Perfect example of Driver bias.
 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ivens_accident

Here it is again, notice how they refer to this as an accident? She killed an old woman who was crossing at a crosswalk with her SUV, prolly while yelling back at her two kids and using her cell phone.

The cop says we are looking at this as a pure accident and no criminal charges, blah, blah, blah. Excuse me but a woman is dead and the killer was issued a ticket, clearly she was at fault. Cars can be deadly weapons but even when used as one they don't get recognized as such. Heck, kill someone with a gun goto jail for 15 years, kill someone with a car and you get no jail time-- either way leaves the victim dead.

I know the old lady was a pedestrian, but if this were a cyclist the only difference would be the killer would have said," I never saw him/her, don't know where they came from until it was too late." Either way, slap on the wrists, have a nice day.

The woman is not dead, but is in serious but stable condition at the hospital.

Extremely critical but stable condition. OK, she's 89, her foot was severed, she was runover by a 3000 pound SUV, I'm sure at her age she's gonna bounce right back. When you are on a heart lung machine you are stable.

But you're right, that changes the whole post, because the woman might live please ignore the event. Thx.

I was merely pointing out that the woman is not dead. I'm not excuxing the behavoir of Robin Givens or the police.

It bothers me that she didn't even know she had hit someone. The poor woman was dragged ten feet.

Right, sorry, this sort of thing upsets me. The way the article reads she was at a green light, accelerated, hit the woman, didn't stop for 10 feet. I'm sorry, was she drag racing? How did she not see the woman at the crosswalk if she was looking ahead with both hands on the wheel?

I'm sure that the driver was upset, the cops were upset, nobody wants someone to get hurt, that bothers everyone. What makes me mad is the punishment for this crime is going to be very, very light when in reality it's about as serious a crime as one person can do to another.

I'm not even going to get into the part about the driver being rich and having access to the best lawyers and what that factor will add to any real justice here.

You know what I would like to see done? Have all the states link up their records and issue one driving license good anywhere. If a driver ever kills a person while at fault-- carelessness, drunk driving, etc, revoke their driving privilege for life.

The automobile is so bred into American culture that a life is not as big a deal when it is lost or threatened by driver innatention. In Georgia it is law that a pedestrian in a crosswalk has the right of way. But even with that I bet a slap on the wrist would be all that would happen to the drivers hitting walkers.

So, just so I'm getting this right .... (this can't be right, can it???)

.... Givens was stopped @ a red light while this elderly lady was crossing (in the crossing lane) directly in front of her. The light turned green, and Givens ran her over. Moreover, pedestrians had to wave Givens down in order to stop her, as she either had plans of leaving the scene, or worse - SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW SHE STRUCK THIS LADY!

As a result of her carelessness with a lethal weapon (her SUV), she received a traffic summons for "failing to use due care when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk"? Then, to add insult to perhaps mortal injury, the cops state "we're looking @ it as a pure accident, and we don't expect any additional criminal charges whatsoever"**********??

ACCIDENT? ACCIDENT? :mad: :mad:

Pedestrian crosswalks are very dangerous. Motorists don't even look for people sometimes. I can't tell you how many times I've had to shout, blow a whistle or bang on someone's hood to let them know I was about to become mincemeat.

In addition, from my understanding, a legal "crosswalk" does not have to have any markings whatsoever. It can simply be an intersection where a person chooses to cross. I wonder how many drivers even know that.

Speaking of pedestrians, didn't someone say something about the way we speak or write about crashes, using the term "accident" and saying "the car lost control," instead of, "the driver lost control of his vehicle?" Well, I just want to say, I don't like the word, "pedestrian." I prefer the word, "person."

In my mind, using the word "pedestrian" sounds like a person that chooses to walk instead of drive is no longer a person, but some being engaged in an unnatural activity, as if it's not normal to walk instead of drive.

America has totally resigned itself to the price in lives it has to pay for its dependence on the automobile. 6 people dying from west nile is front page news, people are afraid of flying, biking is too dangerous, hell some people consider me a risk taker because I drink tap water and expired milk, my MIL nearly vomited from fear when I took her off road in my Trooper (the whole time I never exceeded 5 MPH) but burning down the highway at 80 gives no one the willies. When a group of people drive as much as we do odds are there are going to be tens of thousands of fatalities and hundreds of thousands of injuries it is the price we pay and we do not care. When you consider the other things we freak out about it is very confusing. The way we design communities now a days things will only get worse, so grow some eyes in the back of your head and start biting back if you encounter any close calls. Also appreciate all those consciencous drivers that look out for us on the roads.

Does that mean that if a pedestrian has a "do not cross" light, they can still cross and I'm expected to stop?

Not to excuse careless drivers, but pedestrians do some pretty stupid things also. How many people have been biking and have had people walk out in front of them, even after they've obviously seen you coming down the street?

But yeah, these Robin Givens cases piss me off.

The latest as of 1.30.04:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ns_accident_13

Aparently, the old woman was about to step onto the sidewalk when Ms. Givens deciced to make a rhght-hand turn. The woman fell and the FSUV ran over her foot. For this she gets a $70 fine. I hope that the woman hires a good attourney and sues Robin Givens for millions of dollars.

Money vs a old lady. Who in the hell do you think is going to win. Come on ,money talks and you know the rest. I heard the story,it was mostly about how badly shaken givens was after the whole ordeal.

Western Union - I suggest each and every one of y'all write a letter to the local authorities in the jurisdiction that this occurred expressing your outrage over the official handling of this incident, same as you are doing here - Stop.