Such a tragedy that has occurred in South Troy this week. Nothing can be worse than losing a child, for the whole family, extended family, neighbors and friends.
Children are innocent and very unaware of dangers about them. There is no blaming anyone in this situation, Officer John Wright, I am sure is in a very sad emotional state. I can speak on both sides of this issue. In my early twenties I was in So. Lansing burgh, coasting to a light at 102nd St. when a child playing tag with many other children in front of Mt. Moriah Lodge ran out from the sidewalk and right into the side of my car. I had no idea of what had happened, just that I heard a loud bang on the side of my car. There was a Wedding going on inside the facility, all the Parents were inside and the children outside playing. This young man was 6 yrs. Old. I don’t believe he even knew what had happened as he was involved in his being chased by others. I was sick to my stomach with worry. A mob came out and surrounded me hurling accusations over something they hadn’t seen. I was alone. Upset emotionally and scared. Troy Police came, we all went up to the hospital with the child and thank God no injuries. I never forgot it.
Jump ahead 8 years, my Son was coming home on the bus from the Lansing burgh Boys and Girls club and departed from the bus and crossed in front, and a car decided to go ahead anyway from behind the bus and clipped Michael as he was crossing right into the path of a truck coming the other way. Michael was severely injured, he was 6 also. Later that night after he was transferred from Samaritan Hospital to St. Peters, I was taken aside by the Dr’s and told there was a very good chance he wasn’t going to make the night. They would do all they could to relieve the pressure and fluid on his brain, he had a huge clot on the side of his head filled with fluid and blood that made his head look 1-1/2 times the size it was. I went into the bathroom and threw up. I know both sides and the pain is horrible.
Day in and day out in North Central we complain about people not using the sidewalks, we put in new sidewalks and people still walk in the middle of the road, blocking cars trying to get by. Mothers push their little ones in the “umbrella strollers”, they don’t realize when walking across a intersection against the light, those little ones are 5 to 6 ft. out in front of them in flimsy little strollers. How is a driver to see them?
We had a little boy hit on 6th Ave. just south of 101st St. He ran out from between 2 cars, and I believe he was about 6 yrs. of age. They are too SMALL to see! Adults have to watch these poor little ones. This fellow was severely hurt too, and no one could locate his parents. My God the memories flooded back!
The family of our latest little victim are heartbroken, the Community is upset. Officer Wright is devastated. The Family is demanding ANSWERS. There are none. Just facts of what happened, never, ever to be changed. The poor little guy was in the street unsupervised, way too small to be seen. If he were seen Officer Wright would have stopped. No one can change this; all we can do is pray for the little one and all those involved. Pray that in the future also, these children will be kept in a safer place, and the Parents and other Guardians remember this tragedy and protect the rest of these precious little lives.
The family is looking for an apology from Officer Wright - maybe the family should be apologizing to him. Do they really think he has accepted the fact a child ran out in front of him and he hit him with his car. This poor officer needs to live with this for the rest of his life because a 5 year old child was not being watched and allowed to cross streets on his own.
ReplyDeleteThis was a heart wrenching accident. For the family, a little life was lost, and is now is GODS' loving arms. For the officer who will replay that day over and over and wonder about the what ifs or what should haves. It was an accident.and nothing more. What can be learned? Mothers/guardians watch the children more closely, get more speed traps set up in neighborhoods all around Troy. This is not the first and it will not be the last and as always the little ones suffer.
ReplyDeletewhy is the cop being blamed again? oh wait he was driving down the street, where he should be, while the kids guardian was inside, this makes alot of sense to me.......
ReplyDeleteIt is too bad that the guardians of this child could not be charged with endangerment. The lesson taught would be an enormous one, but who would learn?
ReplyDeletePart I....In the excitement of the moment, when kids play tag or chase a ball into the street causing them to run into traffic, that's one thing. For kids are kids and, as just about everyone knows, in their exuberance they sometimes do the totally unexpected when darting all around outdoors.
ReplyDeleteBut as a 71-year-old grandmother, I know it takes a lot more than just telling a child to stay out of the road when playing outside and that there are certain hard and fast rules that must be emphasized to them over and over again by parents and/or their guardians, in order to totally get through to them the very real danger of running out into the road. Rules that even some teenagers and adults themselves would do well to take a crash course in regarding correct conduct in driving on, and walking in, our busy roadways. If for no other reason than to set a good example for young children.
When I was a kid back in the 1940's it was pounded into our heads by our parents, grandparents, and other family members the following rules of street safety, and if some of these rules appear to be redundant it is because they had to be repeated over and over again, in different ways, in order to impress on young children the life-saving importance of obeying strict safety rules such as those starred below:
* We were taught to not only never run into the street for any reason whatsoever, but moreover, to not even think about stepping off a curb at the corner while waiting to cross the street until we had looked both ways, even if there was a stop light there. This, we were told, was because some very thoughtless people in a real big rush, sometimes drive right straight through red lights and STOP signs, often causing serious injury and even death.
* We were taught, and it was underscored time and again, to look up the street, then look down the street, and then look back up it once again before crossing. And, if there were no stoplight at all on the corner, to never cross the street if a car was within at least a half-block of us in either direction. This, we were told, was for our own good because it was totally impossible for us, as children, to correctly estimate the speed of a car, a bus, or a truck. We were also told it was too darn bad if this caused us to wait an extra minute or two to cross the street in order to do whatever all-important thing we thought we had to do immediately. This taught us patience, which there seems to be far too little of in today's world.
* We were made very aware of the fact that it was not only very dangerous to run willy-nilly into the street between parked cars, but that it was very rude to make innocent drivers slam on their brakes at the very last second, causing them great stress and anxiety and shaking them up really bad, simply because of our own selfishness in trying to get somewhere in a big fat hurry.
Part II....
ReplyDelete* We were taught that we were just as much responsible for our own safety as were the drivers of the vehicles.
* We were taught it was unacceptable to possibly risk our own lives and the lives of others if an accident were to occur because of our own recklessness, as it could cause a great deal of physical pain and emotional suffering to ourselves and to others if there were a crash and someone was hurt or killed. We were taught respect for ourselves and for other people.
Needless to say Tina, if a small child runs into the road while playing tag with other kids or running after a ball, it's one thing. However these days, we have more and more teenagers and adult nincompoops, stepping off the curb between two parked cars and then sauntering across the street without ever looking one way or the other, and with their eyes locked straight ahead. I'm not speaking here of the elderly or the disabled taking their time crossing the street at the corner; they deserve to be honored and respected. What I'm talking about here are those able bodied teenagers and adults who take their own sweet time and walk ever-so-slowly smack dab down the middle of a busy street, as if they alone owned it, and never once looking back over their shoulder to see if any motorist was perhaps behind them trying to get through. What does this teach little children who learn from example. Or, what about those adults who float lazily across an intersection, against the light, pushing a stroller with a little child inside. What does this teach young children, who learn by example, about road safety?
They do this whenever and wherever they please, without once looking in either direction to see if a vehicle is coming or not. Again, what does this teach their own children, the children in their extended families, or even just watchful neighborhood kids, about how precious their little lives are?
If young adults and older adults don't follow the rules of safe pedestrian conduct, if indeed they ever even were taught that such rules existed in the first place, how can they ever teach very young children by word and example to perceive the dangers involved in such careless and conceited behavior.
Either these young adults and older adults were not taught good manners and self-responsibility as children, and therefore have no respect whatsoever for others, or else when stepping foolishly out into oncoming traffic, they are simply too dumb, or possibly too drugged up, to care.
When these teenagers and adults blindly step right in front of a motorist without first looking to see if any motorist is coming, there is only one message this extraordinarily arrogant behavior sends to that motorist, and to young watchful children:
"Hey man, I'm the pedestrian. You're only the motorist, man. You have to be forever on the lookout for ME as I thoughtlessly dart right out in front of your vehicle without ever looking around at all, so go right ahead and slam into me. I DARE YOU. Remember, I'll SUE! That's the LAW. If you don't like my legal right as a pedestrian to hog the whole road at all times as I ever so slowly mosey along in the middle of it without even so much as a swift glance at you, that's tough, man. I don't give a flying (expletive) about your moral right to be treated with respect. There ain't any laws on the books about some kind of respect owed you anyway, man! So there".
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Part III..........And what's most pathetic of all, these dopes and/or dopers think they're real "cool" strutting all around like that, owning the road so to speak. My generation invented the slang word "cool" as used in its present context, and believe me, these buffoons don't even know the meaning of the word. Cool means awesome or being very much on top of things and events, as in "way cool".
ReplyDeleteThese people are no way near "cool". They're in no way near awesome, only awful, and they're not on top of anything but the ignorance scale. They're simply what my generation would call "dumbbells". And by the actions of many of them, they appear to be much too stupid to ever have their invisible dunce caps removed. So there they are, in their self-centered little corner of life, sitting forever on the dunce's stool in the middle of the busy road. What does this kind of "cool" teach little children about their safety?
Perhaps our pre-schools, grammar schools, high schools and self-help programs could incorporate into their courses some old-fashioned lessons like the ones starred above and title the lesson Respecting ALL Others: Having Respect for Drivers as Well As Pedestrians Too. Perhaps even forgoing the more popular lessons in How to Cook a Hot Dog Correctly and concentrate instead on How to Cross the Street Safely And With Respect for Others Out There ~ Because, Believe It Or Not ~ It's THEIR World Too.
Back in my day, we only had our parents and family members teaching us manners of the road and street, but now, in addition, we have pre-school education, neighborhood groups, community centers, various volunteer workers, civic and church organizations, youth groups and inner city clubs, housing project associations, etc., etc., to help get the word out. No more mere TALK about this very real and sometimes fatal problem. Clear ACTION required.
It's a sad and deadly world if adults are not alert to where they are, where they're going, what they're doing, and especially, what kind of example they're setting for little children at all times. If they're not fully awake to all the perils that abound in traffic, how on earth do they expect young children to be?
This article was not written to offend anyone in particular but rather to enlighten in general by recreating the way things once were done to instruct children about common safety rules. And must be done again.
Instead of destructive blame arising from all this heartbreak, there should instead be constructive action taken now by not only child advocates and community leaders, but by just plain concerned citizens who see the Big Picture and will hopefully teach important road safety tips to those who obviously and urgently, need to learn them.
dirty pig
ReplyDeleteDirty pig? Please explain? Dirty pig toward the Cop? Dirty pig towards the guardian who was given this child to take care of. I thank the Lord everyday that this child is now safely in heaven because from what I know of his parents and his "guardian" this little angel did not stand a chance at a decent,normal, healthy life. I pray for the officer who has to live with this for the rest of his life. I pray for the soul of that little boy.
ReplyDeleteIt is a terrible tragedy to lose any loved one . But come on how many times do you drive down a street and see very young children out playing alone???? look next time you drive by a schoolbus stop, where are these parents??????????
ReplyDeletelook all those kids wonder the streets w/out there unfit bronx parents dont blame the cop,the city is full of dirt bag parents that walk in front of cars so thats were there kids get it from! get out of our city !!
ReplyDelete