Pedestrians mown down on Commonwealth Avenue

Deref said :

A wide road, excellent visibility, 60kph speed limit…how the fsck do you run into people crossing the road unless you’re trying really hard?

At least 2 possibilities come to mind.
1) pedestrian steps out onto road right in front of vehicle.
2) two cars are cruising down the road at same speed but one slightly behind, so the one behind can only see what is directly in front of him. Pedestrian crosses, slightly behind car happens to be the unlucky one

I was driving city-bound on Comm Ave just after the accident on Sunday, just as the ambulances were arriving. It looked like the people were much closer than 70m from the pedestrian crossing. It’s such a wide crossing there, it looked like one of them at least was only just off the crossing. They were right near the garden bed part at the crossing.

Also, I saw a small child crying next to one of the victims… was there perhaps some kind of child wandering into traffic situation or something?

It all seemed quite odd.

These people were not jaywalking (as per post #11.) Don’t forget also that the foremost rule of the road is to avoid a collision.

Sure, let’s assume innocence on the part of the driver … However, it seems pretty suspicious that with such a wide, open road that the driver was unable to avoid hitting the pedestrians.

red_dog said :

Engleburt_Humperdink said :

“Pedestrians mown down on Commonwealth Avenue”

This bizarre title seems to imply fault lying with the driver.

A range of scenarios are possible including fault lying with the ‘pedestrians’. What extra information is johnboy privy to which draws him to the conclusion that it was the drivers fault?!

How can this not be the driver’s fault? Are you suggesting the driver was stationary and the pedestrians ran up and threw themselves at the car? Of course it’s the driver’s fault … they’re the one responsible for the tonne of metal they’re blithely driving in the assumption that everyone’ll just get out of the way. FFS!

+1 EvanJames Don’t think pedestrians on crossings are immune 😉

Nope I’m not suggesting the driver was stationary or the pedestrians threw themselves anywhere.

What I am suggesting is that the car was exactly where you would expect a car to be. Driving in the correct direction on a public road. It’s not like the car swerved off the road and onto a walking track. Whether fatigue, distraction and/or speed were factors is unknown to me.

I think BigD is on the money both in his theory about how the accident may have occurred and the fact that the onus is on the pedestrians to ensure they are not in the way of cars when crossing or that they have sufficient time to cross. This is how it should be too. It’s not like there wasn’t a pedestrian crossing within a short distance.

It’s one thing to dart across a one lane quiet road, but to avoid a crossing and then try to dodge traffic on a very busy 3 lane road, is quite frankly, reckless and dangerous.

The biggest floral show in the southern hemisphere with the most dangerous pedestrian access. Good one Canberra! Seriously that temporary crossing must be one of the worst black spots in Canberra, not to mention the horrible traffic snarls it causes for a month every year. Has anyone considered a temporary raised walkway? Keep the traffic flowing and provide safe access.

EvanJames said :

Further, I wonder if they’ve thought ahead to that thump and crunch as they hit the person, the blood spattering, the screaming…

People can trip, fall, not get out of the way quickly enough, fair dinkum it makes me think we’ve had it as a species, watching this stupid, aggressive and yes murderous behaviour.

You shouldn’t need speed limits and signs and whatnot to take responsibility and drive in control, so you can avoid likely and possible eventualities.

grrr. (/rant).

The blood spattering, the screaming…
the smell of lawyers gathering…
Hopefully less of a factor than the guilt, but not to be ignored.

Engleburt_Humperdink said :

“Pedestrians mown down on Commonwealth Avenue”

This bizarre title seems to imply fault lying with the driver.

A range of scenarios are possible including fault lying with the ‘pedestrians’. What extra information is johnboy privy to which draws him to the conclusion that it was the drivers fault?!

How can this not be the driver’s fault? Are you suggesting the driver was stationary and the pedestrians ran up and threw themselves at the car? Of course it’s the driver’s fault … they’re the one responsible for the tonne of metal they’re blithely driving in the assumption that everyone’ll just get out of the way. FFS!

+1 EvanJames Don’t think pedestrians on crossings are immune 😉

Having seen the accident site and footage of the police undertaking their checks I offer the following opinion:
The car was possibly merging onto Comm Av from Parkes Way.
In doing so the driver would have been looking at traffic coming from Civic, specifically the left hand side London Circuit lane. Those travelling on this road would know that there is a single white line until the bus stop on Commonwelath Avenue which prevents cars from changing lanes.
I theorise that the driver would have merged into traffic probably still looking in his rear view mirror or at the cars in the other lanes and then hit the pedestrian.. not expecting ANYONE to be crossing the road at that point. The Floraide period lights and crossing is a little further down from where the accident occurred. Unfortunately in this instance even if the driver was speeding or not paying proper attention he would not be at fault; the onus is on the pedestrians to ensure they are not in the way of cars when crossing or that they have sufficient time to cross. Interesting to see the outcome, I suspect a caution for the driver.

shadow boxer said :

Jethro said :

shadow boxer said :

They should fence it off during Floriade and push all the pedestrians around and under the bridge. Better outcome for everyone

Once again I completely agree with Shadow Boxer. This is becoming a worrying habit.

Those lights make no sense. They save people, what, a 30 or 40 metre detour and completely stuff up traffic flow on the bridge.

It’s o.k. Jethro, even the stopped clock is right once a day 😉

Twice a day in fact. And that you have been.

Deref said :

A wide road, excellent visibility, 60kph speed limit…how the fsck do you run into people crossing the road unless you’re trying really hard?

On the flip side, how the feck do you get yourself run over with excellent visibility and a 60km/h speed limit?

Unless anyone is suggesting that the driver sped up or aimed to hit these people, then blame lies squarely with the pedestrians IMO, as it was their stupidity (deciding to walk out onto a road, without paying enough attention) that got them run over.

Sgt.Bungers said :

Too many drivers employ the utterly murderous tactic of happily maintaining speed when and lay on the horn when approaching someone who they believe should not be on the road… watching that person scurry out the way… not thinking about what may happen if that person panics and trips over… Only to carry on about how dangerous pedestrians are all the way to the next red traffic light at London Circuit/Parliament House. I urge the idiots who do this to imagine what you would do to the driver who you see maintaining speed towards your children, or a family member, who inevitably may end up on the wrong side of a windscreen for whatever reason.

Ouch, you are channelling me, Sgt Bungers! I often have this rant… Canberra drivers actually, I swear, speed up when they see a person walking on the road that isn’t marked as a crossing. Do they not know that they are actually not allowed to hit people? Regardless of where those people are?

Further, I wonder if they’ve thought ahead to that thump and crunch as they hit the person, the blood spattering, the screaming…

People can trip, fall, not get out of the way quickly enough, fair dinkum it makes me think we’ve had it as a species, watching this stupid, aggressive and yes murderous behaviour.

You shouldn’t need speed limits and signs and whatnot to take responsibility and drive in control, so you can avoid likely and possible eventualities.

grrr. (/rant).

Jethro said :

shadow boxer said :

They should fence it off during Floriade and push all the pedestrians around and under the bridge. Better outcome for everyone

Once again I completely agree with Shadow Boxer. This is becoming a worrying habit.

Those lights make no sense. They save people, what, a 30 or 40 metre detour and completely stuff up traffic flow on the bridge.

It’s o.k. Jethro, even the stopped clock is right once a day 😉

“Pedestrians mown down on Commonwealth Avenue”

This bizarre title seems to imply fault lying with the driver.

A range of scenarios are possible including fault lying with the ‘pedestrians’. What extra information is johnboy privy to which draws him to the conclusion that it was the drivers fault?!

shadow boxer said :

They should fence it off during Floriade and push all the pedestrians around and under the bridge. Better outcome for everyone

Once again I completely agree with Shadow Boxer. This is becoming a worrying habit.

Those lights make no sense. They save people, what, a 30 or 40 metre detour and completely stuff up traffic flow on the bridge.

That controlled crossing doesn’t seem to work for the stupid people.
Driving through on Sunday, a younger jogger ran up to the crossing and stood there. There was no one else waiting to have pressed the button, she just stood there wondering why she couldn’t keep going. Moron.

They really should go under the bridge though, silly choking a major road for pedestrians.

poetix said :

Don’t forget that many of the visitors to Floriade are elderly, and that for many of them 70 metres is quite a long walk.

You miss the point. Given that the pedestrian crossing is closer to floriade than where the accident took place, they would have had to walk 70 metres in order to AVOID the pedestrian crossing. Would have been easier and less painful for all concerned if they just did the right thing and used the crossing.

A wide road, excellent visibility, 60kph speed limit…how the fsck do you run into people crossing the road unless you’re trying really hard?

DUB said :

Are you kidding me?how f**king fat and lazy have you got to be, if you can’t walk SEVENTY metres??
And no, rules are the rules, every time I see jaywalkers strolling as if they are on romantic walk in the middle of the road, I want to mow them down, breaking their legs (aiming for knees) with my bumper. 😀

Rules are rules. But it is only against the rules for a pedestrian to cross the road within 20 metres of a marked crossing (except at the crossing itself). Without more information (I’m not familiar with this area as a pedestrian), then I would be hard pressed to say they were doing something illegal (i.e. I don’t know if they were jaywalkers—not a term that appears in the Australian Road Rules).

Rule 234.

Sgt.Bungers
I drive there every day, yes, I do follow advised speed limit of 60 km/h, but there is a small percentage of cars that do the same, if they were serious about imposing speed limit, then ACT Policing would have set up a speed trap just over the bridge, as you drive from south side, a week of doing exactly that would make people slow down.
As for slowing down for jaywalkers-of course, I do, but in my mind I imagine how I hit them and break their legs, then get out of my car, look down at them, with a grin on my face, kick them slightly, tell them “That will teach you”, then continue with my driving. 🙂

tidalik-I am not calling you fat 😀 (if you aren’t fat), but, judging from comment, perhaps, just lazy?:-)
It’s lazy people like these two female tourists from Sydney ,who cause unnecessary stress to drivers, colliding with vehicles.

Strange ? it’s dead set madness, someone will get killed eventually.

I think the rules for a diabled sticker are ability to walk 100 metres, let them park on the Regatta point side and funnell the able bodied around and under the bridge.

DUB said :

tidalik said :

Seventy metres is a long way from the crossing. It’s a bit rich to expect people to obediently cross at the lights every time, when they have to walk out of their way to do so, especially when they are probably visitors to the national capital. How about drivers just be a bit more observant and slow down when they see confused tourists? It’s not like Floriade isn’t on in the same place, at the same time every year.

Are you kidding me?how f**king fat and lazy have you got to be, if you can’t walk SEVENTY metres??
And no, rules are the rules, every time I see jaywalkers strolling as if they are on romantic walk in the middle of the road, I want to mow them down, breaking their legs (aiming for knees) with my bumper. 😀

Don’t forget that many of the visitors to Floriade are elderly, and that for many of them 70 metres is quite a long walk. Also they may not realise that Commonwealth Avenue is a major road, if they come from Sydney. They may think that it’s part of the park!

It does seem strange that so many people are made to cross the major thoroughfare to see the flowers.

DUB said :

tidalik said :

Seventy metres is a long way from the crossing. It’s a bit rich to expect people to obediently cross at the lights every time, when they have to walk out of their way to do so, especially when they are probably visitors to the national capital. How about drivers just be a bit more observant and slow down when they see confused tourists? It’s not like Floriade isn’t on in the same place, at the same time every year.

Are you kidding me?how f**king fat and lazy have you got to be, if you can’t walk SEVENTY metres??
And no, rules are the rules, every time I see jaywalkers strolling as if they are on romantic walk in the middle of the road, I want to mow them down, breaking their legs (aiming for knees) with my bumper. 😀

I hope you are not calling me fat. 😀

It’s not about rules (although I’m not sure if there are any rules to break), it’s about human nature.

And I think you’ll find that driving at people walking on the road is frowned on by the courts. There actually is a rule against that.

Felix the Cat said :

I’m surprised only two peds got skittled. The amount of peds I see ignoring/not understanding the green man on the traffic lights on Commonwealth Ave is astounding.

I’m surprised only two people got skittled. The amount of people driving cars I see ignoring/not understanding the 60 km/h speed limit currently on Commonwealth Ave… the common sense concept of slowing to below the speed limit in any situation where there’s lots of pedestrians about… the concept of being legally required to slow down and make every attempt to avoid a collision with a human being on any road regardless of if they’re legally allowed to be/cross there or not… is astounding.

Too many drivers employ the utterly murderous tactic of happily maintaining speed when and lay on the horn when approaching someone who they believe should not be on the road… watching that person scurry out the way… not thinking about what may happen if that person panics and trips over… Only to carry on about how dangerous pedestrians are all the way to the next red traffic light at London Circuit/Parliament House. I urge the idiots who do this to imagine what you would do to the driver who you see maintaining speed towards your children, or a family member, who inevitably may end up on the wrong side of a windscreen for whatever reason.

That said, the 60 km/h signage for Floriade leaves a lot to be desired, as usual. Given the amount of times the speed limit is lowered on an annual basis on Commonwealth Ave, why have Variable Speed Limit signs not bee installed?

tidalik said :

Seventy metres is a long way from the crossing. It’s a bit rich to expect people to obediently cross at the lights every time, when they have to walk out of their way to do so, especially when they are probably visitors to the national capital. How about drivers just be a bit more observant and slow down when they see confused tourists? It’s not like Floriade isn’t on in the same place, at the same time every year.

Are you kidding me?how f**king fat and lazy have you got to be, if you can’t walk SEVENTY metres??
And no, rules are the rules, every time I see jaywalkers strolling as if they are on romantic walk in the middle of the road, I want to mow them down, breaking their legs (aiming for knees) with my bumper. 😀

Seventy metres is a long way from the crossing. It’s a bit rich to expect people to obediently cross at the lights every time, when they have to walk out of their way to do so, especially when they are probably visitors to the national capital. How about drivers just be a bit more observant and slow down when they see confused tourists? It’s not like Floriade isn’t on in the same place, at the same time every year.

They should fence it off during Floriade and push all the pedestrians around and under the bridge. Better outcome for everyone

I’m surprised only two peds got skittled. The amount of peds I see ignoring/not understanding the green man on the traffic lights on Commonwealth Ave is astounding.

I just saw this on the news. Interesting how the women are described as pedestrians, yet they didn’t feel like waiting for the green light at the pedestrian crossing like everyone else.

Where I come from they are called jaywalkers.