|
|
|
|
#1
06-19-2007, 02:02 AM
|
|||
|
|||
i almost hit a pedestrian today
i was driving through a smallish town today on a fairly wide road in a residential area. in between towns the speed limit on this road was relatively high (maybe 40?), and lower in towns.
i notice that two people have stepped off the side of the road, obviously waiting to cross. they're right behind a parked car, so i can only see them from about the shoulders up. it's obvious they're not going to cross, but as i drive closer a little kid, probably two or three years old, dashes out in front of my car. this kid was very close to my car when he ran out. i slammed on the brakes and on the horn and the kid made it past me to the other side of the side of the road. my car didn't come to a stop until my front bumper was ~10 feet in front of the kid's path, so if he crossed the road a little slower i would have hit him. i would have been going slowly so he probably would have been ok, but there could've been a chance he got caught beneath the wheels or something. (in retrospect, hitting the horn probably didn't help anything, but it was a pretty automatic reflex). if i hadn't seen him immediately - which i probably wouldn't have if i hadn't noticed his parents standing by the side of the road - i'm pretty sure i would have hit him and killed him. if i had hit him, my life would have been pretty [censored]. i generally drive more slowly than most people in residential areas, but i honestly don't know how fast i was driving or what the speed limit was. it's possible i could've faced criminal prosecution, and it might have come down to the word of me and gf against the word of the parents about how fast i was going and what exactly happened. there were other people on the street but who knows what their recollection would have been. i wouldn't be surprised if there would have been a big lawsuit. and i would have felt incredibly guilty about it, absoluately crushed. anyway, i'm just thankful it turned out fine. i do kind of want to smack that kid's parents though. 
|
|
#2
06-19-2007, 02:07 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: i almost hit a pedestrian today
I've thought about situations like that in the past, as there are a few streets around where I live where it is really, really easy to speed without feeling like you are going too fast.
I'm glad for all involved that it just turned out to be a scare.
|
|
#3
06-19-2007, 02:19 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: i almost hit a pedestrian today
Did you stop or just keep driving?
|
|
#5
06-19-2007, 12:37 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: i almost hit a pedestrian today
[ QUOTE ]
Did you stop or just keep driving? [/ QUOTE ] i was stopped in the road where i stopped for maybe 5-10 seconds. then i pulled up a few hundred feet and pulled over so i could collect my [censored]. i thought for a second about whether i should go back and say something to the parents but i couldn't see what the point would be.
|
|
#6
06-19-2007, 06:38 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: i almost hit a pedestrian today
[ QUOTE ]
my car didn't come to a stop until my front bumper was ~10 feet in front of the kid's path, so if he crossed the road a little slower i would have hit him. [/ QUOTE ] ? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] ? if you stopped in front of his path, how would you have hit him?
|
|
#7
06-19-2007, 10:31 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: i almost hit a pedestrian today
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] my car didn't come to a stop until my front bumper was ~10 feet in front of the kid's path, so if he crossed the road a little slower i would have hit him. [/ QUOTE ] ? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] ? if you stopped in front of his path, how would you have hit him? [/ QUOTE ] In relation to the car, I believe he means. { } <----stopped car ------ <-----kid's path [] [] <----car's path (moving up) [] [] The car passed the kid's path, so it stopped in front of the path. EDIT: My illustration sucks.
|
|
#8
06-19-2007, 10:39 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: i almost hit a pedestrian today
Obey the speed limits .... the cops would have measured your tire skid marks and would have been able to extrapolate your speed. If you were obeying the law = ok. if not = [censored]
glad it worked out ...
|
|
#9
06-19-2007, 12:47 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: i almost hit a pedestrian today
[ QUOTE ]
Obey the speed limits .... the cops would have measured your tire skid marks and would have been able to extrapolate your speed. If you were obeying the law = ok. if not = [censored] glad it worked out ... [/ QUOTE ] i believe i was following the speed limit, at least in the "32 in a 25" sense, but i can't be sure. also i took my foot off the gas for a second or two when i saw the parents at the curb so that probably slowed me down a little bit too. i might have hit the brake when i saw them also, but i'm not sure. one of the worst parts of all of it if i had hit the kid would be not knowing how fast i was driving (especially if it couldn't be determined from skidmarks). it could've made for some terrible courtroom decisions (lie and say i was definitely going no more than 20 vs tell the truth and say i don't really know). i know i wouldn't have said anything at all until i had a lawyer present, i've learned enough from law and order to know that. edit: someone mentioned booze. i was totally sober and i hadn't had a drop of alcohol all day.
|
|
#10
06-19-2007, 12:35 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: i almost hit a pedestrian today
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] my car didn't come to a stop until my front bumper was ~10 feet in front of the kid's path, so if he crossed the road a little slower i would have hit him. [/ QUOTE ] ? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] ? if you stopped in front of his path, how would you have hit him? [/ QUOTE ] In relation to the car, I believe he means. { } <----stopped car ------ <-----kid's path [] [] <----car's path (moving up) [] [] The car passed the kid's path, so it stopped in front of the path. EDIT: My illustration sucks. [/ QUOTE ] yeah, your illustration does kind of suck, but you're right. i was beyond the kid's path.
|
 |
|
|
Hybrid Mode
