Advocacy & Safety - New twist on old excuse

Finally a judge who didn't fall for the "I didn't see them" excuse:

Man convicted in orange rabbit pedicab hit-and-run (http://www.baynews9.com/content/89/2009/10/30/540545.html?title=Man%20convicted%20in%20orange%20rabbit%20pedicab%20hit-and-run)
Friday, October 30, 2009

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Mercedes driver testified he didn't see the 6-foot-tall orange rabbit driving a pedicab because he was fumbling for a dropped cell phone.

Pedicab driver Kate Altermatt tells The Oregonian she finds that hard to believe, noting she was wearing a bright orange bunny suit _ for Easter _ and her Cascadia Pedicab was lit up with reflectors and a blinking red light. She says the crash sent her flying and totaled the pedicab.

She confronted the driver Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

After a daylong trial, Judge Karin Immergut found Edward Cespedes-Rodriguez guilty of hit and run driving for leaving the scene of the crash last April 12.

But Immergut cleared the 34-year-old Portland man of recklessly endangering another person.

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Lesson: Wear a 6' orange rabbit outfit and you could very well still get hit...

As I've said before, "didn't see them" is not an excuse, it's an admission of either distraction or incompetence.

As I've said before, "didn't see them" is not an excuse, it's an admission of either distraction or incompetence.

Exactly

As I've said before, "didn't see them" is not an excuse, it's an admission of distraction AND incompetence.Fixed.

As I've said before, "didn't see them" is not an excuse, it's an admission of either distraction or incompetence.

Yes! I'm going to agree a 3rd time. This is well-said.

Just to pile on a little, "didn't see them" is an admission of guilt and negligence. Should be a slam dunk conviction.

+ eleventy billion x 12.

*cosign*

After a daylong trial, Judge Karin Immergut found Edward Cespedes-Rodriguez guilty of hit and run driving for leaving the scene of the crash last April 12.
Hooray. Finally, a judge who gets it... almost.


But Immergut cleared the 34-year-old Portland man of recklessly endangering another person.
Boo. How is it not endangerment or recklessness?

Nothing surprising here, he was not guilty of any crime except leaving the scene or the accident. If he just stayed at the scene of the accident, this would be a civil matter at most.

I think it's natural in a case like this for the biking community to demand, "WHY WASN'T [so-and-so] CHARGE UPHELD!" but, really, none of us knows whether or not the motorist was driving recklessly — accidents can occur even if you aren't, and it's entirely possible the driver wasn't being reckless. That said, he or she did leave the scene of the accident, and, in an occurrence in which a pedi-cab ends up totaled, it's unbelievable the motorist wouldn't notice anything went wrong. In my opinion, though it's understandable as stemming from panic or fear, hit-and-run is an inexcusable crime, and the punishment must be fines+imprisonment+loss of driving privileges.

I think it's natural in a case like this for the biking community to demand, "WHY WASN'T [so-and-so] CHARGE UPHELD!" but, really, none of us knows whether or not the motorist was driving recklessly — accidents can occur even if you aren't, and it's entirely possible the driver wasn't being reckless. That said, he or she did leave the scene of the accident, and, in an occurrence in which a pedi-cab ends up totaled, it's unbelievable the motorist wouldn't notice anything went wrong. In my opinion, though it's understandable as stemming from panic or fear, hit-and-run is an inexcusable crime, and the punishment must be fines+imprisonment+loss of driving privileges.

There are almost no traffic accidents, there are traffic collisions, and they are usually the result of someone making a mistake. 99.999% of the time that someone does run after causing a collision, it's due to the fact they think they may get into trouble, and they think they will not get caught. Thing is there are so many places that have security cameras now that your chances of getting caught are improving every day.

+1 ^^
In fact, some police departments have stopped taking "accident" reports, and now only take "incident" reports, because most things that people call "accidents" happen because someone was being either incompetent or reckless.