Pedestrian caught in the middle

This is another traffic item that boils the blood. CNS reports: "Two motorists who may have been arguing while speeding were arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving in connection with the death of a pedestrian killed today in North Long Beach, police said. A woman in her 50s was struck about 7:15 a.m. in the 5400 block of Paramount Boulevard, said Jason Evans of the Long Beach Police Department."

Comments

[Cathy]

No mention of the man who was run down on Fountain in West Hollywood while he was standing next to his car door. The hit and run driver was driving a pickup truck and there was very grainy video of it.

If you posted a person with a camcorder on Fountain anytime of the day or night, you would see speeding, reckless driving, tailgating, and every other form of antisocial driver behavior. Interestingly, the police are there every weekend to patrol Sunset for cruising, but they haven't done anything to make Fountain safer.

[Cathy]

No comments. Nobody cares. Killing pedestrians is just part of the cost of doing business in LA.

Why don't you link 2 articles that appeared in your own paper about this? Road Kill by Gregg Easterbrook, http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-easterbrook5aug05,0,3475042.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary

and the one buried in the LA wheels by Ralph Vartabedian about the worst streets for pedestrian deaths http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-wheels4jul04,0,2850643.story?coll=la-class-autos-highway1

(of course, no one will ever read the comments on this topic anyway).

Pedestrians are fair game. No one gets caught, no one gets prosecuted for killing them. Here's a tip: you usually need to walk to get to public transportation. If the experience is not a pleasant one, or literally a death-defying act, then not many people are going to do it unless they are forced by economic circumstance.

There are practically no police enforcing traffic rules. Drivers make right turns as soon as the light is green when pedestrians have the right of way. Drivers can barely wait long enough for a pedestrian to get out of the way. Every day I see pedestrians in cross walks where one driver lets them walk only to be cut off by the next impatient driver.

Why can't we have a walkway removed from cars? Why is there practically no class 1 bike paths in this whole city? Well, I can answer that. City officials ride around in their Yukons with drivers - they don't walk.