Mum Sentenced Over Son's Hit-And-Run Death - your thoughts?

[ttc_lolly]

LINK TO STORY - https://uk.news.yahoo.com/mum-sentenced-over-sons-hit-run-death-111744335.html

So basically a mother was crossing the road with her 2 children and a van hit them all, leaving her 4 year old son dead.

It's an offence to 'jaywalk' in America - not crossing the road at a designated crossing point. As the mother didn't do this, she was sent to court for 'causing' her son's death.

She has received a 12 month probationary period - a LONGER TERM than the actual van driver! Who, had been drink drink driving, taking painkillers and was partially blind in 1 eye oh, and to boot - he had already a previous conviction for hit and run

So my question to you all is do you think this is fair? I've just read this story now, and as it happened in America I'd say majority of us UK ladies no nothing of it. Although apparently this case is causing uproar in America - I guess the story within itself and because she's black and her whole jury were white (you can just see this being made in to a movie in a few years time!)

I'm torn, but am veering waaaay more with sympathy towards the mum. We don't have any jaywalking laws over here, and there are plenty of designated crossings here but I must admit, once or twice I've crossed a road where there wasn't a crossing LO doesn't walk, so it's been when she's been in her pushchair but I've done it where I've deemed safe and can see there's no traffic and the distance to cross is short enough for me to go faster if a vehicle was coming. But I suppose you just don't think it'll happen to you - I'm sure that mother in America didn't want to get hit by a van, and definitely not her children.

I really really REALLY do not think it's fair she was more punished than the driver - drink, drugs AND blind!? WTF was he doing behind a wheel??

 

[Blah11]

Thats ridiculous. As if losing her son isn't punishment enough.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

omg that is ridiculous! .. also i don't understand jay walking, if i couldn't cross unless their was a crossing i would be stuck on one side of the path and wouldn't get anywhere ?! i can't think of any crossings that are not in the main town centre or at a shopping area :S x


Also i don't know what to think about race being an issue, i am aware that america has alot of racism, but i only know what i hear on the tv, and from what i know about the Arican american voting scandal when bush was voted in ! from what i know of that i can defo see it being a possibility, but at the same time it might just be a case of her lawyer pulling the "race card" .. like they might have given her the same crappy sentence if she was white.. but she isn't so we won't know, would be nice to think in this day in age, race wouldn't come into it.... x

 

[ttc_lolly]

It is ridiculous. At the end of the news story it says how much the mother blames herself, so I can only imagine how much she hates herself already without being punished by a court too.

I've never even been to America so don't know what their roads and crossing are like. About the race issue, I'm not that clued up on that either. I know the black population is huge in America, however I know there can be a huge difference in status when it comes to whites and blacks, rich and poor in certain areas. From reading that news story, the area she lives is majority white higher class and the blacks are the minority and are much poorer paid

I'd like to think race wasn't an issue and if she was white they'd have given her the same punishment but I doubt we'll ever know!

 

[CarlyP]

Terrible!!

Why is it an offence to not cross at a crossing in USA?

 

[aliss]

I can actually see the judge's side to this and hope to not piss off too many people, but..
- Consuming alcohol does not automatically equal impairment
- Consuming alcohol AND painkillers could lead to impairment but not automatically (it is not an offense in itself)
- Being partially blind in ONE eye does not equal an inability to drive automatically

People read those things as some whacked out druggie recklessly bombing down a road with no vision but that's quite an assumption and probably an exaggeration.

She was crossing the road illegally. She may have jumped out in front of this van without seeing it - a pedestrian struck does not always equal the fault of a driver. Most pedestrian struck MVI's are actually the fault of the pedestrian, not the driver. You guys have no idea how many people will literally jump in front of a moving vehicle, it is absurd and I've seen it first hand numerous times.

As for his previous hit and run conviction, people assume it means he has hit people and taken off - for all we know, it could have been a parking lot bumper-to-bumper citation.

I've worked in policing long enough to see that people will make SO MANY assumptions, even cries of racism, without any analysis of fact and complete assumptions.

I'm sorry she was convicted and I don't think it is morally correct as she has lost enough - although legally, it is. However, to assume that he was some reckless drunk who plowed over a child that was clearly strolling across the road is also incorrect. And the judge, who has access to all the witness information and traffic analysis from the scene, clearly did not make that assumption even though everyone and their dog seems to know what happened without even reading a traffic analysis?

As for the racism issue, you will find that this is ALWAYS brought up when people make assumptions about what a verdict should have been, and they will cry it without even reading details. The whole point of the trial is to determine guilt or innocence - what's the point of a trial if everyone is going to assume that this guy is automatically guilty without even reading the basic details? A file from a pedestrian hit and run fatality is about 6 inches thick and there are usually 3-5 files worth. Consider this- that there is FAR more to this than a simple Yahoo! writeup.

 

[aliss]

Terrible!!

Why is it an offence to not cross at a crossing in USA?

It is a criminal offense to cross the road anywhere except a designated crosswalk to prevent pedestrian MVI's.

Crosswalks here are similar to yours in the UK except without the zigzags and there is no writing (look left, look right). They are very clearly marked, in fact they are even more clear as there aren't really any other markings on the road.

 

[lesleyann]

I duno, I mean from what i understand the US has plenty of crossings unlike the UK since we dont have a law on crossing the road like do. He broke the law and the mother broke the law so at the end of the day they both deserve "punishment" in relation to the law.

I dont buy the whole race card its pulled way to often just because something does not go someones way and they happen to be "different".

 

[aliss]

I duno, I mean from what i understand the US has plenty of crossings unlike the UK since we dont have a law on crossing the road like do. He broke the law and the mother broke the law so at the end of the day they both deserve "punishment" in relation to the law.

I dont buy the whole race card its pulled way to often just because something does not go someones way and they happen to be "different".

Yes, crosswalks are very common here. Unlike the UK which is very old, everything out here in "new" - basically all cities are in a square grid pattern and very logical (which is why people from US/Canada often get lost trying to find their way in Europe!), there are crosswalks everywhere.

Also received a 12 month probationary, that means no prison unless she violates her probation (which I doubt she will), and he received 6 months in prison - his sentence was worse than hers. Not the other way around.

 

[TwilightAgain]

Thats crazy. You can go to jail for crossing the road at the wrong part? How bizarre.

I feel sorry for the woman losing her son but why wasn't she more careful? if she knew it was against the law why didn't she use the traffic lights. I can't imagine how awful she must feel now though.

I can see why she's being sentenced though. If its illegal and it could have been prevented by her abiding by the law, then I guess she should be punished. Its like a parent leaving their child home alone isn't it, they know they shouldn't do it and if anything happens to them then they should be punished.

I think the van driver should have received a heavier punishment than her though.

 

[ttc_lolly]

She didn't pull the "race card" - others have said it not her! She hasn't said a word about arguing her case or anything, I suspect she feels so guilty she probably won't.

The UK isn't that old that are crossings are confusing or why we don't have laws - we just don't! People are trusted to cross the roads by themselves without having a law put upon us!

It doesn't matter in my eyes if her punishment was probationary or an actual custodial sentence, I still think it's a bit wrong.

 

[ttc_lolly]

If the van driver had hit them at a crossing I wonder if she'd still have "caused" her son's death.

 

[Scamp]

Poor women She must feel terrible because of what happened anyway.

I didn't realise it was illegal in the US to walk across the road if there isn't a crossing Is that all over?

 

[lesleyann]

I think part of the crossing thing in the US is that parts it really would be so so unsafe I know just from watching things they may have many lanes pretty much going though a "city centre"..

https://www.theimpressionista.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/newyorkcabs.jpg

^ That would be impossible to cross without a crossing in the middle of new york.. Thats like a motorway over here and you would not run out in the middle of one of those

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/webimage/metp_bus_lane1_1_1171674!image/4236082661.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_595/4236082661.jpg
Where as in the centre of where I live and i still would not cross that without a crossing

 

[ttc_lolly]

^^^ I don't think comparing it to a NY crossing is the same!

This is a video link to a news report about that very road - there still hasn't been a safe crossing set up even after this incident (plus lots more). The bus stop is literally across the road from the apartment complex the woman lives in with her children. To get to the nearest crossing took the report almost 12 minutes and was over a mile walk!

EDIT: Forgot to put the link https://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/15160244/pedestrians-ask-for-crosswalk-at-deadly-road-crossing

 

[hopeandpray]

It's so sad The jaywalking thing is crazy if there was nowhere for her to cross legally.
Realistically what is the point in punishing this woman. She made a terrible mistake that she will never ever make again. Of course I don't know the details of the accident but I'd be inclined to blame the driver. I would never drive with alcohol in my system and certainly not with painkillers too. I don't care about a limit I know myself that any amount effects me.

 

[ttc_lolly]

^^^ I agree to punish someone is to make them realise what they did was wrong and to make them think before ever doing it again. I doubt very much she nees to be told not to do this again

 

[mandarhino]

I think there is definitely an element of racism in her sentence and the fact that she was charged in the first place. How many people on the jury take public transport frequently and understand how difficult it can be? If they all drive cars they wouldn't have a clue how difficult it can be, especially moving around with three children. Whilst I don't live in the US, my understanding is that the public transport system is poorly resourced in many cities.

I'm guessing there is no automatic need to charge her and a common sense approach can be taken on compassionate grounds. She has been punished enough by losing her child and having to live with the guilt of that.

There is a major issue for the city in which this happened and the bus company, as the bus stop was not in a safe place. It's location pretty much encouraged jay walking and unsafe behaviour. At the very least they should look to relocate the bus stop closer to the cross walk so this doesn't happen to anyone else.

 

[aliss]

This is the road she crossed.

I'm sorry, but trying to jaywalk here, it is only a matter of time before someone got killed. Yes, there should be proper crosswalks if a bus stop and apartment are right opposite of each other, but at what point do we stop excusing parental liability because the city does not have a crosswalk in that particular location?

I notice nearly all of you girls are from the UK. Here, you do not run across roads without crosswalks. You just don't. And cars do not expect you to do so either, so yes, a matter of time before it happens. Marietta is NOT a small town,it is a suburb of Atlanta.

I feel awful for this woman and think she should have been discharged over her suffering. But she was also negligent as well, and people are making assumptions about facts about the driver - yes, he may have been drunk, blind, doped up, having run over someone before - or he could have had a drink, 1 ambien 6 hours before, fully visual in his other eye, and bumped a car at Walmart. Unless you know exactly who he is, exactly what he did, and exactly what happened including the traffic analysis, which the judge had access to, then that's quite a jump in assumptions.

https://codeword.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Marietta-crash-scene1.jpg

 

[mandarhino]

For me the issue is more that this could have been prevented. Any half competent town planner or transport planner could have seen what would happen with the location of the bus stop, apartment complex and crosswalk.

Human behaviour is easy to predict and it is easy to see what people living in that apartment complex are going to do when getting off the bus.