Driver Hits Elderly Pedestrian

How many more people must be injured or killed on the streets of this city by motor vehicles before something is done? I'm not sure how the driver slowed down to avoid hitting a bicyclist but managed to hit a pedestrian instead, because the bicyclist blocked the view of the pedestrian? That would mean that the bicyclist and the pedestrian were in the same line of sight, so unless the car sped up as soon as the bicycle passed out of the lane, but was not completely out of the street yet, the driver would have seen the pedestrian. Drivers need to slow down and take extra care when making turns to make sure that a bike or a pedestrian isn't in the way of their turning left or right.

The driver of the car said he had turned left onto Orange from Bishop on his way home when he saw a cyclist in front of him suddenly slow down. So, the driver said, he hit the brakes.

And at the same time he hit an "old man" who was crossing the street.

The driver said he hadn't seen the man before hitting him, because the cyclist blocked his view.

"I bumped him," the driver said. "He just fell.


We do not know the whole story yet.So we do not know if the driver is to blame.

"Driver Hits Elderly Jaywalker"

posted by: tmctague on October 8, 2020 12:26pm
Cars are parked so close to the corners in East Rock that you have to say a prayer and slow-roll into traffic so that you can see if cars (or cyclists) are coming. Turning onto Orange St. from Clark or Bishop are examples of low visibility corners, but they are widespread in the neighborhood.


My comment aged like milk unfortunately. Cars are parked too close to the corners in East Rock, it's very hard to see oncoming traffic, pedestrians, and cyclists.

Though circumstances may differ; the driver is always obligated to yield to pedestrians as is possible.
Having said that; the driver's story smells fishy.

Three-fifths, as Heather suggests, the driver's statement is implausible. I live a couple blocks away from Nica's and walk, bike, and drive around there regularly. A bike, unlike a car or truck, is not going to block your view of a pedestrian.

People interested in reducing such crashes may want to look into the Safe Streets Coalition of New Haven http://newhavensafestreets.blogspot.com/

THREE-FIFTHS: "We do not know the whole story yet.So we do not know if the driver is to blame."

C'mon. You wouldn't apply that reasoning to, say, a police shooting of an unarmed man. It's the same thing here. The driver has the responsibility to know that the path ahead is clear.

In my opinion, Orange and Bishop is definitely one of those intersections that would likely be better and safer with having a traffic light. Orange Street itself is a heavily traveled corridor in the city between both East Rock and Downtown. They should make it safer by putting down speed humps, stop signs or adding more traffic signals. They have to really inspect these streets where accidents would likely happen..

It's a tricky intersection. Drivers have to check all six lanes of traffic: pedestrian crosswalk, bike lane, and car lane in each direction and its very busy with walkers, cyclists, and cars. Delivery trucks for Nica's often block the view for drivers and cyclists. At night, its not well lit which makes it hard to see the pedestrians and cyclists (many of whom don't use lights). Another street lamp there would be very helpful. The large apartment building on that corner doesn't have much lighting in front of it either. Its a very dark intersection relative to how busy it is.

I know everyone loves to blame the big bad car drivers, but it should be reiterated that this is a tricky intersection, as a number are in East Rock, along Orange St. Obviously, it's the driver's responsibility to make sure the coast is clear before proceeding. But between cars parked close to corners cutting down visibility, two lanes of vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic, and bike traffic, it's always nerve-wracking.

My guess is that the "sudden" cyclist distracted the driver, who forgot to look both ways again before proceeding, not realizing that by then another person entered the crosswalk.

When I'm crossing the street at an intersection while a car is looking to turn, as a general rule, I just wait, or walk behind their car, both for my own safety and to give the driver one less pedestrian to worry about. I never assume I can always be seen.

Headline: Driver hits elderly pedestrian
Comments: The bicyclists are at it again!

This is indeed a "tricky" intersection. It is important to hold drivers accountable (too often, they are let off easy), but so lots of the blame also lies with the city's reluctance to address the poor design of our streets. Elicker ran on this in part, but there has been little follow-up.

I wish we had a pedestrian safety movement that was ready to shut down intersections after incidents of traffic violence. Let's block traffic until we get commitments from the city to start taking this seriously.

My question to all is How come the cyclist did not stick around as a witness to this accident?Some states that is the law.