should lose their license for 10 years - maybe more. If they are caught driving without a license after such a suspension, they would go to jail for the duration of their suspension.
What do you think?
7 comments:
Hi there Karl, Gord here...
It was announced today that the young girl was "distracted" for a moment when the accident happened and was alarmed when her passenger - also 18 - yelled at her. But at the age of 18, driving a 500 series BMW, in the winter do you think that her parents were slightly to blame as well - assuming that the car was not hers?
Also, there are very harsh penalties in the UK for such accidents like this one. I believe that it’s a 2-5 year suspension of a license depending on the circumstances but that doesn’t stop anyone from getting behind the wheel!! One guy last year had his license suspended for 5 years due to a hit and run that killed 3 adults in a TESCO parking lot but he kept on driving defying the punishment. He was caught 4 times in a two year period until he was jailed for a DWI!!
Apparently by the sketchy details on the news, mommy and daddy have a bit of money so I think this may just fade away and the young girl will be doing 20 hours of community service. Damn I hope I am so very wrong!!!
The lost of driving privileges for a long period of time + a hefty fine should be the beginning. Before the license is given back, they should attend driver training and pass the test and also be restricted to drive only under certain conditions. I would also thigh in the purchase of a motor vehicle with the ownership of a valid driver license. On top of that, anyone loaning a vehicle to someone that does not have a valid license, should lose theirs, + jail time for aiding in a felony. That would go for drunk driving too.
I think that pedestrians in Calgary feel they are entitled to cross the street at so called marked cross walks without having to take any responsibility for there own safety. Many times I've seen people step out at a cross walk without even checking to see if the driver sees them. If there is more then one lane of traffic and the driver in the first lane stops, the pedestrian should NEVER assume that the car in the next lane will also stop.
Maybe there should be pedestrian school that all citizens must attend. Free pedestrian licenses could be handed out after passing a pedestrian safety knowledge test. If you got caught crossing at a cross walk without a license, you would get a hefty fine.
In this case, I think the driver should loose her license for at least one year and if see was talking on the phone she should loose it for five years. The kind of vehicle has no bearing on this debate.
Actually, I think the city should get rid of all the crosswalks that are not lit. People should walk to the nearest intersection to cross the street. Most people could use the extra exercise anyways.
Nancy
I'm not trying to say this is a "punishment enough" scenario, however I think that this girl is probably already suffering knowing that she killed a baby because she wasn't paying attention. I know most people would be scarred for life if they ended the life of one who had barely begun. Or the life of anyone for that matter. I would be surprised if this young girl could ever get into a car and drive again. When my sister got into her first accident, she wouldn't drive at all, and nobody died.
Great discussion.
What I wonder: is enough being dome to prevent these kinds of tragedies? Could anything have been done different to have prevented that girl from hitting the two people?
Pardon my spelling...........
It's odd that this subject came up, because just the other day I was thinking about my visit's to Calgary and I always found the cars screeching to a halt to insure someone could cross the street. My companions and I had the discussion that we'd never been in a more polite city, where the drivers stop. That was several years ago, has it really changed that much? All of my experiences took place downtown Calgary.
Here in Seattle, they ticket harshly for both jay-walking and turning into a cross walk that still has pedestrians. I think it has cut down alot on injuries.
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