Women convicted of vehicular homicide for j-walking

[delsdad]

A woman in Georgia was actually convicted of vehicular homicide for J-walking with her toddler, which led to them being hit, and his unfortunate death.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/artic ... it-and-run

It is tragic that a child had to die due to his moms stupidity and carelessness. Whenever I see someone cross in the middle of the block with a child, I worry about both the potential for an accident at the time, and the lesson that the child is being taught. Lets hope that the jurys treatment of this woman causes a few parents to take the time to go to the corner and cross at the lights. This child did not need to die.

[darph nader]

Read this in the paper today. :(

[knitster]

How tragic :(

[DisneyMom]

Even the most careful parent will have an instance of their child encountering danger-believe me,it is enough to make your heart stop
I honestly think that people are depending on the "I'm a Pedestrian, THEY'LL be in trouble if they hit me" magic...

[GaTechGal]

You know, I think I kind of take pity on this woman (granted I don't know ALL the circumstances nor a lot about the location where she was). It was late and she was probably trying to get the kids home in bed. She is described as a good mother who blames herself for this tragedy and is unlikely to seek a new trial.

What has REALLY inflamed me about this article are the statements:
"An all-white jury convicted Nelson, who is black, of second degree vehicular homicide and other misdemeanor offenses."
and
"Most users of buses in Marietta, a largely white and conservative community north of Atlanta, are black and on low incomes, said Flocks."

What difference does it make as to the RACE of ANY of the participants in this case. It insinuates that the jury was prejudiced. And I've got news for these folks, Marietta is NOT largely white and conservative. It's VERY racially diverse.

[CptnSkippy]

I honestly think that people are depending on the "I'm a Pedestrian, THEY'LL be in trouble if they hit me" magic...

I know in Florida, pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, however I don't trust the other driver is going to look up from his text, movie or any number of other things they are doing instead of paying attention and I try to instill this in my kids. Working on a college campus, I see the "oh they'll stop for me so I'll walk out in the road without even looking" quite a bit.

My younger son has to be reminded constantly the rule of the road. Cars are bigger than you, therefore they have the right of way.

[knitster]

You know, I think I kind of take pity on this woman (granted I don't know ALL the circumstances nor a lot about the location where she was). It was late and she was probably trying to get the kids home in bed. She is described as a good mother who blames herself for this tragedy and is unlikely to seek a new trial.

What has REALLY inflamed me about this article are the statements:
"An all-white jury convicted Nelson, who is black, of second degree vehicular homicide and other misdemeanor offenses."
and
"Most users of buses in Marietta, a largely white and conservative community north of Atlanta, are black and on low incomes, said Flocks."

What difference does it make as to the RACE of ANY of the participants in this case. It insinuates that the jury was prejudiced. And I've got news for these folks, Marietta is NOT largely white and conservative. It's VERY racially diverse.

I totally agree with all of this

[Alyssa3467]

I was at an intersection in downtown Fullerton a while back, and when the light turned green for me, a bunch of punk teens decided to cross the street directly in front of me. They had the nerve to flip me off when I blasted the horn at them. :mad:

[WEDFan]

I guess the issue with jay walking was that the bus stop was in the middle of a block right across from where she lived. The nearest cross walk was 3/10 of a mile away, so she would have to take 3 young children over half a mile to get home.

Not making any judgement on right or wrong, I can just see where it is a tough choice, especially since I don't know how much traffic there usually is. I did read that the driver had admitted to drinking earlier in the day. I'm also not sure, but I thought that he didn't stop, all of which makes it interesting that she was facing a harsher penalty than the driver of the car that killed her son was. She may have been crossing illegally, but somehow I doubt that she and her 3 kids ran out in front of him.

Tragic all around.

[krnlmustrd]

I live in Marietta, GA where this occurred.

It is absurd to expect someone to walk an extra half a mile instead of just crossing the street. The city obviously put the bus stop across the street from her apartment complex so residents could use it. So why didn't they give them a means to access it safetly? There should have been a cross walk right there.

I am guilty of perhaps going to fast down these streets. They're hilly and curvy and spread out (not like busier cities with compact grid streets) and EVERYONE drives much too fast. Crossing in the middle of a street can definitely be hazardous. But this was just an inevitable, tragic accident all around (except for the driver who'd been drinking!). The mom should never have been charged. What happened to common sense?