Something very unfortunate happened to me today on my way to school. I was driving down a relatively busy street in Los Angeles on my way to school when a pedestrian comes out of nowhere and I plow right into him. I had the green light and I did not see him because I was on the first lane (very left lane on one way street) and there were 3 lanes to the right of me and a car was blocking my view in the lane to the right of me. The pedestrian obviously ran across the street when he had a red light and I had three witnesses that confirmed so. He claimed that he was in a hurry because his parking meter was going to expire and he was going to get a ticket. Anyways, I ain't going to blame anyone but this is a very unfortunate event and I just hope the man is alright and my car will be patched up soon (hood is dented w/ scratches and windshield is cracked badly). All I can say is that everyone needs to be careful on the road and to not risk your life trying to run a red light.

Sorry to hear that CaddyJim...I have seen pedestrians try to cross the street at 7th Street and Figueroa, not paying attention to the left turn arrow that eastbound traffic turning north on figuero has....I also try to not take off too soon after my light turns to green while waiting at a red...

SoCal...ya gotta love it...

That's rough, I hope you don't have nightmares about it.

That's one of the most difficult things I had to adjust to in LA, you know, pedestrians...never mind traffic. (I just relocated from Northeast CT) My biggest fear here in LA, is that I'll hit a person on the street.

How bad is the guy hurt? I mean it doesn't take much to dent up you hood, but to bust a windshield, wow, that hurts.

I know people might be saying this to you "could have been worse". Well it could'a been better if the dude waited 30 seconds to cross the street.

SoCal...ya gotta love it...
I'm sure one of those ambulance chasers already signed up that pedestrian for a lawsuit...Like you said, SoCal..ya gotta love it.

Too many times have I almost hit someone. Usually it was when I was in Newark, and someone would be walking on the right side of the road and just step out without looking behind them. Around my town, it's joggers and dog walkers at night wearing black clothes.

Hopefully he ain't too hurt. But as others have said, a lawsuit isn't out of the question.

Good luck.

Hopefully he ain't too hurt. But as others have said, a lawsuit isn't out of the question.

Dont you love that logic: "You hit me with your car as I tried to cross the street illegally. Therefore you should have to pay me." :banghead:

This is exactly why I HATE lawyers. :annoyed:

Sorry to hear that CaddyJim...I have seen pedestrians try to cross the street at 7th Street and Figueroa, not paying attention to the left turn arrow that eastbound traffic turning north on figuero has....I also try to not take off too soon after my light turns to green while waiting at a red...

The thing is that I was not waiting at the intersection for the red light to turn green. The light for me was green a long time before I even reached the intersection. The man ran the red light for a good period of time because like I said, I was on the very first lane and he had to run past the 3 right lanes before he got hit.

The man ran the red light for a good period of time...he had to run past the 3 right lanes before he got hit.

Darwinism at work! :thumbsup:

Darwinism at work! :thumbsup:


hahahaa...

hopefully that fool doesn't dish up a lawsuit though.

CaddyJim, was the damage significant, ie. did the airbags deploy?

Consider it worth like... 45 Points.... LOL
His fault, you have eye witness account.
Sounds like an idiot, so who knows he could
cause you to waste time with a F'n lawsuit (Geez, I hate people who do that)

hahahaa...
hopefully that fool doesn't dish up a lawsuit though.
CaddyJim, was the damage significant, ie. did the airbags deploy?
My car was not seriously damaged. As I wrote earlier, my windshield is cracked badly but did not shatter and there are several obvious dents on my fender and hood along with some scratches. As for the airbags, they did not go off.
I am not too worried about my car because that can be fixed. I am however am very worried about the man because even though it may be his fault, getting hit by a car is a terrible thing and I hope he's doing alright.

I bet the Pedesrian is "THINKING" lawsuit!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$

http://usera.imagecave.com/BobsWork/gorilla.jpg

It's really sad that so many people don't care about properly crossing the street. It's hard, especially when you get in a hurry.
I used to live in CA so I know exactly what you are talking about. I remember when I lived up North I used to hear about someone getting hit by a car or a bus almost every day and to see people cross the streets there it's amazing that it wasn't way worse.
I'd rest easy knowing that you were in the right and make sure to keep on getting your car fixed without delay. The longer you wait the harder it may be to collect. If anyone has a right to suit it's you!
Just think of all the emotional distress you are going through and the property damage you suffered because he couldn't wait for a crossing signal.
Did he get his meter fed? I think I'd rather pay a 20 dollar parking ticket than get hit by a car!

The problem we have around this area is people won't even walk to an intersection to cross. We have lots of immigrants in this area and they all just cross a 5 lane road without any signal at all, they just try to time between cars and run. I am amazed not more people are getting hurt around here.

STUPID!

http://usera.imagecave.com/BobsWork/OGRISH-dot-com-redlight1.jpg

http://usera.imagecave.com/BobsWork/OGRISH-dot-com-redlight2.jpg

Yikes, hope all turns out well for the pedestrian and you. Also hope no lawyers get involved despite the pedestrian clearly being at fault.

What sucks is, supposedly...

A few years ago here in NJ, they passed the law saying that pedestrians have the right-of-way NOT MATTER WHAT. Meaning, if some dumba$$ steps out into traffic its the driver's responsiblity to avoid them - regaurdless of crosswalks and/or lights.

Dont you love that logic: "You hit me with your car as I tried to cross the street illegally. Therefore you should have to pay me." :banghead:

This is exactly why I HATE lawyers. :annoyed:
Don't hate the player...hate the game...

Hmmm..looks like CadillacNJ got himself edited out of this thread by the Mods..as he should be.

Here in Fairbanks we have many people that come to town from villiages that have no cars at all. They leave the sidewalk anytime and anywhere they like and head right into heavy traffic as if it didn't exist. To top it off, a hefty percentage of the time they are wearing heavy clothing that obstructs their vision and hearing and they are inebriated. You learn to spot all the possible problem people and to be ready for anything.

I feel your pain. I was leaving work (Hackensack,NJ) around 6:30, i soon as i pulled out of the parking lot (gated). A homeless guy bounced off my hood. At first i thought i really did hit someone. Later I found out it was a scam. Anyway, after he bounced off my hood(no damage). He looked up at me and closed his eyes and played dead.

I drove around him, parked back in the lot, by the time i got back he was GONE! I went back in to my office, with the help of my boss we called the police. They came and took my story. The cop was very sympethetic, since i diddnt leave the scene i was fine (thank god). At the same time i got up there, he got a call that a Gray BMW, hit someone near my block. Obviously the CTS could look like a BMW ( i guess). The cop at that point still felt the whole thing was bs. As we went outside to look at my car, he was sure it was bullshit because i had no damage on my car.

At that point an idiot starting limpign up to us. He claimed he was the guy that was hit, he wasnt because he was wearing different clothes. Funniest thing i saw that night. Also he claimed he had a witness, but he had to go to work! In the end i was freaked out for no reason, and Hackensack police saved the day! Piece of advice, DRIVE SLOW in dark, scary places!

Don't hate the player...hate the game...

Lemme guess, youre a lawyer? :o Maybe I should revise my statement to say I hate ambulance-chasing lawyers who make a fortune promoting greed and deceit in our frivilous lawsuit-happy society. :rant2:

Hopefully that puts you back on my good side. :cheers:

http://www.killsometime.com/Video/video.asp?ID=140
That sucks

Shyster lawyers have been hiring floppers for years to take dives in front of cars and fake injuries. Floppers that have injuries that show up on x-rays like dislocations get big money.Most of this stuff was invented in the northeast, perfected, and exported to the rest of the country. Now it's everywhere.

Here in Fairbanks we have many people that come to town from villiages that have no cars at all. They leave the sidewalk anytime and anywhere they like and head right into heavy traffic as if it didn't exist. To top it off, a hefty percentage of the time they are wearing heavy clothing that obstructs their vision and hearing and they are inebriated. You learn to spot all the possible problem people and to be ready for anything.

I'm sure you guys know that there are scam artists that skillfully through themselves in front of your car for the insurance money. Some times they do it to steal your car.