Occupy Oakland and the Right of Way

[XLFD]

Driver rolls over peds at intersection

 

Take a view of this video concerning a recent traffic incident that happened in Oakland, California.

Between :01 and :05 we see a Mercedes move forward on a green light while at the same time there is a couple of pedestrians in the crosswalk in front of them.  The car had moved aggressively forward and the one ped stops and appears irked as to the car trying to take his right of way.  This is a valid concern as it looks as if the car is loathe to provide the ROW.  Between :06 and :12, we see the ped giving a verbal and non-verbal lashing of the motorists driving skills, while the car continues to inch forward.  At :13 to :15, with his feet under the car, the ped hits the Mercedes in anger and/or frustration.  This may not have been the wisest move, but at :16 in the Mercedes driver in anger and/or frustration guns the car rolling over and non-critically injuring the peds.  The motorist has yet to be ticketed for the event.

 

This illustrates a couple of recurring themes in pedestrian/motorist interactions.  The first is the issue of who has the ROW in such situations and the second is the police's reticence to ticket motorists involved in pedestrian crashes. 

 

California law may differ slightly, but the Uniform Traffic Code is fairly consistent between states, and Michigan's UTC says that:  "the driver of a vehicle shall yield the ROW, slowing down or stopping, if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the half of the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling..., but a pedestrian shall not suddenly leave a curb and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield."  (Rule 702)

 

In this instance, the peds were in the crosswalk as the Mercedes advanced, and were endangered by its aggressive encroachment into the crosswalk.  Both peds may have loitered a bit to the point of becoming an obstruction to traffic, but it was the car's actions that provoked their proselytizing in the first place.   

 

Furthermore, the UTC says "every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on the roadway..." (Rule 716).  Even though the peds fists came down on the hood of this expensive car, the response was inappropriate and very well could have wound up being an act of vehicular manslaughter or worse.  The ultimate fact of the matter is that the Mercedes driver used his vehicle as a weapon to inflict harm on others, and should be held accountable for his actions, particularly with the provocative driving style he exhibited in the video.