[Njagdu] [Fwd: [nagdu] vehicular homicide]

[Tracy Carcione]

On the Nagdu list, we have been discussing the latest blind person killed
by a careless driver, who will probably not be charged with anything. 
Well, that's my guess.
One of the list members suggested having Nagdu members talk to drivers' Ed
classes about pedestrians, and especially blind pedestrians.  There are
laws to protect us, but most people are unaware of them.  Many drivers
seem completely unaware of pedestrians at all.
I'd like to work on something like this, though I'm not sure where to
start.  Is anyone else interested?
Tracy

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [nagdu] vehicular homicide
From:    "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com>
Date:    Fri, August 26, 2011 11:52 am
To:      "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

In August 2009 my mother was killed when a car swerved left of center and
hit her car. The driver said he'd fallen asleep momentarily after working a
night shift. This happened at 1:00pm on a bright sunny day.

He was charged with several things but vehicular homicide was the charge for
my mother's death. Reckless operation was another charge as was failure to
provide insurance coverage.

One might say it was purely an accident as he didn't intend to kill anyone.

He has served his time in prison and is without his license for the next 6
years with a permanent ban if he violates parole.

I say all this to note that blind, sighted, or even canine, the penalties
for striking and killing someone with a vehicle are much less than you may
think. We were shocked at the 6 month jail term with 2 year probation and
license restrictions. He can't even drive to work.

I do feel for the drivers here but again, it's their responsibility to look
out for pedestrians and drive accordingly. Same thing with assured clear
distance for the second driver. That's why such a law exists btw, to give
you time to stop or swerve. Hello?

I live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks and some curving roads. I take
every precaution to assure that my dog and I are visible both during the day
and in low lighting and I mind which side of the street I walk on at the
curves to be most visible. I expect drivers in the area to do their part as
well. We are lucky to have local police for our village versus the city of
Columbus police with far fewer patrols, but that won't help me if someone
swerves just that tiny bit.

Maybe a good initiative for NAGDU would be to start speaking to local
Driver's Ed classes about how blind people travel and what the pedestrian
laws are for your state and local areas. I believe one of the GDUI chapters
did this, maybe in Maine, and ended up getting 1 or 2 questions about what
to do when encountering a blind pedestrian on their state driver's test.

Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com




_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/carcione%40access.net