Walking down the street with my 9 year old son today, I witnessed an accident. We were about to cross the street (I'd stopped to check the traffic) when the woman walking in front of us was clipped by a car making a left turn. She fell to the ground and bounced up again in that way that only a twenty something can manage. Swearing and picking up her cell phone and purse.
I and my son hurried across the street to where the woman was now haranguing the driver of the car who'd pulled over. I asked the woman if she was alright and she said she was. She was much more interested in ripping the driver (a male) a new one than checking her own well being. Another woman came from out of a store and offered to call the cops, but the pedestrian refused. Asked again if she was okay, she said "I'm fine if you people would just leave me alone!" I gave my name and number to the girl as a witness and went on with my errand. I never said a word to the driver because, if I'd gotten started, I'd still be there.
The driver had turned the corner as if no cross walk existed and was apparently not looking at all. The young woman he hit had the advantage of being fast enough to jump out of the way. If it had been 10 seconds later, it would have been me and my son under the wheels of that car.
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Some things are likely universal...and people needing to be more careful is one of them.
I witnessed a similar accident today. I was in a taxi on my way home. We turned the corner when several people in the car noticed that the truck pulling out of the gas station at the corner did not see a girl crossing the road. He clipped her. Thankfully the people in the taxi were hollering 'cause my driver hadn't seen the girl either and might have hit her as she was getting up. The girl managed to get up, she was scared and wet (it was raining off and on all day, so the roads were pretty wet) but didn't appear to be hurt. The driver of the truck had thankfully realized what he had done and stopped. He insisted on taking the girl and her mother to the hospital and having her checked out (police involvement in these things is rarer here it would seem).
In a "it's a small town moment" I happened to know the lady and her daughter who were involved. Turns out the girl is alright, which is a good thing. But the way both drivers and pedestrians here act it's amazing that there aren't more deaths.
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