Save some lives - get a jaywalking ticket... UNREAL!

[Craig]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 12:43pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090226/ap_on_fe_st/odd_good_samaritan_ticketed

DENVER – A good Samaritan who helped push three people out of the path of a pickup truck before being struck and injured has gotten a strange reward for his good deed: A jaywalking ticket.

Family members said 58-year-old bus driver Jim Moffett and another man were helping two elderly women cross a busy Denver street in a snowstorm when he was hit Friday night.

Moffett suffered bleeding in the brain, broken bones, a dislocated shoulder and a possible ruptured spleen. He was in serious but stable condition Wednesday.

The Colorado State Patrol issued the citation. Trooper Ryan Sullivan said that despite Moffett's intentions, jaywalking contributed to the accident.

(more via link)

[blondebaby589]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 12:48pm

I heard about this on the radio the other morning! Don't the police think that the guy learned his lesson? The ticket was completely unnecessary.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 12:52pm

ok, let's get this straight, this whole save some lives thing. they would not have even been in the street had he not walked them there. there was no crosswalk? and who was behind the wheel of the bus he was driving while he was out playing seeing eye dog?

[Craig]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 12:59pm

Oh stop Papa....

I had a friend in med school who aided a jogger who needed CPR. My friend revived him and then was sued for cracking one of the guys rips while reviving him.

Fortunately the judge through out the case for "stupidity" But it changed the way my friend looked at the world for a VERY long time...

No good deed goes unpunished....

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 1:05pm

I remember reading recently about someone who sued her friend for her paralysis after the friend tried to get her out of a car after an accident. It does sort of make you think you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

That said, I think I'm with papa on this one. If the guy was trying to cross two elderly women slowly (I assume) across a busy street in winter, I can see how he could be held partially liable for causing the accident.

[Craig]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 1:09pm

PRS.


I think the threat of a ticket or an admonishing would have sufficed. But to actually ISSUE the ticket to a man in that shape for trying to help? Just seems wrong

[madbrian]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 1:24pm

If the ticket was warranted, it might have been issued in the interest of the driver who struck them. No ticket implies the driver is totally at fault.

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 1:28pm

According to our local news, there was a bus stop but no crosswalk near the stop. I am not sure about public trans busses but I would think that if there was no crosswalk and the bus had stopped and put on its flashers, the truck should have stopped to let the people cross.

[KrissySim]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 1:31pm

I agree with Craig but I think madbrain may be correct. It may be more a matter of determining whose insurance will be sued. A court however may overturn it.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 1:42pm

Craig, I do get what you're saying, and it's stuff like this that makes me very glad I'm not someone in law enforcement. I'm not saying it's "right," but there are lots of things (laws, rules, etc) that don't seem right.

I mean, unless I'm missing something, the guy WAS jaywalking and the guy DID contribute to the accident, regardless of what his intentions were. If it's a busy street like the article said with no crosswalk and in a snowstorm, it doesn't sound like the brightest move the guy made.

I mean,I get the notion of not kicking someone when they are down, but as we hear around here a lot, rules is rules.

[morosco]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 1:49pm

While we're sort of on the subject...
California Supreme Court allows good Samaritans to be sued for nonmedical care

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 1:57pm

i'd say there's a tad bit of difference between saving someone's life by administering cpr and walking two elderly women into the street in a snowstorm. maybe. no? ok.

and where was the nearest crosswalk? if it was less than 2 blocks away, then there's no excuse for breaking the law and contributing to an accident.

it's like the furor a few years back that labeled queens blvd in sunnyside and woodside the "boulevard of death." drivers and the city were excoriated over pedestrian deaths. i lived there. i drove there. people walked into the middle of a four lane street against the light in the middle of the block pushing a baby carriage and didn't even look to see if there was any cars coming. god forbid you beep to let them know, "hello, right of way, large automibile about to hit you at 30 mph." you get the finger if you're lucky or wahtever was handy for them to throw at your car.

you cannot believe that there was a bus stop there with absolutely no means nearby of allowing people to cross the street that was not illegal. plus i'm sure the driver was taking his time getting them across the street in the safest manner possible, what with his bus idling there and other passengers waiting.

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 2:03pm

I am trying to figure out where this happened. I doubt it was downtown Denver. And the snowstorm was not really a big storm. it was a freak storm we got but there wasn't much accumulation. I can remember when I moved here I was told that pedestrians always had the right of way even if they were walking down the middle of the street. I am assuming that has changed. But I can remember seeing people crossing highways, etc. and nothing happened to them. We jaywalk left and right out here and the cops never stop us. There are a lot of bus stops out here that are nowhere near a crosswalk. The cop was a jerk for giving him the ticket in that condition. Our State Troopers can be jerks out here along with some of our other area cops. A number of years ago I got stopped by the Aurora cops for absolutely nothing. I had someone in the car who was having an asthma attack and the cop could have cared less. I am happy to say that a week later I was called by his superior and told that he was fired. (I called and complained) I was told that he had been doing this to people for a while.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 2:29pm

i always blame the cops. they probably are racist too.

[Craig]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 2:47pm

not to mention homophobic and anti-semitic, right papa? But you don't mind THOSE things

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 2:52pm

as long as they willing to giiliani time it when necessary with those dastardly gay jews and their sneaky thai lovers i am willing to overlook a few jaywalking tickets.

[ifuweregay93]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 4:19pm

I can see why they would give him a ticket, but something doesn't make sense. He was trying to help 2 elder women. That was a good thing, wasn't it?

If someone does a good deed, shouldn't that make up for jaywalking?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 4:27pm

No.

[etoile]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:08am

I would think a bus driver's first responsibility is to the bus and its occupants and not to the passengers who have already safely disembarked. I suspect his employer would agree. There's probably something in his employee manual that addresses it. If not, there probably will be soon.

He's a professional driver who should be more than familiar rules of the road. People often take it upon themselves thinking (foolishly) they are committing acts of kindness, but really what they do is violate traffic law and disrupt the normal flow of traffic. And accidents occur. They're not really accidents, but more often designated as crashes since at least one person committed an intentional act the produced unfavorably results. The crash.

He assisted in placing his safety and others in jeopardy by leaving his bus and putting the streetwalkers in the path of the pickup truck. He's being held responsible for his actions. If he feels the citation is undeserved, he has the right to request a hearing and argue his side to a judge. A judge can determine if doing a good deed outweighs jaywalking with others into the path of a truck.

Now if I were the driver of the pickup, I might not view his actions as such a good deed or an act of kindness. If I were a passenger on the bus, delayed because my driver is injured in the street, a police investigation is conducted, and a new bus or driver brought to the location, I might not view it as such a good deed or an act of kindness. If I were sitting delayed in a traffic jam I might not think it was such a good idea or good deed.

At taxpayer expense, traffic studies are conducted to determine where crosswalks should be placed, what type of traffic controlled devices are used, and who has the right of way. All done to safely and most efficiently control the flow of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Traffic laws are in place for a reason.

And no, pedestrians do not always have the right of way. They have the responsibility not to walk out in front of a moving vehicle.


Craig, I think broken ribs, in the course of giving CPR, is pretty common occurrence. Unfortunately some people can and will sue for any reason.

[KrissySim]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:31am

"Traffic laws are in place for a reason."

But...but... Gothampc says this and he talks like he knows :

"Be very afraid. When the government starts "requiring" citizens to do things, you've lost your freedom."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 9:53am

"Streetwalkers." Heh.

[ifuweregay93]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:13pm

Can you please elaborate more other than "no"?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:13pm

No, thank you.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:16pm

you're welcome.

[ifuweregay93]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 3:28pm

Well, without reasons to back up your "no", your opinion on the subject doesn't matter.