[Nfbc-info] NFB - Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety(CAPS)

Fri Nov 21 21:49:59 UTC 2008

Hey Brian,
Just an FYI:  I found the following story in the Palo Alto eNews letter if
you want to add it to the materials---

Pedestrian hit by a Prius in downtown Palo Alto  

Photo

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d=6301&section_id=1');> 

Share:
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Palo Alto paramedics treated an injured woman after she was hit by a Toyota
Prius around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in downtown Palo Alto. The accident
occurred on Ramona Street at Forest Avenue, in front of the police station.

The unidentified woman was transported to Stanford Hospital for treatment -
there was no immediate word on her condition or identity.

-- Palo Alto Weekly staff

________________________________

Comments 

Posted by Greg K, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Nov 12,
2008 at 9:53 pm

What street was this on?

Was the car driver arrested?

Was the pedestrian in a crosswalk or on the sidewalk?

An article with no details is pretty worthless.

________________________________

Posted by chill, a resident of Stanford, on Nov 12, 2008 at 10:20 pm

greg k, 

i'm sure that the staff at the palo alto weekly works hard to supply us with
news-breaking stories as soon as possible. whether or not the police have
fully released the information surrounding the incident, the paper still
provides us with as much info as they can. it is not worthless, i'm sure
reporters are trying hard to give us more facts...
so chill. 

________________________________

Posted by Walker, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Nov 12,
2008 at 10:33 pm

I bet she didn't hear it.

I hope she will be all right.

________________________________

Posted by Harry, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Nov 12,
2008 at 10:57 pm

I saw her crossing the street while wearing a ipod. I yelled "watch out
[portion removed by Palo Alto Online]" and just then - she was hit.

________________________________

Posted by Ban Cell Walks, a resident of the Green Acres neighborhood, on Nov
13, 2008 at 5:00 am

cell phones use should be banned while walking.

________________________________

Posted by Walker_1, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Nov 13,
2008 at 7:24 am

Pedestrians beware - bicycles and the The Pious always have the right of
way!

________________________________

Posted by Unwarranted, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov
13, 2008 at 7:47 am

There isn't enough information about this accident to justify these
prejudiced comments. 

Let's hope she's OK and wait for verified facts before jumping to
conclusions.

________________________________

Posted by Senior, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 13,
2008 at 8:12 am

I've almost walked into a Prius, they are so quiet. Why doesn't Toyota give
the engine just a bit of noise so you can hear them coming. I guess it's a
case of look left, look right and look left again and again and again!!

________________________________

Posted by JustMe, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on
Nov 13, 2008 at 8:52 am

Priuses are quiet because when they first start moving the engine may not
even be running. They run on batteries and electric motors, and their noise
is drowned out by the sound of tires rolling, they are so quiet. When the
battery level drops a bit, THEN the gas motor kicks in to recharge them. But
that may not happen for a while. 

I see we are all getting great exercise here in jumping to conclusions, what
say we wait for more info before becoming judgemental?

________________________________

Posted by Bill, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Nov
13, 2008 at 9:00 am

I think in order to protect the citizens of Palo Alto, the council should
look into banning the Toyota Prius from our fair city. They are accidents
waiting to happen!

________________________________

Posted by Greg K, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Nov 13,
2008 at 9:14 am

Comments like what you see here are why it is important to provide details
in these articles. The newspaper surely knows where the crash occurred if
they are publishing a photo of the scene. Was this a corner?
Was the car turning or going straight?

Yes, Priuses are quiet, but many of these crashes occur when the pedestrian
is in a crosswalk and the car runs a red light (possibly to make a right
turn). In that case, the pedestrian doesn't have much chance to avoid the
car.

________________________________

Posted by Donald, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Nov
13, 2008 at 9:27 am

Well, if the Prius driver is found to be at fault, I think the driver should
be *CHARGED* with assault with a *BATTERY*.

________________________________

Posted by JustMe, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on
Nov 13, 2008 at 10:14 am

Question:

Why was the fact that the car was a Prius important enough to feature in the
headline? Why does the headline not just state that a pedestrian was hit and
the fact that it was a Prius buried in the story, like they usually do? I
see nothing special in the fact that it was a Prius, and the article offers
no justification for the headline.

I chalk this up to poor reporting.

________________________________

Posted by Mike, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Nov 13,
2008 at 10:22 am

I see WAY too many people walking against the lights in Palo Alto while
wearing iPods or talking on the phone. Pedestrians don't ALWAYS have the
right of way.

________________________________

Posted by A reader, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 13,
2008 at 10:31 am

In reading the article, it clearly states that "The accident occurred on
Ramona Street at Forest Avenue, in front of the police station." 

________________________________

Posted by former resident, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on
Nov 13, 2008 at 10:41 am

I am 53 and was almost hit by a Prius in front of the downtown post office
two months ago. My fault--I stepped off the curb in the crosswalk and then
jumped back--I had looked but was also expecting to hear. The car was
silent. The cars are great, but pedestrians will have to use extra caution. 

----------------------

Shannon Elder

Program Coordinator

1741 Broadway, First Floor

Redwood City, CA  94063

tel: 650-482-2871

fax: 650.368.4475

shannon at friendsforyouth.org

www. friendsforyouth.org

31 boys and 15 girls are waiting for a mentor.  Could 1 be waiting for you?

Please excuse me if I do not respond to your e-mail immediately, as I have
many appointments away from the office.  Your message is important to me,
and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  Thank you for
understanding!  

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-----Original Message-----
From: nfbc-info-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbc-info-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Bryan Bashin
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 9:12 AM
To: NFBC Info at NFBNet
Subject: [Nfbc-info] NFB - Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian
Safety(CAPS)

Hi folks,

There has been a lot of interest in where members can find resources about
the silent car problem in order to get their members of Congress to sign
onto our bill, HR 5734.

Below please find a link to the special web page the NFB Silent Cars
committee has established.  The page has many dozen articles, videos and
radio interviews about the problem, really a teriffic source of background
information for any legislator.  You can play some of the radio pieces right
in a member's office, or cut and paste some appropriate articles into an
email when you're seeking an appointment.  Many of the links of this
national page are from California media, which would be most impressive to a
California representative.

Remember, folks, we have just 10 of California's 53 members of Congress
signed up so far.  Please in the next few weeks see if we can help push the
total number of co-sponsors of HR 5734 to 100 nationally.  We can really
make a difference on this issue in the upcoming legislative session.

Best,

Bryan Bashin
.nfb.org/
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Internal Virus Database is out of date.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.9.4/1792 - Release Date: 11/16/2008
10:04 AM