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Update on Ballard Crossing Guard Hit by Car on Mon, 2/4

(30 posts)

Started 3 months ago by Chickster
Latest reply from OingoBoingo

Chickster

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A crossing guard was hit by a car on 65th and 18th on Monday, Feb 4. His daughter was hit walking across that same spot in 2001. Here's an update...

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020312731_ballardcrosswalkerxml.html

Posted 3 months ago #
JM

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Was the driver of the red Buick cited or arrested? The Times story seems incomplete.

Posted 3 months ago #
great idea

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I sure hope the driver was cited.
the fines should be double in school zones, just like construction zones.

I see so many cars speeding on 65th, this does not surprise me.

hopefully the city will install more cameras to catch some of these clowns.

Posted 3 months ago #
OingoBoingo

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I commend the dedication of the crossing guards but there are some who are older with dimming eyesight, hearing problems and mobility problems. That and they are chatter boxes more suitable sitting in a chair schmoozing on the corner without the responsibility of a child to monitor as they cross the street. They may believe through their own eyes and ears that a valuable service is being performed but observation from my senses see a vulnerability that, if I were a parent of a child in his/her care, would give me pause.

Posted 3 months ago #
great idea

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maybe we should have drones monitoring the crosswalks?

Posted 3 months ago #
Nora Bell

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Um, I've seen this guy doing his crossing guard duty before. And, I assure you, he isn't a chattering old coot with dodgy eyesight. Far from it. Cars simply need to SLOW the (bleep) DOWN in that area. And pay attention. I hope this driver was at least fined. At best, arrested.

Posted 3 months ago #
boatgeek

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+1 to slowing the {bleep} down. The guy was wearing a reflective vest and had a crosswalk flag. The Buick started to slow down and then didn't stop. I don't think you can blame the victim here.

Posted 3 months ago #
eric

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just read the Times article - very strange to hear nothing of the driver, any charges, etc..

Posted 3 months ago #
VeganBiker

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I hope this guard is OK.
Lately I have been crossing 65th at 28th a couple of times a day and even with the crosswalk some cars still will not slow down to let me cross. They are going faster than they should be, the speed limit on 65th, except for 20 MPH school zones, is 30 MPH. and I know many of the cars are going faster that that.

Posted 3 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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I use the crosswalk at 6th & 65th almost daily and even when 1/2 across the street driver are flying by. I always say I am going to carry a couple rocks in my pocket and throw it at the next asshat's car;)

Posted 3 months ago #
Westcoastmom

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The driver was a women and she was picking up a her child at Salmon Bay. She had an elderly person in her car that was also checked out by the EMT's. She didn't seem too rattled but that might have been because she was in shock. I agree we should have heard more regarding the driver.

Posted 3 months ago #
VeganBiker

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Was she texting or on the phone at the time? Amazing that she was picking up a child at the school, one would think she would have been more aware.

Posted 3 months ago #
eric

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ah the irony. someone picking up their kid from school nails the kindly crossing guard. hopefully she is charged, sued or something to wake her up.

seriously, some of the craziest drivers in school zones are the parents. I work near a school and when I park my car in the morning (street parking) I am often amazed by the mini-van speedway that the street becomes. not every day, but often enough.

Posted 3 months ago #
Edog

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I walk by Adams and the surrounding intersections all the time. People on 65th can go too fast but some of the worst driving I see in the area is from parents dropping off or picking up at Adams. From the parents I usually see a combination of speeding, failure to come to a full stop, and a general lack of attention. Its always stuck me as very strange.

Posted 3 months ago #
great idea

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well it IS an art school, Edog.

all those hippy-moms are easily distracted ;)

I've seen this behaviour at all schools which is why I advocate sending your kid to a school he/she can walk to if possible.

Posted 3 months ago #
Mondoman

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Or ride a bike to! Driving kids to nearby schools seems like such a lose/lose/lose proposition in terms of health of the kids, traffic congestion and wasted resources, and unproductive parental time.

Posted 3 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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Seattle Times just updated info and it has a strange twist. The crossong guards daughter was hit in the cross walk 12 years ago:( The school is also asking for speed cameras.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020312731_ballardcrosswalkerxml.html

Just a few feet in front of Desiderio “Des” de Castro’s home in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood is a school-zone crosswalk. He’s been committed to walking neighbors and schoolchildren across it since 2001.

That’s the year a pickup struck his daughter there, at Northwest 65th Street and 18th Avenue Northwest, lacerating 14-year-old DessaMonica de Castro’s liver. The injury kept her in intensive care for three days and required bed rest for weeks.

Posted 3 months ago #
mc7

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My teenager saw the accident happen and called 911. He says an elderly woman was driving the car that struck the guard and that the other woman was a fellow witness who had the very upset driver move to the passenger seat while she pulled the car to the side of the road; this is in contrast to westcoastmom's version of events. And it saddens me that oingoboingo suggested that the crossing guard's age may have played a role- I drive past Salmon Bay all the time and is is very competent. We hope to see him back on duty soon!

Posted 3 months ago #
Corvus

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Oingo Boingo wins the DB award. Maybe he's trying to channel Onedy?

Posted 3 months ago #
Chickster

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BH...if you read my first post, you can see that the Seattle Times' update was already there about the guard's daughter when I started this thread. I agree, that was definitely a strange twist to this story. It looks like the new info in the article included the age of the driver (which mc7's info matches to clarify who the driver really was), Mr. de Castro's condition and talk of speed cameras.

Posted 3 months ago #
great idea

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"there are some who are older with dimming eyesight, hearing problems and mobility problems. "

sounds like oingo was describing the driver maybe. clearly people in their 90's shouldn't be driving.

Posted 3 months ago #
OingoBoingo

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Well Great idea, I will submit that there is impairment that can be shared among various parties on this. There is the ubiquitous Ballard Vice drivers as well as their crossing guard counterparts. There are rushing, speeding parents in vans who see only their kids and not the others to hormonally challenged teenagers as both drivers and pedestrians.
Hazards all.
Same goes for passing a school bus with red lights flashing.
Fines should be crippling and not just an inconvenience.

Posted 3 months ago #
OingoBoingo

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@Corvus
I don't see the correlation.
Your attempted ad hominum insult lacks taste and substance.

Posted 3 months ago #
Nora Bell

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Please forgive if this is a stupid question, but I have limited knowledge of driving rules. The driver was moved to the passenger seat by the other woman in the car after the incident. Can't they be written up for that?

Posted 3 months ago #
Mondoman

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Nora, if done with intent to mislead, probably. If done to prevent further danger/injury, probably not (for example, moving a car out of the flow of traffic to prevent another collision).

Posted 3 months ago #
Nora Bell

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Ah. That makes sense. Thanks, Mondoman.

Posted 3 months ago #
mc7

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Nora- the elderly driver was alone in the car. The woman who moved her car for her was a witness who wanted to get the car out of the way of traffic and to comfort the distraught driver.

Posted 3 months ago #
SeaSpider

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"Fines should be crippling and not just an inconvenience."

Problem is the way our system works there can be no such thing as a "crippling" fine. A $100 fine might be crippling to someone working a minimum wage job but only a minor inconvenience to someone making $300k. We think that by having fines be the same amount for everyone that we've created a system of legal fairness. Reality is quite the opposite. Even small fines can be extremely onerous for those with low or blue collar incomes while being merely a convenience fee to those who can easily afford them. A truly fair system would have fines be a percentage of income. That means the asshat in the Porsche going 40 mph though a school zone could end up paying say $3000 while the retail worker making minimum wage may only pay $50. The amounts might be different but they'd have equal impact against the person they're being levied against. They actually do this in a few countries - about 10 years ago one of the heads of Nokia was cited in Helsinki for going 25kmh over the posted speed limit on his Harley and wound paying a $100,000 fine due to his high income level.

Posted 3 months ago #
Corvus

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@Oingo

"I don't see the correlation.
Your attempted ad hominum (sic)insult lacks taste and substance."

There would be no use in responding to your argument that " there are some who are older with dimming eyesight, hearing problems and mobility problems. That and they are chatter boxes more suitable sitting in a chair schmoozing on the corner" because it lacks "taste and substance".

That is also the correlation which you claim not to see.

Posted 3 months ago #
OingoBoingo

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Posted 3 months ago #