Posted on 12/27/2014 11:02:39 AM PST by Steelfish
12-Year-Old Riding New Scooter Dies After Being Struck By Car December 26, 2014
A 12-year-old boy was killed Friday while riding an electric scooter he got a day earlier for Christmas.
Roman Martinez pulled out of his driveway directly into the path of an oncoming car, KTLA-TV reported.
"He got everything he wanted," his younger sister Rylie Martinez told the station. "It was his happiest Christmas."
The crash occurred just before noon just north of Upland, a small city east of Los Angeles. The boy's father said his son was wearing a helmet. He was airlifted to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Not I. I told my kids to SCRAM if they are ever in that situation and have a reasonable chance of getting away. They are PRESUMED GUILTY even if they blow a 0.02 (i.e., less than one drink). If they are, essentially, about to be framed, then they need to quickly split the scene.
The problem has to do with the presumption of guilt. I can PROMISE you that any my kids, when blowing a 0.10, can drive circles around any sober 85 year old. If we assign guilt strictly based on BAC (which is about all we do), then the best response is to try to STAY CLEAR of that system.
I don’t set the rules, but I will RESPOND to them.
See my #20 and make sure he understands how stupid this is.
There was an incident here in Texas recently where a man walked off the sidewalk into the path of an oncoming car where the driver was intoxicated but driving the speed limit. He was charged with a DWI but not automotive homicide since his intoxication was not the cause of the accident and he stopped and rendered aid.
The parents should have set rules.
Interesting. I’m not too hot on people that are actually drunk getting into accidents, since 90% of them can be avoided. So if the guy blew a 0.17, I’m cool with the presumption of guilt, unless there is some way to show it was avoidable to a sober person.
The bigger problem that I have is when someone has a drink or two after work, maybe blows (a legal) 0.06 and is still destroyed for life because a kid runs out in front of him - that’s where you scram.
Most likely, it was actually an electric bicycle that resembles a scooter. They are very common, and are treated the same as unpowered bicycles in most jurisdictions.
Yes, I can. No one should be driving after a few drinks.
” Yes, I can. No one should be driving after a few drinks. “
Well then maybe THE LAW should reflect that. Right now, you only get arrested after a few drinks (assuming you’re not a slim chick, or a metrosexual) if you HAVE AN ACCIDENT, otherwise you’re below the limit.
That’s the problem.
Back in the 70s when my kids were in grade school, a woman picking up her kids backed over and killed a little boy, she was so drunk, she couldn't stand.
One year license suspension, 2 years probation and $1,000 fine plus court costs.
Sometimes there's justice, sometimes, not so much.
I hear you...things needed to be fixed and some things have been fixed.
One of the SCARIEST TIMES in my life was when I was about 8 years old and friend’s father was driving us. He was absolutely ripped and swerving everywhere. Back then, as you point out, maybe a slap on the wrist. Now, in Texas (with young kids in the car), it is a FELONY and I am sure as hell glad it is.
Maybe never told. On TV shows and in the movies, people pull out into traffic after a split second glance. I bet a lot of people take that to heart with respect to road manners.
Very sad..heard about this last night..don’t know why this child was not being supervised while riding his scooter..you can clearly see from the skid marks that the driver tried to stop but she couldn’t stop in time..even though the kid was wearing a helmet his injuries were too severe and he died at the hospital..just sad, and a day after Christmas..condolences to the family
Not in traffic, zooming out of his driveway into the street......The same basic rules of walking across a street apply: Stop, Look and Listen
Coulda been his first bicycle, first skateboard, first anything. Tragic accidents happen......
I don't recall being supervised at that age riding my bicycle and coming out of the driveway in front of a car would have had the same outcome.
The story seems even worse after seeing the picture of the smiling kid. Very sad.
Besides not stopping to help a child you just ran over, you could be prosecuted on a hit and run.
“Besides not stopping to help a child you just ran over, you could be prosecuted on a hit and run.”
The hit and run prosecution doesn’t add much, once they pop you for having a drink or two. My problem is the presumption of guilt - for that, I will stand around and roll the dice, nor should my kids.
But I guess we think differently.
“And if the lady driving the Honda had a couple of drinks prior (which doesn’t appear to be the case), she’d be looking at being a FELON for life, and maybe a decade in jail...even if the accident occurred under IDENTICAL circumstances.
Can you really blame people that have had a few drinks from taking off after something like this?”
Did you intend to defend drunk driving, or hit and run, or both?
local perspective to this tragic event?
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