Police Wrap - 17 August

astrojax said :

She’s 13. She should know better.

a bit presumptive, bubzie. 13 yr olds are not as cognitively developed as 18 yr olds, and as the police statement points out, kids can be unpredictable, and this knowledge should prompt drivers to adjust their driving habits…

while i agree that of course she should have used the underpass, or whatever pedestrian facilities there may be in the vicinty, it is a far too common problem that most drivers fail miserably the flexibility in driving habits; and fewer know, or practice, the 12 second rule embedded in motor cyclists who undertook the ‘stay upright’ classes – basically, apart from keeping two to three seconds behind the vehicle in front, you should also scan the roadway and surrounds about twelve seconds ahead for potential hazards: schools, parks, streets, urban areas, signs, crests, traffic, lights, aged-care facilities, hospitals, etc, etc… and be ready well ahead of time to react to untoward events.

sigh…

Not always possible to scan that far ahead as kids have a tendency to appear very suddenly from behind a parked car or just randomly run onto the road wearing black, against a black background in poor light.

I was involved in a minor pedestrian incident a few months ago, just past dusk, a teenager (15yo, black hoodie on, skateboard under arm, ipod in ears) decided to run across 4 lanes of relatively heavy traffic. He made it safely to the centre line and stopped before running across the other two lanes without so much as looking in that direction. The car beside me narrowly missed him and I spotted him at the last moment and just clipped him with the front quarter panel. If he had made it one step further he would have been under the bull bar and in a world of hurt. I came away with a broken indicator and cracked windscreen, the kid with stitches across his chin, busted ribs and a twisted knee.

While we waited for the ambulance and police (and the fire brigagde who turned up for the excitiment)the kid informed me that this was his second hit by a car in 6 months.

Police investigation ensued, I was cleared of any wrongdoing but had to fight the insurance agency over whether I should pay the excess.

I’m unclear as to why the underpass wasn’t used, My son and his friend use the underpass to get to school. On saying that, some of the drivers round Theodore need to slow down, we have people doing warp speeds in the streets all the time, kids wouldn’t stand a chance if they were hit, my kids are very road wise, but the amount of cars that have lost control and actually left the road, that’s what worries me. Kid’s aren’t even safe on paths anymore.

She’s 13. She should know better.

a bit presumptive, bubzie. 13 yr olds are not as cognitively developed as 18 yr olds, and as the police statement points out, kids can be unpredictable, and this knowledge should prompt drivers to adjust their driving habits…

while i agree that of course she should have used the underpass, or whatever pedestrian facilities there may be in the vicinty, it is a far too common problem that most drivers fail miserably the flexibility in driving habits; and fewer know, or practice, the 12 second rule embedded in motor cyclists who undertook the ‘stay upright’ classes – basically, apart from keeping two to three seconds behind the vehicle in front, you should also scan the roadway and surrounds about twelve seconds ahead for potential hazards: schools, parks, streets, urban areas, signs, crests, traffic, lights, aged-care facilities, hospitals, etc, etc… and be ready well ahead of time to react to untoward events.

sigh…

Not just kids – I see plenty of suit wearing adults randomly crossing Northbourne when there are traffic lights just a few metres away

As sad as it may be for the family, I have to agree with the police. I regularly see kids playing chicken with traffic and wonder how soon it will be till someone gets hit – and many times with an underpass no more than 50 meters away!

*sigh*

She’s 13. She should know better.

And there’s a perfectly fine underpass right underneath her, which she should of taken, and would of gotten to school perfectly fine.

*grumble grumble grumble*

(In my defence, im 18, live a couple of streets away from there, and for that matter, used to have to use that underpass last year to get home from school! FAIL!)