Accident in front of Melrose

[atb]

Went to Melrose for the game tonight. Got there around 8:30pm and the whole block in front of Melrose was blocked off with police crime scene tape. Apparently two girls were hit by a car right in front of Melrose, did anyone see more info on the news?

[jar_e]

http://www.gov.calgary.ab.ca/citybea...220705_24409_0

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CITYBEAT - CITY OF CALGARY PRESS RELEASE
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At about 6:50 PM on Thursday the 15 March 2007, police, fire
and EMS responded to the “T” intersection at 17 Ave and
Collegiate Lane SW where two pedestrians had been struck by a
vehicle.

The pedestrians, both young ladies in their mid-teens were
walking northbound across 17 Ave SW from the west corner of
Collegiate Lane. Several vehicles had stopped but as they
neared the north side of the avenue they were struck by a
white Honda that was being driven westbound on 17 Ave SW.

Both pedestrians were treated and transported by EMS to
hospital in life threatening condition. One remains in life
threatening condition and the other has been upgraded to non
-life-threatening. The driver of the car, a young adult male
and only occupant was not injured.

The Traffic Section is investigating this collision.

[Shazam]

That intersection is notorious for accidents. Heck, I've been at Melrose when an accident happened.

[Flames09]

OMG I hope their okay.

[OILFAN #81]

All I can say is UGH!!!!!!! People being hit by goddamn cars pisses me the f off.

I pray that these two ladies are okay.

[PsYcNeT]

I eavesdropped (read: she was loud and sitting right behind me) a girl on the bus going home tonight mention she witnessed it and proceeded to describe it in grisly and stomach-churning detail to the person she was conversing with on her phone.

Suffice to say, I hope this guy gets the book thrown at him...

[Temporary_User]

Hopefully they recover. It sounds like one has already been upgraded to non-life threatening condition. Wow, both such young girls... Neither of them will ever be the same. truely sad..
psycnet, you mention that this guy should get the book thrown @ him. I don't know the full details of the situation..
Had the driver been drinking?
Was he speeding?
What I gather is they were walking from around the starbucks across the street to the side melrose is on. I would assume the cars that were heading eastbound saw the girls wanted to cross, but this honda driving westbound simply did not notice this happening. I dunno, it would have been darkish by the time this happened, so Im assuming it was a total accident..
If however I am wrong somehow, I hope this guy gets punished.

[PsYcNeT]

The way the girl behind me described it, the guy just blew through the intersection at a fairly high speed, as the girls went up and over his windshield, and landed a good distance from where they were struck. Shoes went flying, and there was blood everywhere.

More than I wanted to state on a public forum for sure :/

[4X4]

Hate to sound like an apologist, but I doubt that this guy intentionally hit these people. In other words, it was an accident. It does sound like an avoidable accident, but an accident nonetheless.

Something tells me that the judge can throw any book he wants at the guy, but the guy's real punishment is going to be the unforgettable image of those girls hitting his windshield.

[Temporary_User]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

The way the girl behind me described it, the guy just blew through the intersection at a fairly high speed, as the girls went up and over his windshield, and landed a good distance from where they were struck. Shoes went flying, and there was blood everywhere.

More than I wanted to state on a public forum for sure :/

Like i said, i don't know the full story, but it was a T intersection. meaning there was no real intersection this guy ran through. I get the impression that these girls were basically J-walking. the speed limit on 17th is 50, which would do quite a bit of harm if hit @ that speed.
Without knowing all of the details and not seeing it, all i can do is speculate..
But the way I see it, sadly it was the girls fault and all 3 are going to have to mentally deal with this tragedy the rest of their lives. Unfortunately the girls physically as well.
Hopefully its a good recovery.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Something tells me that the judge can throw any book he wants at the guy, but the guy's real punishment is going to be the unforgettable image of those girls hitting his windshield.

Many years ago a guy and his girlfriend(maybe wife?) were walking along 17th avenue and thier bus pulled up across the street. The guy went to pull his girlfriend with him and he darted into traffic but she resisted his grasp and he went into traffic by himself. He proceeded to be hit and killed by my dad, who was driving taxi at the time. He was cleared of any wrongdoing, but it haunted him for many many years. I can't even imagine what his girlfriend went though watching it go down.

[The Goon]

Saw the car's windshield on the news this morning. Just awful.

Police have charged the 23-year-old driver, saying "alcohol was a factor".

One of the girls is in serious condition.

[Resolute 14]

The police description suggests that the girls were legally crossing the street.

The pedestrians, both young ladies in their mid-teens were
walking northbound across 17 Ave SW from the west corner of
Collegiate Lane. Several vehicles had stopped but as they
neared the north side of the avenue they were struck by a
white Honda that was being driven westbound on 17 Ave SW.

Based on the description, I am going to guess that some clown ignored the fact that traffic was stopped for two people crossing the street, and blew through the intersection without looking to see if anyone was crossing.

[Nufy]

Whenever I am on 17 Ave SW I always go slow...

1. Traffic is ususally pretty heavy.
2. There are always hotties to check out.
3. Jaywalkers


Hope the girls are OK.........

[SeeGeeWhy]

I'm hearing different stories about it, depending on which news outlet you listen to. Sounds like the condition of the girls has stabilized, which is the most important thing.

That is a terrible spot on 17th. Yes, pedestrians always have the right of way, period, but how many of you out there stop everytime you see a person standing on a corner of an uncontrolled intersection on 17th ave?

How many of you cross a busy, uncontrolled street without making sure traffic isn't coming first?

How many of you see a person stopped in the left hand lane on 17th and assume they are turning left, and just go around the car?

It is just a tragic combination of circumstances and fortunately no one died, let's just hope that the conditions of the young ones continue to improve.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

Yes, pedestrians always have the right of way, period

This is not actually true. Jaywalkers do not have the right of way. Also, pedestrians only have the right of way at marked crosswalks. People aren't even supposed to cross at unmarked intersections, for good reason.

If pedestrians always had the right of way, people would be flinging themselves onto the street, hoping to win the auto-lotto (okay, maybe not)

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Shazam

This is not actually true. Jaywalkers do not have the right of way. Also, pedestrians only have the right of way at marked crosswalks. People aren't even supposed to cross at unmarked intersections, for good reason.

If pedestrians always had the right of way, people would be flinging themselves onto the street, hoping to win the auto-lotto (okay, maybe not)

This has come up before. A driver never has the right to hit someone because they are crossing illegally. If someone jaywalks in front of a car, the car has to stop for them. So in that sense pedestrians always have the right of way.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Burninator

This has come up before. A driver never has the right to hit someone because they are crossing illegally. If someone jaywalks in front of a car, the car has to stop for them. So in that sense pedestrians always have the right of way.

Of course a driver never has the right to hit someone. But what it does mean is that if a driver did hit someone that was jaywalking, it's not an automatic charge to the driver just because he did hit that person - circumstances of the accident now matter.

[Bobblehead]

Pedestrians in Calgary are more brave (to put it politely) than any other city I've driven in. I've seen many people step into traffic and stare down the on coming traffic. It's crazy.

[RedHot25]

Really Bobble? I've been in other cities that make Calgary pedestrians look like pansies...