Who's responsible? (R.I.P. little girl.)
A tragedy occured last week here in the peaceful town of Wolfenbuettel. An 11 year old girl was killed in an intersection when she was litterally run over by a semi. Apparantly, the intersection where the accident took place is well known for being dangerous. The intersection consists of a two lane street that crosses another main two lane street. All incoming lanes have turning lanes.
The southbound truck driver was making a right hand turn, heading westward. The incident occured when the light turned green for both the semi and the persons wanting to cross the street. The driver failed to see the girl and her friend(s) as he rounded the corner. Now the intersection is well known for:
There has been much discussion over the accident. As usual, they are attempting to determine who is at fault. Some say the driver is at fault, some say the girl. Here's where I have a problem. I say society is at fault.
If you have ever driven a car here in Germany, one of the first things you will notice is that even though the drivers over here pay in excess of 1500 euros for driving school, they drive how they want, virtually unregulated by the police. The second thing you will probably notice is that hardly any of the pedestrians bother looking when they cross the street. The crossing light turns green and they start walking/riding without looking. When I say "they" I mean everyone, young and old alike.
What kind of example does it set for the children when the parents and grandparents don't bother to look for oncoming traffic? As of last week, I think we know what kind of example.
At intersections all across Niedersachsen, you can see signs discouraging crossing the street when the light is red because it sets a bad example for the children. That's real nice. But... does it do a whole lot of good when the light turns green and there are still cars coming?
The preception of the little green man protecting me as I cross the street is one of the most irritating (and deadly) things that I have ever seen. It's a good thing that children are taught to cross when the light is green, however that is only half of the story, and in this case, 50% informed is 100% dead.
..Symple
The southbound truck driver was making a right hand turn, heading westward. The incident occured when the light turned green for both the semi and the persons wanting to cross the street. The driver failed to see the girl and her friend(s) as he rounded the corner. Now the intersection is well known for:
(flowers at the site of the accident)
There has been much discussion over the accident. As usual, they are attempting to determine who is at fault. Some say the driver is at fault, some say the girl. Here's where I have a problem. I say society is at fault.
If you have ever driven a car here in Germany, one of the first things you will notice is that even though the drivers over here pay in excess of 1500 euros for driving school, they drive how they want, virtually unregulated by the police. The second thing you will probably notice is that hardly any of the pedestrians bother looking when they cross the street. The crossing light turns green and they start walking/riding without looking. When I say "they" I mean everyone, young and old alike.
What kind of example does it set for the children when the parents and grandparents don't bother to look for oncoming traffic? As of last week, I think we know what kind of example.
At intersections all across Niedersachsen, you can see signs discouraging crossing the street when the light is red because it sets a bad example for the children. That's real nice. But... does it do a whole lot of good when the light turns green and there are still cars coming?
The preception of the little green man protecting me as I cross the street is one of the most irritating (and deadly) things that I have ever seen. It's a good thing that children are taught to cross when the light is green, however that is only half of the story, and in this case, 50% informed is 100% dead.
..Symple
posted by Symple at 1:45 PM
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