photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook
April 19,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, An adult female sustained a non-life threatening knee injury after being struck by a motor vehicle at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Bellair Road in Ridgewood on Monday evening, 04/18. She was transported by a Ridgewood EMS ambulance to The Valley Hospital. Ridgewood PD reportedly issued a summons to the vehicle’s driver for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Considering how fast cars travel on Lincoln she is lucky to be alive.
When you consider the potential and actual consequences of failure to yield at a pedestrian crossing, it’s absurd that it’s only a 2-pointer, and that offenses with far less risk to life carry higher penalties.
when you consider that every match between pedestrian and motor vehicle results in a overwhelming victory for the motor vehicle, it’s absurd that pedestrians trust painted lines in the street to protect them from harm.
@4.:51pm: Using your logic, then it’s also absurd that drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, etc., trust a couple of light bulbs (traffic signals) to protect them from harm at intersections..
4:51
We have a winner! 4:51, you’re the first to blame the pedestrian in the crosswalk for being hit by one of the many distracted drivers in Ridgewood. Way to go! Driving is a privilege NOT a right. The sad part is, I bet you have kids… Until it’s your son or daughter that’s hit in a crosswalk, you’ll probably never realize how callous your post was.
The other sad thing about your post was you’re referring to this senseless incidents as a “match”, I’m assuming between the car and the pedestrian. To hell with the law (yield to pedestrians in crosswalks) and common sense… Consciously or unconciously you treat your car as some kind of weapon, that’s scary! Get a grip, slow down, look out for pedestrians and stop thinking that wherever you’re speeding to is worth more than someone’s life.
Was her face glued to her phone while she stepped out into the intersection?
That’s a common route to Van Dyk’s Ice Cream. There are no crosswalks at that blinker. You take your life in your hands.
A pedestrian intending to cross the street (and if at an intersection with a traffic light, to cross “with the light”) has the right of way only when they are physically “in” the crosswalk. So a wise pedestrian contending with briskly moving traffic should put their toes, and their toes only! in the crosswalk to claim the right of way and try get traffic to stop. Why risk anything more than one’s toes? If the traffic won’t yield, one shouldn’t bring a federal case about it by yelling at drivers or waving one’s arms. Just wait and let the oblivious offenders drive by.
@7.45pm: the answer is no.
that’s right everyone… why bother to take personal responsibility (for your life BTW) when it is so easy to cede responsibility to others?
You are correct, the law is on your side and I’m sure that will be of great comfort to your family when you are struck dead by a car.
Always remember.. you are responsible for you life… “defensive walking” is just as important (actually more important) than defensive driving. Take appropriate steps to protect yourself.