Does Something Sound Wrong To You?

[CanadianLove]

I read this story and shook my head. Does there seem to be some warped underlying isse here, or is it just me?

If I have an eight year old child with me and I see a transport turning the corner I would get the child out of the way. I would be aware of my surroundings. I would not have my child within 6 ft of the curb unless we were ready to cross.

A truck turned the corner and the hind wheels jumped the curb. I am sure you have all seen this happen at least once in your life. A child was run over, with the parent right there. The driver was charged. Being very strick I could see charging the driver, but that parents behaviour should be looked at also.

To me it is like the junkies walking in front of a bus so they can get compensation.

Truck driver charged after boy struck near intersection

Updated: Thu Mar. 19 2009 15:23:23

ctvottawa.ca

An Ottawa truck driver has been charged after a transport truck jumped the sidewalk and struck an eight-year-old boy at the intersection of Bank Street and Heron Road.

Police say Joseph Paasila, 47, was making a right-hand turn onto Heron Road when the rear tires of his trailer jumped the curb and ran over the boy's left leg at about 10:15 a.m. Thursday.

Paramedics say the boy's mother was with him at the time of the incident.

Paramedics treated the boy for serious fractures to his upper and lower leg before transporting him to hospital.

Paasila has been charged with making an improper right turn under the Highway Traffic Act.

 

[L Gilbert]

I would think the parent would be going through enough grief. But that's just me.

 

[Twila]

One should expect to be safe from vehicle traffic WHILE on a sidewalk. One would also expect that ones child would be safe from vehicle traffic while on the same sidewalk.

 

[Ron in Regina]

I don't know Ottawa, so I don't know what background noise or
distractions The Mother & Child would have while waiting on the
sidewalk at the corner of Bank Street & Heron Road.

If the Mother & Child where on the sidewalk at the corner and
looking to the right in a noisy urban environment, neither one of
them may have even been aware of the Truck. For all we know
from the story, they may have been six feet or more back from
the corner.

I have personally witnessed some terrifically terrible right hand turns
by long wheel-base straight trucks that have taken out Yield and
Stop signs. From the story the truck involved was a tandem unit,
and the Driver just scr*wed up, is at fault, and should be charged.

 

[gerryh]

If I have an eight year old child with me and I see a transport turning the corner I would get the child out of the way. I would be aware of my surroundings. I would not have my child within 6 ft of the curb unless we were ready to cross.

Condsidering sidewalks are less than 3 ft. wide.....I'd like to know HOW you keep your child 6 feet from the curb.

 

[L Gilbert]

Some places have little grassy gaps between curbs and sidewalks.

 

[shadowshiv]

One should expect to be safe from vehicle traffic WHILE on a sidewalk. One would also expect that ones child would be safe from vehicle traffic while on the same sidewalk.

Exactly.

The driver in this case should be charged. It is just a lucky circumstance that the boy wasn't more seriously injured(or killed).

 

[gerryh]

Some places have little grassy gaps between curbs and sidewalks.

Keyword in your statement is "some".

 

[L Gilbert]

Yes, it is a key word. I have no idea what distance the woman and her child were from the curb. I didn't leap to the conclusion that they were right at the edge of the sidewalk, though, or that the sidewalk wasn't past a grassy gap.

 

[Nuggler]

Don't think Bank & Heron would be particularly peaceful, and it would not be difficult to not hear a truck.

As to the boulevard, maybe Said 1 would know.

I believe the sidewalks are wider in this location, but not having been there for quite a while, could be wrong.

Ain't plannin on goin any time soon.............yetch!! That manure smell emanating from parliament hill............Smell it all the way to the East End......several K's.

Truck drivers should know how to turn a corner without climbing the curb.

 

[Ron in Regina]

This is a tough design for tight right turns...

 

[TenPenny]

In theory, a truck driver is responsible for his vehicle, and should not have its wheels on the sidewalk.

I'm surprised that the mother and child were both unaware enough that this happened, but you certainly can't put the blame on her.

 

[shadowshiv]

In theory, a truck driver is responsible for his vehicle, and should not have its wheels on the sidewalk.

I'm surprised that the mother and child were both unaware enough that this happened, but you certainly can't put the blame on her.

When I was in Toronto a few years ago, I could not believe how insane it was downtown! There was so much noise that I could not differentiate one sound from another. That could be the case here as well.

 

[lone wolf]

I always HATED pulling loads on city streets. A wide right turn always seems to draw some impatient little car into the void ... and tighter turns risk poles and people.

 

[L Gilbert]

lol The wheels on the back end of a trailer left tracks on the squashed hood of a friend's new Porsche 914 when he did not stop behind the stopline one time. I thought it was hilarious. "Oh look! Racing stripes."

 

[Twila]

I always HATED pulling loads on city streets. A wide right turn always seems to draw some impatient little car into the void ... and tighter turns risk poles and people.

Aren't there laws that dictate what type of vehicles are allowed (due to accessibility and safety) on city streets? And aren't streets, roads, avenues built to codes for such things?

And if not, maybe all these things should be taken into account.

 

[L Gilbert]

Yes, there are regs. There are also signs that mention height limits, width limits, etc.

 

[Outta here]

I was recently run up onto a side walk in a dual turning lane - I had the outside lane and the person in the lane beside me couldn't stay in their own lane - my options were to let the other car hit me or jump the curb. I suppose if someone was actually on the sidewalk, I'd have had to let the car hit me, but that probably would have sent my little cavalier up onto the sidewalk anyway. Some times I think It's amazing any of us ever arrive anywhere in one piece.

On a side note, I've heard a ton of comments about how bad Edmonton drivers are, and I've always refuted them. Recently, I've changed my tune. I don't know if it's everywhere, but it sure seems like the drivers here are getting worse than bad - they're terrible - and downright mean too!

The worst of the worst is this insane reluctance to let someone into a lane when they're trying to change lanes. I swear it's like some secret society out there is determined to retrain everyone on the road NOT to use their signal lights. If I put my signal on and attempt to change lanes, odds are the driver that's behind me in that lane is going to speed up and box me into the lane I'm trying to get out of... and what I want to know is WHY?!?! they do that? Is it somehow an affront to them that someone needs to enter the same lane they're in? Sometimes several vehicles in a row will do it - staring straight ahead and pretending they don't see you frantically trying to change lanes so you don't miss your turn off ......So the trick seems to be that you're supposed to NOT signal, and just make an apparently random swerve into a lane whenever it suits you... at least that's what I see happening all around me. It's friggin' nuts.

Don't people know that a signal light is not a request for permission to enter a lane? It's stating an intention to change lanes, and the onus is on the other drivers to allow that driver into the lane safely.

Way back when I was taking my defensive driving lessons, my instructor told me to assume every single other driver, cyclist AND pedestrian was either drunk, stupid, or both. It seems that is the safest assumption to take on the road with you.

Sorry Twila, I totally hijacked your thread - your OP made me think of how easily I could have hit someone if they were on the sidewalk when I was edged out of my lane - and that got me sidetracked on a total rant....but I'm done now.

 

[gerryh]

I was recently run up onto a side walk in a dual turning lane - I had the outside lane and the person in the lane beside me couldn't stay in their own lane - my options were to let the other car hit me or jump the curb. I suppose if someone was actually on the sidewalk, I'd have had to let the car hit me, but that probably would have sent my little cavalier up onto the sidewalk anyway. Some times I think It's amazing any of us ever arrive anywhere in one piece.

A good defensive driving tactic for double lane turns is to try and ensure that you are not beside anyone when making your turn...stagger.

 

[earth_as_one]

I know the intersection. Its busy and lots of truck traffic. No I would not expect the parent to anticipate the truck jumping the curb. I'm not a truck driver, but I bet its hard for the driver to sense the back tires climbing the curb.

When I lived in Kenora, a truck jumped the curb at 2nd and main killing a guy in a wheel chair. The driver never knew he'd been in an accident until pulled over by the police 30 minutes later.

This was an accident, but the driver should be charged.