Car Plows Through Crowd Engaged in Zombie Walk--Who's Wrong? (3 Viewers)

[IvanKaramazov]

How is the driver to know this is a ZombieWalk and not some protest that eventually could turn violent like they did a couple years ago in Seattle. Not every city has their own Phoenix Jones.

Better run them over just in case.

 

[HughHoney]

For the pro Zombie guys, is it okay if I gather a few friends go down and camp out in the middle of Main Street downtown and expect nothing to happen?

Just because you are in a group or in some convention or in a big bicycle pack, you don't throw laws and rules of the road out the window. HTH

So who's more in the wrong, people camped out in the street or a guy possibly causing loss of life with his vehicle? You can't be this dumb, you just can't.

 

[Sand]

BB, this kind of stuff happens on a regular basis where there are large numbers of pedestrians (like the French Quarter I mentioned earlier).
Serious questions: If YOU were walking in an intersection full of people and there is a car inching forward and honking his horn, are you really feeling threatened? Do you honestly think this guy is about to slam the gas and crash through all of us? Would you react by continuing to stand there or would you just move out of the way? Would you even consider hitting his car or sitting on his car or trying to open his door even if you didn't like what he was doing?

I 100% disagree that inching forward/honking is threatening behavior. This happens at sporting events with large numbers of people exiting at once. It happens in crowded areas that have people walking combined with drivers. Most of the time, people don't act like complete jerks and block an intersection without moving. Eventually, enough people move out of the way for a car to pass through without someone being aggressive to the vehicle. In the case above, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, since a couple #######s decided that they would respond to his honking and inching forward by sitting on his hood and a few others by banging on the windows in his car. That's the difference between this being a big story and the rest of the time it being completely non-newsworthy.

Exactly correct. Inching forward really isn't a problem. He shouldn't have laid the horn like that - just inching forward through the crowd is fine. I guarantee in New Orleans if he had done that during Mardi Gras this wouldn't be a debate - he'd be in the Orleans Parish pokey as we speak.

The driver is completely at fault here. From the video it is clear he had plenty of room to turn around and find another route (this is what I would have done). Forcing his way through a peaceful gathering wasn't at all necessary. Laying on the horn and pissing people off wasn't at all necessary. He actually spent very little time inching - it went to gunning very quickly (and before the guy tried open the door). Completely asinine behavior.

Pretty easy call here.

It turned to gunning when people sat on his hood and started to surround his car. That's why he spent very little time inching. I know you can see that so no, it's an easy call there.

He's voluntarily moved forward into a crowd of rowdy, celebratory people. He's going to, by definition, have people surrounding his car. He put himself there. And, while the guy on the hood is annoying, it in no way justifies deadly force.

 

[spOOfy]

He's sitting there at a stop for 6 seconds in the video. Nobody is paying attention to him, there's nothing scary or threatening happening. He then decides to procede through a group of people simply because he has a car. This is when people begin turning on him. Watch all 3 videos. There's children in the crowd, you don't just push your way through a crowd of people because you have a car, especially where there are kids. He's in the wrong.

How many of you have left a sporting event and there's 1000's of people making their way across the street and you're sitting in your car, you just plow through them? No. Every person here has been in a situation like that of the driver, and none of you have done that. Nobody. The guys an idiot, raising idiot kids and if you agree with him you're an idiot as well, or you're fishing.

I have been in a line at a sporting event and we are inching through the crowd of people. Since none of those people have ever stopped in front of me and did not move, hopped on my hood, banged on my windshield and windows or tried to open my car door... you are correct, I have never plowed through them.

 

[Sabertooth]

Who died? Nobody....they were already dead.

 

[HughHoney]

For the pro Zombie guys, is it okay if I gather a few friends go down and camp out in the middle of Main Street downtown and expect nothing to happen?

Just because you are in a group or in some convention or in a big bicycle pack, you don't throw laws and rules of the road out the window. HTH

bingo. was just going to post something similar.

so i can stand in front of a car, illegally blocking traffic. he can start honking at me to move out of the way. he can slowly start creeping up to pass me, honking to alert me to move. at this point i can then bang his car and windows, hop on his hood, smash his windshield and open his passenger door (with his kids inside) and if he speeds away at this point, he's at fault? no freaking way.

So instead of hitting them with his car he could just used a bat, getout of his car and used a bat to clear the crowd. That sounds resonable. He was held up for minutes, MINUTES, plowing into the crowd is certainly acceptable.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

So instead of hitting them with his car he could just used a bat, getout of his car and used a bat to clear the crowd. That sounds resonable. He was held up for minutes, MINUTES, plowing into the crowd is certainly acceptable.

Why are you skipping everything in-between him being held up for minutes and him plowing into the crowd?

Are you a closeted hood jumper, Hugh?

 

[spOOfy]

For the pro Zombie guys, is it okay if I gather a few friends go down and camp out in the middle of Main Street downtown and expect nothing to happen?

Just because you are in a group or in some convention or in a big bicycle pack, you don't throw laws and rules of the road out the window. HTH

bingo. was just going to post something similar.

so i can stand in front of a car, illegally blocking traffic. he can start honking at me to move out of the way. he can slowly start creeping up to pass me, honking to alert me to move. at this point i can then bang his car and windows, hop on his hood, smash his windshield and open his passenger door (with his kids inside) and if he speeds away at this point, he's at fault? no freaking way.

So instead of hitting them with his car he could just used a bat, getout of his car and used a bat to clear the crowd. That sounds resonable. He was held up for minutes, MINUTES, plowing into the crowd is certainly acceptable.

he wanted to get through an intersection that was illegally blocked. standing in front of his car when he is clearly coming, hopping on his hood, banging on his window, punching his windshield and opening his car door are also certainly acceptable, right?

 

[Sabertooth]

So he's just supposed to sit there while these people commit crimes to his property? Just let them assault his family? Maybe turn HIM into a zombie? #### that ####. Game over man. Sucks to be you.

 

[HughHoney]

They didn't start pounding on the car until he started pushing through the crowd. If he had just waited five minutes no one would have been hurt.

you mean on top of the 10 he already waited

You've been to plenty of sporting events, ever got stuck outside one when a huge crowd just takes to the street and you're stuck in your car waiting for the crowd to clear out before you proceed? I'm sure everybody here has and nobody inched their way through the crowd while laying on their horn. Drunks in Philly are a lot scarier than zombies in SD and you've never plowed through a crowd.

 

[Fennis]

So he's just supposed to sit there while these people commit crimes to his property? Just let them assault his family? Maybe turn HIM into a zombie? #### that ####. Game over man. Sucks to be you.

you should sign that on a card to the 64 year old woman who is in the hospital in serious condition.

 

[gianmarco]

BB, this kind of stuff happens on a regular basis where there are large numbers of pedestrians (like the French Quarter I mentioned earlier).
Serious questions: If YOU were walking in an intersection full of people and there is a car inching forward and honking his horn, are you really feeling threatened? Do you honestly think this guy is about to slam the gas and crash through all of us? Would you react by continuing to stand there or would you just move out of the way? Would you even consider hitting his car or sitting on his car or trying to open his door even if you didn't like what he was doing?

I 100% disagree that inching forward/honking is threatening behavior. This happens at sporting events with large numbers of people exiting at once. It happens in crowded areas that have people walking combined with drivers. Most of the time, people don't act like complete jerks and block an intersection without moving. Eventually, enough people move out of the way for a car to pass through without someone being aggressive to the vehicle. In the case above, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, since a couple #######s decided that they would respond to his honking and inching forward by sitting on his hood and a few others by banging on the windows in his car. That's the difference between this being a big story and the rest of the time it being completely non-newsworthy.

Exactly correct. Inching forward really isn't a problem. He shouldn't have laid the horn like that - just inching forward through the crowd is fine. I guarantee in New Orleans if he had done that during Mardi Gras this wouldn't be a debate - he'd be in the Orleans Parish pokey as we speak.

The driver is completely at fault here. From the video it is clear he had plenty of room to turn around and find another route (this is what I would have done). Forcing his way through a peaceful gathering wasn't at all necessary. Laying on the horn and pissing people off wasn't at all necessary. He actually spent very little time inching - it went to gunning very quickly (and before the guy tried open the door). Completely asinine behavior.

Pretty easy call here.

It turned to gunning when people sat on his hood and started to surround his car. That's why he spent very little time inching. I know you can see that so no, it's an easy call there.

He's voluntarily moved forward into a crowd of rowdy, celebratory people. He's going to, by definition, have people surrounding his car. He put himself there. And, while the guy on the hood is annoying, it in no way justifies deadly force.

Annoying? And how about the other people banging on his car windows? Annoying as well?

 

[Sabertooth]

So he's just supposed to sit there while these people commit crimes to his property? Just let them assault his family? Maybe turn HIM into a zombie? #### that ####. Game over man. Sucks to be you.

you should sign that on a card to the 64 year old woman who is in the hospital in serious condition.

She should get a brain transplant while she's in there because she's an idiot. Hope she gets a disturbing the piece ticket.

 

[spOOfy]

For the pro Zombie guys, is it okay if I gather a few friends go down and camp out in the middle of Main Street downtown and expect nothing to happen?

Just because you are in a group or in some convention or in a big bicycle pack, you don't throw laws and rules of the road out the window. HTH

bingo. was just going to post something similar.

so i can stand in front of a car, illegally blocking traffic. he can start honking at me to move out of the way. he can slowly start creeping up to pass me, honking to alert me to move. at this point i can then bang his car and windows, hop on his hood, smash his windshield and open his passenger door (with his kids inside) and if he speeds away at this point, he's at fault? no freaking way.

So instead of hitting them with his car he could just used a bat, getout of his car and used a bat to clear the crowd. That sounds resonable. He was held up for minutes, MINUTES, plowing into the crowd is certainly acceptable.

if they were trying to damage his car and enter his vehicle, i'd be good with the bat too.

 

[HughHoney]

I wonder how the cars next to and behind the guy managed the situation without running anyone over?

If it was over 15 minutes cars proceed without any value of human life. Pretty sure that's a law.

 

[spOOfy]

They didn't start pounding on the car until he started pushing through the crowd. If he had just waited five minutes no one would have been hurt.

you mean on top of the 10 he already waited

You've been to plenty of sporting events, ever got stuck outside one when a huge crowd just takes to the street and you're stuck in your car waiting for the crowd to clear out before you proceed? I'm sure everybody here has and nobody inched their way through the crowd while laying on their horn. Drunks in Philly are a lot scarier than zombies in SD and you've never plowed through a crowd.

we're both from the philly area. and i'm sure he would agree. i have inched through crowds plenty of times. as have all of the other cars around me. the people getting honked at are the cars who sit there waiting.

 

[spOOfy]

I wonder how the cars next to and behind the guy managed the situation without running anyone over?

If it was over 15 minutes cars proceed without any value of human life. Pretty sure that's a law.

this fishing attempt is weak.

 

[Sand]

BB, this kind of stuff happens on a regular basis where there are large numbers of pedestrians (like the French Quarter I mentioned earlier).
Serious questions: If YOU were walking in an intersection full of people and there is a car inching forward and honking his horn, are you really feeling threatened? Do you honestly think this guy is about to slam the gas and crash through all of us? Would you react by continuing to stand there or would you just move out of the way? Would you even consider hitting his car or sitting on his car or trying to open his door even if you didn't like what he was doing?

I 100% disagree that inching forward/honking is threatening behavior. This happens at sporting events with large numbers of people exiting at once. It happens in crowded areas that have people walking combined with drivers. Most of the time, people don't act like complete jerks and block an intersection without moving. Eventually, enough people move out of the way for a car to pass through without someone being aggressive to the vehicle. In the case above, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, since a couple #######s decided that they would respond to his honking and inching forward by sitting on his hood and a few others by banging on the windows in his car. That's the difference between this being a big story and the rest of the time it being completely non-newsworthy.

Exactly correct. Inching forward really isn't a problem. He shouldn't have laid the horn like that - just inching forward through the crowd is fine. I guarantee in New Orleans if he had done that during Mardi Gras this wouldn't be a debate - he'd be in the Orleans Parish pokey as we speak.

The driver is completely at fault here. From the video it is clear he had plenty of room to turn around and find another route (this is what I would have done). Forcing his way through a peaceful gathering wasn't at all necessary. Laying on the horn and pissing people off wasn't at all necessary. He actually spent very little time inching - it went to gunning very quickly (and before the guy tried open the door). Completely asinine behavior.

Pretty easy call here.

It turned to gunning when people sat on his hood and started to surround his car. That's why he spent very little time inching. I know you can see that so no, it's an easy call there.

He's voluntarily moved forward into a crowd of rowdy, celebratory people. He's going to, by definition, have people surrounding his car. He put himself there. And, while the guy on the hood is annoying, it in no way justifies deadly force.

Annoying? And how about the other people banging on his car windows? Annoying as well?

Yes, annoying. The guy sitting on the hood wasn't exerting or threatening deadly force. The guys tapping on the windows (probably telling him to quit the honking) aren't using deadly force, either. Let's not forget this guy could have a) turned around, which the video shows he wasn't blocked in and had plenty of space to do so, or b) sat there for a couple minutes for the crowd to disperse. Choosing c) moving forward aggressively with the vehicle into the crowd, was completely idiotic.

Anybody who has been to a major sporting event has probably gone through this. You just ####### wait a few minutes. Or turn around and find another street. I'm assuming since this is LA that there were plenty of other side streets to try.

 

[Sabertooth]

BB, this kind of stuff happens on a regular basis where there are large numbers of pedestrians (like the French Quarter I mentioned earlier).
Serious questions: If YOU were walking in an intersection full of people and there is a car inching forward and honking his horn, are you really feeling threatened? Do you honestly think this guy is about to slam the gas and crash through all of us? Would you react by continuing to stand there or would you just move out of the way? Would you even consider hitting his car or sitting on his car or trying to open his door even if you didn't like what he was doing?

I 100% disagree that inching forward/honking is threatening behavior. This happens at sporting events with large numbers of people exiting at once. It happens in crowded areas that have people walking combined with drivers. Most of the time, people don't act like complete jerks and block an intersection without moving. Eventually, enough people move out of the way for a car to pass through without someone being aggressive to the vehicle. In the case above, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, since a couple #######s decided that they would respond to his honking and inching forward by sitting on his hood and a few others by banging on the windows in his car. That's the difference between this being a big story and the rest of the time it being completely non-newsworthy.

Exactly correct. Inching forward really isn't a problem. He shouldn't have laid the horn like that - just inching forward through the crowd is fine. I guarantee in New Orleans if he had done that during Mardi Gras this wouldn't be a debate - he'd be in the Orleans Parish pokey as we speak.

The driver is completely at fault here. From the video it is clear he had plenty of room to turn around and find another route (this is what I would have done). Forcing his way through a peaceful gathering wasn't at all necessary. Laying on the horn and pissing people off wasn't at all necessary. He actually spent very little time inching - it went to gunning very quickly (and before the guy tried open the door). Completely asinine behavior.

Pretty easy call here.

It turned to gunning when people sat on his hood and started to surround his car. That's why he spent very little time inching. I know you can see that so no, it's an easy call there.

He's voluntarily moved forward into a crowd of rowdy, celebratory people. He's going to, by definition, have people surrounding his car. He put himself there. And, while the guy on the hood is annoying, it in no way justifies deadly force.

Annoying? And how about the other people banging on his car windows? Annoying as well?

Yes, annoying. The guy sitting on the hood wasn't exerting or threatening deadly force. The guys tapping on the windows (probably telling him to quick the honking) aren't using deadly force, either. Let's not forget this guy could have a) turned around, which the video shows he wasn't blocked in and had plenty of space to do so, or b) sat there for a couple minutes for the crowd to disperse. Choosing c) moving forward aggressively with the vehicle into the crowd, was completely idiotic.

Anybody who has been to a major sporting event has probably gone through this. You just ####### wait a few minutes. Or turn around and find another street. I'm assuming since this is LA that there were plenty of other side streets to try.

If he'd turned around he could have potentially hit people who weren't breaking the law.

 

[HughHoney]

Are we about done with our national obsession with zombies?

Notebook: Pickles is deaf.

 

[Sand]

If he'd turned around he could have potentially hit people who weren't breaking the law.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I wonder how the cars next to and behind the guy managed the situation without running anyone over?

If it was over 15 minutes cars proceed without any value of human life. Pretty sure that's a law.

this fishing attempt is weak.

"Drivers should generally refrain from mowing down pedestrians" is fishing now?

 

[Willie Neslon]

I saw this story yesterday and my immediate reaction was to place blame on the driver. It seemed like he was just being impatient and wanted to get going as soon as possible. Now seeing that the driver was deaf, had terrified deaf children in the back seat, feared for his life as idiots in costumes bounced on his hood and pounded on the windows, I have done a complete turnaround. When the flight or fight mechanism kicks in all bets are off. It's sad that someone was hurt and thankfully nobody was killed but I don't fault this driver one bit. If I thought my family's life was in danger I would have done whatever I could to get out of that situation as soon as possible.

My wife brought up a great point. What if the situation was reversed and the zombies were driving the car and the deaf people were pedestrians? If the car driven by zombies was following the deaf people looking like they could run them over or attack them at any time and the deaf pedestrians ran onto property marked no trespassing, should the pedestrians be charged with a crime? We both agree that they should not. If you feel your life is in danger there are certain times doing something illegal may be the right thing to do. Any reasonable judge would throw out the trespassing charges and we believe that the charges will be thrown out against the driver as well. If you want to dress up in a Halloween costume and scare the crap out of deaf children then don't be surprised if someone takes extreme measures to protect those children.

 

[TenTimes]

Gotta admire the nerds running after the car though.

Did you catch the guy who hit his windshield with a drink or something halfway up the street?

 

[HughHoney]

They didn't start pounding on the car until he started pushing through the crowd. If he had just waited five minutes no one would have been hurt.

you mean on top of the 10 he already waited

You've been to plenty of sporting events, ever got stuck outside one when a huge crowd just takes to the street and you're stuck in your car waiting for the crowd to clear out before you proceed? I'm sure everybody here has and nobody inched their way through the crowd while laying on their horn. Drunks in Philly are a lot scarier than zombies in SD and you've never plowed through a crowd.

we're both from the philly area. and i'm sure he would agree. i have inched through crowds plenty of times. as have all of the other cars around me. the people getting honked at are the cars who sit there waiting.

I'm sure they jump right out of the way when you lay on that horn and you'll run them over if they get outta line. Can't wait a few minutes for people to pass, you're in a CAR and you ain't waiting.

 

[HughHoney]

I saw this story yesterday and my immediate reaction was to place blame on the driver. It seemed like he was just being impatient and wanted to get going as soon as possible. Now seeing that the driver was deaf, had terrified deaf children in the back seat, feared for his life as idiots in costumes bounced on his hood and pounded on the windows, I have done a complete turnaround. When the flight or fight mechanism kicks in all bets are off. It's sad that someone was hurt and thankfully nobody was killed but I don't fault this driver one bit. If I thought my family's life was in danger I would have done whatever I could to get out of that situation as soon as possible.

My wife brought up a great point. What if the situation was reversed and the zombies were driving the car and the deaf people were pedestrians? If the car driven by zombies was following the deaf people looking like they could run them over or attack them at any time and the deaf pedestrians ran onto property marked no trespassing, should the pedestrians be charged with a crime? We both agree that they should not. If you feel your life is in danger there are certain times doing something illegal may be the right thing to do. Any reasonable judge would throw out the trespassing charges and we believe that the charges will be thrown out against the driver as well. If you want to dress up in a Halloween costume and scare the crap out of deaf children then don't be surprised if someone takes extreme measures to protect those children.

You saw the start of the video where he initiates contact with the crowd? The crowd is not threatening him or his family, there's nothing to be afraid of, if he can't properly convey that there's no danger, and to be patient, to his kids while behind the wheel he shouldn't be driving.

You brought up the what if's so how about this. What if there were a family that was deaf in the crowd. He starts inching his way through the crowd, which initiates a confrontation he as not prepared for, and he plows over a couple of deaf kids.

 

[bigbottom]

Yeah, seems like the driver instigated with creeping forward and laying on the horn. You're not driving a bulldozer, guy. Once that started people started messing with him.

Either wait or turn around. Or you know, smash everyone I guess.

The driver should not have honked and creeped forward, but that was not threatening. Trying to open the door and jumping on his hood had to quite frightening...

Blasting your horn and inching your vehicle up close to a crowd of pedestratians isn't threatening?

Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW.. and run off into the hills, or wherever..

Personally, I think both sides are in the wrong. But if you're a pedestrian and a car is just a few feet away, blasting its horn, and inching forward, I think that would be intimidating in that it is an implied threat that you're going to be run over. Which, of course, is precisely what happened.

I've been honked at as a pedestrian several times though out my life. Never once have I thought it's because the driver is threatening to run me over.

I think context matters. It's not just the honking. It's a crowd in the intersection. After waiting for some period of time, the car is now blasting its horn and moving toward the crowd. Not from far away, but from several feet, and then several inches. When a car starts pushing its way into a crowd like that, it can rationally be viewed as threatening.

That's not to say that the crowd weren't equally or more threatening in their behavior. Both sides unnecessarily escalated the situation.

BB, this kind of stuff happens on a regular basis where there are large numbers of pedestrians (like the French Quarter I mentioned earlier).

Serious questions: If YOU were walking in an intersection full of people and there is a car inching forward and honking his horn, are you really feeling threatened? Do you honestly think this guy is about to slam the gas and crash through all of us? Would you react by continuing to stand there or would you just move out of the way? Would you even consider hitting his car or sitting on his car or trying to open his door even if you didn't like what he was doing?

I 100% disagree that inching forward/honking is threatening behavior. This happens at sporting events with large numbers of people exiting at once. It happens in crowded areas that have people walking combined with drivers. Most of the time, people don't act like complete jerks and block an intersection without moving. Eventually, enough people move out of the way for a car to pass through without someone being aggressive to the vehicle. In the case above, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, since a couple #######s decided that they would respond to his honking and inching forward by sitting on his hood and a few others by banging on the windows in his car. That's the difference between this being a big story and the rest of the time it being completely non-newsworthy.

Yes, it's threatening behavior. Just because threatening behavior happens doesn't mean that it's not threatening. And if I were a pedestrian and someone did that to me, I'd get the hell out of the way so I don't get bumped, run over, or pulled into some unnecessary confrontation. In other words, I'd remove myself from the front of a vehicle that can kill me driven by an angry and annoyed driver.

Is it actionable threatening behavior? Are you allowed to hit a guy for inching forward/honking? Are you allowed to destroy his property?

That's my point. Just because some guy on the street starts yelling at me and pointing his finger at me (i.e. threatening behavior), doesn't mean I can respond by clocking the guy.

Probably not. No. No.

I already stated that both sides were in the wrong, and that the pedestrians unnecessarily escalated the situation. I was simply taking issue with the suggestion that blasting your horn and inching your car into a crowd of pedestrians could not rationally be viewed as threatening.

 

[HughHoney]

I wonder how the cars next to and behind the guy managed the situation without running anyone over?

If it was over 15 minutes cars proceed without any value of human life. Pretty sure that's a law.

this fishing attempt is weak.

"Drivers should generally refrain from mowing down pedestrians" is fishing now?

The entitlement of some people simply because they're behind the wheel. It's incredible.

 

[bigbottom]

If any of those pedestrians actually felt threatened (which, of course, they didn't), then coming up to the car, hitting the window, and actually sitting on it would be the last things they would do. In other words, they weren't threatened by his actions at all. They were just annoyed with them.

People often respond to threatening behavior with threatening behavior of their own. Happens all the time. Ever stepped foot in a bar?

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

Voted driver, but some of the Zombie walkers were in the wrong as well. Generally walking in a "Zombie walk" is stupid behavior, but that's irrelevant to fault/blame.

 

[belljr]

What's the appropriate amount of time I have to wait for the ######s to get out of the street?

 

[HughHoney]

If some of you were at this walk with your 12 year old son( everybody has gotten dragged to stupid stuff with your kids) and your 65 year old mother and she got hit by the car, you'd still side with the driver? Reading the details that have been released to this point? No you wouldn't, because the guy started the problem, by inching through the crowd and beeping, then he almost killed people.

 

[Freelove]

What's the appropriate amount of time I have to wait for the ######s to get out of the street?

Until the cops get there and take care of it, unless you want to wait it out or find a different route.

 

[gianmarco]

If some of you were at this walk with your 12 year old son( everybody has gotten dragged to stupid stuff with your kids) and your 65 year old mother and she got hit by the car, you'd still side with the driver? Reading the details that have been released to this point? No you wouldn't, because the guy started the problem, by inching through the crowd and beeping, then he almost killed people.

Actually, no, he didn't start the problem. That would be the pedestrians illegally blocking traffic.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

We need a poll: "How many pedestrians illegally blocking the roadway have you mowed down?"

 

[belljr]

If some of you were at this walk with your 12 year old son( everybody has gotten dragged to stupid stuff with your kids) and your 65 year old mother and she got hit by the car, you'd still side with the driver? Reading the details that have been released to this point? No you wouldn't, because the guy started the problem, by inching through the crowd and beeping, then he almost killed people.

i can honestly say i have never been to a walk that decided to block traffic because we felt like it.

 

[Willie Neslon]

I saw this story yesterday and my immediate reaction was to place blame on the driver. It seemed like he was just being impatient and wanted to get going as soon as possible. Now seeing that the driver was deaf, had terrified deaf children in the back seat, feared for his life as idiots in costumes bounced on his hood and pounded on the windows, I have done a complete turnaround. When the flight or fight mechanism kicks in all bets are off. It's sad that someone was hurt and thankfully nobody was killed but I don't fault this driver one bit. If I thought my family's life was in danger I would have done whatever I could to get out of that situation as soon as possible.

My wife brought up a great point. What if the situation was reversed and the zombies were driving the car and the deaf people were pedestrians? If the car driven by zombies was following the deaf people looking like they could run them over or attack them at any time and the deaf pedestrians ran onto property marked no trespassing, should the pedestrians be charged with a crime? We both agree that they should not. If you feel your life is in danger there are certain times doing something illegal may be the right thing to do. Any reasonable judge would throw out the trespassing charges and we believe that the charges will be thrown out against the driver as well. If you want to dress up in a Halloween costume and scare the crap out of deaf children then don't be surprised if someone takes extreme measures to protect those children.

You saw the start of the video where he initiates contact with the crowd? The crowd is not threatening him or his family, there's nothing to be afraid of, if he can't properly convey that there's no danger, and to be patient, to his kids while behind the wheel he shouldn't be driving.

You brought up the what if's so how about this. What if there were a family that was deaf in the crowd. He starts inching his way through the crowd, which initiates a confrontation he as not prepared for, and he plows over a couple of deaf kids.

They are just standing in the middle of the intersection laughing at the car. Some of them are not even crossing the street. It looks to me like the driver doesn't start pushing through until people are sitting on his hood and banging on his windows. All the driver did was honk the horn (if that was him) to alert these morons that they were standing in the middle of a real life intersection. Once someone opens the passenger side door and tries to do whatever it is they wanted to do to his family inside, all bets are off.

Take a group of your friends and stand in the middle of a busy intersection. When a car starts honking it's horn go sit on the hood and pound on the windshield. Get some friends to bang on their windows and have another friend open the passenger side door and threaten the family inside. Honestly this situation could have turned out much worse.

 

[Fennis]

picture of the mob

 

[Fennis]

different angle of car going through crowd

 

[datonn]

I saw this story yesterday and my immediate reaction was to place blame on the driver. It seemed like he was just being impatient and wanted to get going as soon as possible. Now seeing that the driver was deaf, had terrified deaf children in the back seat, feared for his life as idiots in costumes bounced on his hood and pounded on the windows, I have done a complete turnaround. When the flight or fight mechanism kicks in all bets are off. It's sad that someone was hurt and thankfully nobody was killed but I don't fault this driver one bit. If I thought my family's life was in danger I would have done whatever I could to get out of that situation as soon as possible.

My wife brought up a great point. What if the situation was reversed and the zombies were driving the car and the deaf people were pedestrians? If the car driven by zombies was following the deaf people looking like they could run them over or attack them at any time and the deaf pedestrians ran onto property marked no trespassing, should the pedestrians be charged with a crime? We both agree that they should not. If you feel your life is in danger there are certain times doing something illegal may be the right thing to do. Any reasonable judge would throw out the trespassing charges and we believe that the charges will be thrown out against the driver as well. If you want to dress up in a Halloween costume and scare the crap out of deaf children then don't be surprised if someone takes extreme measures to protect those children.

A bit of apples and oranges, but I had an incident happen to me in Tennessee last October that really freaked me out behind the wheel that was at least roughly similar. I was making my way from SC to Louisville, KY for a conference. Passing through "Deliverance" country (beautiful...just very remote) when I came to a T-intersection and ended up turning North after a group of about fifteen ~18-25 year olds went by on their motorcycles. Winding road with steep drop-offs and little/no shoulders. First 10-15 minutes, we just were going about our business. But after that, they started screwing around. Riding no-handed, popping wheelies, surrounding my rental car on all four sides and then dropping down to 35-40 MPH, etc. Even came to a complete stop on a one-car bridge so a few of them could do tricks while I (and about 5-6 cars from the other direction) were stuck waiting for the lane to clear.

We come out of the winding narrow section of the road on to a four-lane section, so I get in the left lane to try and pass them. I get ahead of all but the front two, when one of them veers into my lane (at ~60 MPH) and slams on his brakes. I mean HARD. My car was shuddering as I was standing on the brake pedal to stop, and I missed the kid by about five feet. He then took off to ~80 MPH with his buddies, while I sat there shaking. I had a deadline to make it to Louisville, so I eventually kept going, only to meet up with them at a T-intersection again. They surrounded my car on three sides, so I got over, and floored it down the road to the West. I don't know if I was going 80 or 180! All I know is that I was getting #### out of Dodge, before I (or one of them) got hurt. Not a mile down the road, a trooper turns on his lights and flips around to pull me over. Says I was in a 45 MPH. In a construction zone. Even though this section of road was in the middle of nowhere, and there were only construction cones on the other side of the divided highway. I told him what happened, and he could see I was physically rattled/shaken, so he called to one of his other troopers to look for those kids. They never found them...but I got a $204 "souvenir" from my experience. I'd never gotten a speeding ticket before in my life, much less any other type of "criminal activity." I told him I was relieved to see him, as I felt as though my safety was being threatened. He felt bad for me, I think. But he said he just couldn't let me off with a warning, going how fast I was going. But when I talked with him, and later a woman at the county clerk's office, they said they probably would have done the same thing. 800-900 miles from home, with nobody else around, and a pack of kids TRYING to cause an accident?! I didn't want a fight...but my flight instincts were high. So I took off...thinking about what would happen to my daughters if something happened to me. Or worse (in my mind): those kids keep screwing with me and I accidentally run 1-2 of them over...then wind up in a TN prison for a few years.

Anyway, the deaf driver driving through those people? NOT okay! But after seeing the video, I have to believe that he probably was in full "flight mode," fearing for the safety of his family. Sincerely fearing for the safety of his family. And while he shouldn't be let off with nothing, he shouldn't be drawn and quartered like some might be calling for. That, and how about also punishing the morons who were sitting on his car, opening his doors, et al?!

 

[Sand]

picture of the mob

ZOMG a crowd that size must have taken minutes to walk past.

 

[Sand]

Anyway, the deaf driver driving through those people? NOT okay! But after seeing the video, I have to believe that he probably was in full "flight mode," fearing for the safety of his family. Sincerely fearing for the safety of his family. And while he shouldn't be let off with nothing, he shouldn't be drawn and quartered like some might be calling for. That, and how about also punishing the morons who were sitting on his car, opening his doors, et al?!

He initiated. I agree drawn and quartering is a bit extreme. Assault with a deadly weapon seems very appropriate, though.

 

[Ned]

picture of the mob

ZOMG a crowd that size must have taken minutes to walk past.

Wasting one's time is akin to killing them slowly, so obviously deadly force was justified.

 

[Joe T]

For the pro Zombie guys, is it okay if I gather a few friends go down and camp out in the middle of Main Street downtown and expect nothing to happen?

Just because you are in a group or in some convention or in a big bicycle pack, you don't throw laws and rules of the road out the window. HTH

So who's more in the wrong, people camped out in the street or a guy possibly causing loss of life with his vehicle? You can't be this dumb, you just can't.

Anyone camping out on a main street is more in the wrong. There are traffic laws for good reasons. HTH.

 

[Joe T]

BB, this kind of stuff happens on a regular basis where there are large numbers of pedestrians (like the French Quarter I mentioned earlier).
Serious questions: If YOU were walking in an intersection full of people and there is a car inching forward and honking his horn, are you really feeling threatened? Do you honestly think this guy is about to slam the gas and crash through all of us? Would you react by continuing to stand there or would you just move out of the way? Would you even consider hitting his car or sitting on his car or trying to open his door even if you didn't like what he was doing?

I 100% disagree that inching forward/honking is threatening behavior. This happens at sporting events with large numbers of people exiting at once. It happens in crowded areas that have people walking combined with drivers. Most of the time, people don't act like complete jerks and block an intersection without moving. Eventually, enough people move out of the way for a car to pass through without someone being aggressive to the vehicle. In the case above, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, since a couple #######s decided that they would respond to his honking and inching forward by sitting on his hood and a few others by banging on the windows in his car. That's the difference between this being a big story and the rest of the time it being completely non-newsworthy.

Exactly correct. Inching forward really isn't a problem. He shouldn't have laid the horn like that - just inching forward through the crowd is fine. I guarantee in New Orleans if he had done that during Mardi Gras this wouldn't be a debate - he'd be in the Orleans Parish pokey as we speak.

The driver is completely at fault here. From the video it is clear he had plenty of room to turn around and find another route (this is what I would have done). Forcing his way through a peaceful gathering wasn't at all necessary. Laying on the horn and pissing people off wasn't at all necessary. He actually spent very little time inching - it went to gunning very quickly (and before the guy tried open the door). Completely asinine behavior.

Pretty easy call here.

It turned to gunning when people sat on his hood and started to surround his car. That's why he spent very little time inching. I know you can see that so no, it's an easy call there.

He's voluntarily moved forward into a crowd of rowdy, celebratory people. He's going to, by definition, have people surrounding his car. He put himself there. And, while the guy on the hood is annoying, it in no way justifies deadly force.

Someone died?

 

[Willie Neslon]

picture of the mob

ZOMG a crowd that size must have taken minutes to walk past.

Some of them were not moving, they were just standing in the middle of the intersection. The woman who got hit was just standing there.

 

[Sand]

BB, this kind of stuff happens on a regular basis where there are large numbers of pedestrians (like the French Quarter I mentioned earlier).
Serious questions: If YOU were walking in an intersection full of people and there is a car inching forward and honking his horn, are you really feeling threatened? Do you honestly think this guy is about to slam the gas and crash through all of us? Would you react by continuing to stand there or would you just move out of the way? Would you even consider hitting his car or sitting on his car or trying to open his door even if you didn't like what he was doing?

I 100% disagree that inching forward/honking is threatening behavior. This happens at sporting events with large numbers of people exiting at once. It happens in crowded areas that have people walking combined with drivers. Most of the time, people don't act like complete jerks and block an intersection without moving. Eventually, enough people move out of the way for a car to pass through without someone being aggressive to the vehicle. In the case above, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, since a couple #######s decided that they would respond to his honking and inching forward by sitting on his hood and a few others by banging on the windows in his car. That's the difference between this being a big story and the rest of the time it being completely non-newsworthy.

Exactly correct. Inching forward really isn't a problem. He shouldn't have laid the horn like that - just inching forward through the crowd is fine. I guarantee in New Orleans if he had done that during Mardi Gras this wouldn't be a debate - he'd be in the Orleans Parish pokey as we speak.

The driver is completely at fault here. From the video it is clear he had plenty of room to turn around and find another route (this is what I would have done). Forcing his way through a peaceful gathering wasn't at all necessary. Laying on the horn and pissing people off wasn't at all necessary. He actually spent very little time inching - it went to gunning very quickly (and before the guy tried open the door). Completely asinine behavior.

Pretty easy call here.

It turned to gunning when people sat on his hood and started to surround his car. That's why he spent very little time inching. I know you can see that so no, it's an easy call there.

He's voluntarily moved forward into a crowd of rowdy, celebratory people. He's going to, by definition, have people surrounding his car. He put himself there. And, while the guy on the hood is annoying, it in no way justifies deadly force.

Someone died?

Technically most of them were already dead, so I'm going with yes?

 

[HughHoney]

I saw this story yesterday and my immediate reaction was to place blame on the driver. It seemed like he was just being impatient and wanted to get going as soon as possible. Now seeing that the driver was deaf, had terrified deaf children in the back seat, feared for his life as idiots in costumes bounced on his hood and pounded on the windows, I have done a complete turnaround. When the flight or fight mechanism kicks in all bets are off. It's sad that someone was hurt and thankfully nobody was killed but I don't fault this driver one bit. If I thought my family's life was in danger I would have done whatever I could to get out of that situation as soon as possible.

My wife brought up a great point. What if the situation was reversed and the zombies were driving the car and the deaf people were pedestrians? If the car driven by zombies was following the deaf people looking like they could run them over or attack them at any time and the deaf pedestrians ran onto property marked no trespassing, should the pedestrians be charged with a crime? We both agree that they should not. If you feel your life is in danger there are certain times doing something illegal may be the right thing to do. Any reasonable judge would throw out the trespassing charges and we believe that the charges will be thrown out against the driver as well. If you want to dress up in a Halloween costume and scare the crap out of deaf children then don't be surprised if someone takes extreme measures to protect those children.

You saw the start of the video where he initiates contact with the crowd? The crowd is not threatening him or his family, there's nothing to be afraid of, if he can't properly convey that there's no danger, and to be patient, to his kids while behind the wheel he shouldn't be driving.You brought up the what if's so how about this. What if there were a family that was deaf in the crowd. He starts inching his way through the crowd, which initiates a confrontation he as not prepared for, and he plows over a couple of deaf kids.

They are just standing in the middle of the intersection laughing at the car. Some of them are not even crossing the street. It looks to me like the driver doesn't start pushing through until people are sitting on his hood and banging on his windows. All the driver did was honk the horn (if that was him) to alert these morons that they were standing in the middle of a real life intersection. Once someone opens the passenger side door and tries to do whatever it is they wanted to do to his family inside, all bets are off.Take a group of your friends and stand in the middle of a busy intersection. When a car starts honking it's horn go sit on the hood and pound on the windshield. Get some friends to bang on their windows and have another friend open the passenger side door and threaten the family inside. Honestly this situation could have turned out much worse.

Watch the video again genius. Crowd doesn't get rowdy until he starts pushing his way through it.

 

[Joe T]

What's the appropriate amount of time I have to wait for the ######s to get out of the street?

Until they decide to move. Until then, you are required to wait. No inching forwarding and politely warning people that you need to get through will be allowed.

 

[Willie Neslon]

I saw this story yesterday and my immediate reaction was to place blame on the driver. It seemed like he was just being impatient and wanted to get going as soon as possible. Now seeing that the driver was deaf, had terrified deaf children in the back seat, feared for his life as idiots in costumes bounced on his hood and pounded on the windows, I have done a complete turnaround. When the flight or fight mechanism kicks in all bets are off. It's sad that someone was hurt and thankfully nobody was killed but I don't fault this driver one bit. If I thought my family's life was in danger I would have done whatever I could to get out of that situation as soon as possible.

My wife brought up a great point. What if the situation was reversed and the zombies were driving the car and the deaf people were pedestrians? If the car driven by zombies was following the deaf people looking like they could run them over or attack them at any time and the deaf pedestrians ran onto property marked no trespassing, should the pedestrians be charged with a crime? We both agree that they should not. If you feel your life is in danger there are certain times doing something illegal may be the right thing to do. Any reasonable judge would throw out the trespassing charges and we believe that the charges will be thrown out against the driver as well. If you want to dress up in a Halloween costume and scare the crap out of deaf children then don't be surprised if someone takes extreme measures to protect those children.

You saw the start of the video where he initiates contact with the crowd? The crowd is not threatening him or his family, there's nothing to be afraid of, if he can't properly convey that there's no danger, and to be patient, to his kids while behind the wheel he shouldn't be driving.You brought up the what if's so how about this. What if there were a family that was deaf in the crowd. He starts inching his way through the crowd, which initiates a confrontation he as not prepared for, and he plows over a couple of deaf kids.

They are just standing in the middle of the intersection laughing at the car. Some of them are not even crossing the street. It looks to me like the driver doesn't start pushing through until people are sitting on his hood and banging on his windows. All the driver did was honk the horn (if that was him) to alert these morons that they were standing in the middle of a real life intersection. Once someone opens the passenger side door and tries to do whatever it is they wanted to do to his family inside, all bets are off.Take a group of your friends and stand in the middle of a busy intersection. When a car starts honking it's horn go sit on the hood and pound on the windshield. Get some friends to bang on their windows and have another friend open the passenger side door and threaten the family inside. Honestly this situation could have turned out much worse.

Watch the video again genius. Crowd doesn't get rowdy until he starts pushing his way through it.

The crowd gets rowdy when he inches forward and honks his horn. He doesn't push through until people have made contact with his car and the door opens.