Pedestrians

Blog post #414 of 365

The other day while getting ready to pull out of my parking spot, I putting on my seat belt. I see a woman and a young teen walking into the mall. They passed me and stepped right in front of the car pulling out next to me. I'm in a van so I'm thinking someone couldn't see and the other wasn't watching where they were going. The kid got hit. Mind you the car was easing out, probably because they couldn't see around the van but I know the people saw them because they stepped behind the car which was already beyond the back of the van.

The kid kind of bounced off and hits my van on the rebound. My van isn't even on yet. The woman begins screaming that pedestrians have the right of way! Okay they technically do but if you're doing something reckless then how can you blame a driver. Needless to say she stepped behind the car and called the police who apparently were near by because they arrived in minutes. When they arrived the kid moved away from my van and I started it and slowly began easing out of my spot. The lady turns around and smacks my van, screaming, "You can't go anywhere, you are our witness!" Meanwhile I'm thinking, are you kidding me?

The policeman comes over and asks if I saw the incident. I explained what I saw, gave him my phone number and contact information and was then allowed to leave. Before he was done talking to me I told him I thought the kid was more at fault than the driver who likely couldn't have seen them coming. He kind of laughed and said he had to take the report to protect mine and the other driver from any frivolous lawsuits. Apparently the lady said she was going to sue the other driver for damages. What was she thinking? More importantly what was she teaching her kid? And why was her kid in a mall parking lot during school hours?

The policeman was kind enough to let both of us leave shortly after they arrived. I heard his partner talking to the kid and she said her mom had been hit before doing the same kind of thing and that she honestly didn't see the car because her mom was talking to her. The policeman whet on to tell the kids she needed to really watch out because the even though the pedestrian has the right of way they also carry the responsibility to be safe. He specifically said, "You wouldn't walk across the freeway without looking would you?" It made me laugh a little. I hope mom calmed down and nothing comes of it. I mean the kid bounced into my parked vehicle. How could I be liable? Sigh.