TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Josiff Mathial, 13, has been charged with pedestrian abuse of a crosswalk after he was struck by a vehicle Thursday on Alexis Road in Toledo.
Mathial suffered two broken legs. Police say the boy had a "do not cross" signal at the crosswalk, but proceeded into the street.
WTF? Don't police have better things to do?
Comments ... #
They got something right.
posted by justphillips on Jul 30, 2010 at 06:28:41 pm #
So because someone got hurt they shouldn't be charged? I don't get your reasoning bikerdude/
Pedestrians have to obey traffic signals. End of that story.
I get really tired of all the punks who think they are either immortal or that I'll be cited when I fail to avoid their lunge into the street. Hopefully Mathial will be a lesson for them.
I'd like to hear more details before I make a statement.
In my part of town kids no longer use the sidewalks in residential neighborhoods. They walk two and three abreast down the middle of the street. We drive behind them at the speed of a walk.
posted by oldsendbrdy on Jul 30, 2010 at 10:51:38 pm #
I would think getting his legs broken is enough of a lesson without having to get charged, too.
There are little details to this story, but I am disgusted with the way kids walk in the middle of streets lately.
Giuliani, while well-hated by New Yorkers and ex-New Yorkers like myself, was super hard ass on jaywalking... with ridiculous fines... but many people say it's his strict smack down on the little things that really helped clean up the city.
posted by toledolen_ on Jul 31, 2010 at 01:36:29 am #
In this society when a lawsuit is always iminent, charges are important for the driver to protect his assets.
You're right, gunz1 - it's all about assigning some type of responsibility for the accident. And I doubt the fine, if any, that will accompany that charge is more than $100.
Also, the cops were called to the scene because it was an injury accident. You ALWAYS do that if there are injuries. I assume once they were on the scene, they learned enough that it was fairly obvious who was at fault, and wrote up the kid. I don't see this as a waste of time on the cops' part.
If the vehicle sustained damage due to the collision, wouldn't the vehicle owner need a police report to make an insurance claim to repair the damage?
That's exactly what I was thinking, gunz1. If there hadn't had been a charge, the mother would have had a lawsuit filed a few hours after the motorist had gotten home. It's part of the "lawsuit lottery" around here.
It's really too bad about the kid, but pedestrians have to obey traffic laws too.
It's a shame the kid got hurt, but I agree: If a pedestrian is at fault for an accident, they should be cited for it. However, can't an officer "cite" someone without "charging" them?
I am sure there are details to this story that I don't know. There are true accidents and then there are smash-ups that occur because someone was being an idiot. Perhaps the police determined that the latter was the case here.
I was once, about 12 or 13 years ago, cited for causing a minor, non-injury accident -- though I contended that the driver I was following was behaving erratically, causing me to make a wrong split-second judgment -- but I wasn't charged with anything.
We drive behind them at the speed of a walk.
Note that I don't live in your neighborhood, because, well, I fear that my temper would get the best of me and I'd run a few over.
I did encounter a fellow on roller blades in the middle of the street the other day who refused to move to the side walk. I followed along for a hundred yards or so, wondering if I'd encountered a mentally challenged person of some stripe. He moved to the sidewalk at the next corner and I didn't bother to ask.
You know, one possible solution to the idiots walking in the street might involve a paintball gun cranked up to 300 or so. I know from experience the paintballs will leave welts at close range.
Jesus Christ, the kid is 13 years old. He was probably looking down at his cell phone calling or texting at the crosswalk.
Yes, he should have been more careful and I get the need to protect the driver if it wasn't his fault. Beyond that, until different facts emerge, this is just a kid being dumb at 13.
I see lots of kids that age and younger walking around my neighborhood like they own it. One day, there was a whole group of them standing on the corner, being extremely loud. When I asked them to please quiet down, they proceed to start marching in a line like in a parade, yelling and singing at the top of their lungs.
I was sorta wishing I'd had a paintball gun that day...
Valbee: The garden hose is an excellent alternative.
Hey, McCaskey! Long time no see.
I missed the part about the kid being 13, but even so I don't see writing a ticket as being out of line. If the parents decide to file suite the citation would tend to protect the driver. At least, I'd think it would.
I just get amused when a story about a 13-year-old kid being hit by a car--even if it's the kid's fault--being turned into a _ 'God-damned punk kids walking in the streets like they own them'_ kind of thread.
Some adults forgot--conveniently--that 13-year-olds make dumb mistakes--innocent mistakes. He wasn't stealing candy from the corner store or hot-wiring cars or smoking pot.
"...can't an officer "cite" someone without "charging" them?"
I wonder, too. "Charge" seems a bit extreme for a kid. I know he is 13. I was unaware a kid could be charged after getting hit by a car. I don't remember reading about a kid getting charged in an accident in which he got hit before.
My apologies... I just watched the video on WTOL's site. I thought the kid was walking. I didn't realize he was riding a bike.
That might explain why he was charged, though. I think I recall hearing that kids under a certain age are permitted to ride bikes on the sidewalk, but they still have to obey the traffic laws.
A couple of years ago, a student at Waite was hit twice on Front Street in the same school year. Unfortunately there is a "they have to stop for me or I dare you" attitude. Hit me, injure me , me sue you.
Valbee - that's a shame. We have quite a few teens/pre-teens in my neighborhood, & I can't even begin to imagine them reacting like that!
Mom2, there are lots of kids in my neighborhood who wouldn't behave that way (and my own two would have never gotten away with it) either. But I didn't recognize these kids from our block. There's a park down the street, so there are a lot of kids passing through the neighborhood. I watch them closely now. My house was broken into a year ago by two kids who, according to my neighbor's son who saw them leave, "couldn't have been more than 12."
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The boy is guilty as charged.
He doesn't have a leg to stand on.
posted by CharlesBronson on Jul 30, 2010 at 06:02:01 pm #