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by borski 10 days ago
The pedestrian is not the one driving the weapon. It is your fault if you hit a pedestrian, even if they walk right off the curb, even if they’re drunk.

Unless they intentionally jump in front of your car in an attempt to commit suicide, it is always on you to ensure you can stop and respond to an emergency, and a pedestrian is such a thing, imho.
2 comments
laurencerowe 10 days ago
I think this is more a design problem with US road infrastructure. City streets are much wider than in other countries which encourages drivers to drive more quickly and allows them to pay less attention. We'd have far fewer pedestrian and cyclist fatalities if we didn't require streets to be so wide.
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borski 10 days ago
I agree.
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TylerE 10 days ago
No, if the pedestrian walks out in the known-dangerour street without so much as a glance, not a crosswalk, that is categorically not the cars fault. Idiots are gonna idiots. Just like all the cyclists that get hit around here for not obeying stop signs.

ALL users of the road are responsible for following the rules. Not being in a car isn't a "I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, whyever I want" pass.

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borski 10 days ago
If you walk around yielding a knife, and you accidentally walk into someone who wasn’t paying attention, it is definitely your fault.

If you drive a car and accidentally drive into someone who isn’t paying attention, that is also on you.

You are holding the bigger weapon. That means you have the higher requirement for safety, imho.

I track cars and race, fwiw, so it’s not like I don’t like cars.

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TylerE 9 days ago
When someone steps out 10ft in front of a car doing 30mph all the attentiveness and safety devices in the world won't make a difference. It's simple physics.
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borski 9 days ago
I agree, of course. That is far from the most common scenario.

In the most common scenario, it is the driver’s fault.

Of course there are exceptions to everything.

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TylerE 9 days ago
It's happened 3 times so far this year in my town of <100k.
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borski 9 days ago
Out of how many pedestrian-vehicle collisions?

Anyway, I am not saying it never happens.

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