Sad news but

[The PIT]

http://www.sheffieldtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=58&ArticleID=1762134

Shouldn't a boy of that age be supervised so he doesn't suddenly ride out into the road.

Whats the betting that the driver is

1) Already banned.

2) Not Passed his test.

3) Has no Insurance.

4) Stole the van for a joyride.

[KRSESQ]

Sad news indeed. But children can't be supervised every second of their lives (and probably shouldn't, really). The best any parent can do is try to teach their children the danger of riding in the street and hope they remember and be careful. That having been said, I hope they catch this yob rapidly. In the US he would be charged with vehicular homicide and put away for a long time (God willing). Hopefully the British courts will be as tough.

Kevin

[Dr Mordrid]

In some states it could be considered murder 2; 25 years to life & little chance of parole.

[KvHagedorn]

Any of you could hit a boy who suddenly went into the road. You're driving along.. maybe only 15 or 20 mph.. he doesn't see you because he's talking to friends and absentmindedly forgets to look. You think he sees you. BANG! You're a murderer! I could see why the guy would take off.. probably scared shitless. It's terrible, terrible to see this happen, but I really would feel hard pressed to assess blame without being there. If the person is anywhere near normal, he knows what he did and will feel guilt the rest of his life for it.

I saw a woman in her car right in front of me hit a cat that ran into the road suddenly. It was a pretty horrible thing to witness.. the tire went over the cat's head and the poor thing kind of rolled over to the side of the road convulsing wildly. I also saw a friend of mine run into the street and hit a car when I was a kid - yeah he hit the car, which was going slowly because of our football game - the kid was deaf and did not see the car. Those people stopped, though. Not to stop is inexcusable, but I could understand why it happens. I would be terrified of going to prison over such an accident, personally. The reptilian part of your brain which is geared for survival says "flee!" So he fled.

I had an experience once which might make me act this way in the future. I used to have a paper route, and had to wrap and deliver about 400 papers every day. It had rained this morning (a Sunday), and the ancient machine (which the cheapskate owner of the paper would not replace) that was used to insert the sections into the paper was useless and would jam up on Sundays, so the papers were very late coming out. So I had to wait for the papers, then bag them all myself, and rush like mad to deliver them. Well, as you can see, it was not my fault that the last people on the route got their papers late, but everybody blamed me. Oh, yeah, it's all MY fault.. I was probably out drinking late Saturday.. that's why the Sunday paper is always late! I even had one family that hated me so much they had poisoned their kid against me and he would throw shit at my car. So I am used to getting all this heavy blame for crap that is not my fault at all, right? So guess what happens as I am on my way to deliver my last paper at about 9am on this rainy morning? A tan van that is about to pull out of the parking lot in front of me stops, so I think he sees me coming. I proceed, but at the last moment he pulls in front of me. I have two choices.. either slam into the back of him (remember, the person who hits someone from behind is ALWAYS at fault in the eyes of the law) or try to change lanes and go around him in the left lane. I do the latter, but my tires do not hold on the slick pavement and I go careening into a spin.. right in front of a full-sized pickup coming the other direction. Inside this full-sized pickup is a mother and her 10yo daughter ON THEIR WAY TO CHURCH. Of course they slam into my passenger side and total my car as the tan van drives blissfully away. The daughter hit her mouth on the dashboard of the truck and got her front teeth knocked out, while I just got a sore neck and some seatbelt bruises. At the hospital, I could hear her crying in the next room, and felt pretty horrible. No one else saw the tan van, so everyone blamed me. EVERYONE. I had done nothing wrong which I could have avoided, yet the whole world wanted my head on a platter.

So I know it doesn't matter what you do.. just what you get away with. If I had been driving a van and some kid just rode in front of me and got himself killed, and I knew from all this experience that it didn't matter that I could not avoid hitting him.. that some judge and jury and everyone else would blame me and throw me in prison.. I would have run too.

But again, I don't know the particulars.. just that:

The three boys on their bikes had been stationary at the side of the road chatting and had just set off again when the accident occurred.

So it sounds very familiar to me.

I'm saddened very deeply that the boy died, but I know that it's possible that the driver of the van could not reasonably avoid the accident and once it had occurred, knew he would be utterly vilified for it.

[cjolley]

...
I'm saddened very deeply that the boy died, but I know that it's possible that the driver of the van could not reasonably avoid the accident and once it had occurred, knew he would be utterly vilified for it.

Nothing about blame takes away the responsibility of an adult who is nearby for whatever reason to lend aid to an injured child.
At that point it doesn't matter whos fault it was.

[The PIT]

The problem is two fold. There is a need for Chldren to learn road safety. Quite a few drivers need to learn common sense as well. You need to tackle both sides but at the moment it's always the drivers fault.

The way I look at it is.

a) The child should have been supervised too young to be let out on a bike by himself. If you leave them at home alone solical services will be down on you like a ton bricks.

b) Roads are not playgrounds. Sadly do gooders think children should be able to play anywhere.

c) A vast education plan of all road users is needed this includes pedistrains as well.


Today the parents have closed the road demanding speed humps. They need to take on some responsibility themselves.

[Dr Mordrid]

Then there is my mother-in-laws street. It happens to be the straightest N/S subdivision street in town with the fewest stop signs. The speed limit is 25 mph, but 70% of traffic goes at least 10-15 over and is not local, making it a virtual racetrack

[The PIT]

This mornings news was all about under age drinking and drug use. I think they got the drug use figures a bit low but anyway.

One place where an estate had a problem with drunken noisy yobs and yobbettes tried a new approach rather than phoning the Police who wouldn't turn up.

Instead they picketted the beer off questioned the youngsters and parents who were buying them for the kids. End result the problem was solved.

The spokeswomen said a very dirty word. "It's up to the parents to take responsibilty for what the kids doing. It's not societies responsibility it's not anyone elses it's theres. An education of the nation is needed for that. Totally PC uncorrect but very true.

Now this seven year old wasn't supervised he should have been. Some responsibilty rests with the parent. It doesn't cease as soon as they kid walks out of the door. It's okay jumping up and down demanding spped humps but the child could still have run out infront of a car and still be dead.