actionjackson

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 5:07 p.m.

Marilyn Wikie is absolutely, undoubtably correct! A pedestrian always has the "right of way." Common sense and Michigan driving laws state this. The questionable area is whether or not a pedestrian can be seen in time to stop especially in a 40mph plus speed limit area. No one can possibly believe that a 49 yr. old Washtenaw county man hit a 12 year old intentionally because he was rightfully passing through a green light. Awareness is the key for drivers and pedestrians alike. Too many distractions and not enough attention paid create these situations. My best for recovery to both the boys injuries and the driver's mental pain.

Marilyn Wilkie

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 4:19 p.m.

Even if a vehicle has a green light they must stop for pedestrians in their path. Having said that, conditions can cause a pedestrian not to be seen. That is all I know from this story.

Red Floyd

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 3:55 p.m.

I don't understand how the Ann Arbor pedestrian crosswalk ordinance is NOT relevant to this story?

OLDTIMER3

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 1:33 p.m.

While drivers should always be aware what is going on around them , pedestrians should also be be wary of what is going on around them. It sounds like maybe the light just turned green fo the north bound when the youngster was in the crosswalk. Just an unfortuneate accident. Hopefully the boy has a speedy recovery.

Wondering

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 12:29 p.m.

I hope the young man makes a speedy recovery. Whatever the facts in this particular case, I think our local pedestrian law is confusing for both drivers and pedestrians, and could be particularly confusing for children. Two crosswalks, within blocks of each other, on the same heavily traveled face-paced road require different responses from pedestrians and drivers. If there is a traffic light, the light governs traffic and pedestrian flow, UNLESS THE VEHICLE IS TURNING (in this case ONLY do pedestrians have the right-of-way). If there is NO light, then whether or not a pedestrian "is approaching" the crosswalk governs traffic flow. To have such a difference in interpretation of very similar road conditions--when judgments have to be made quickly and an error in judgment can be deadly--seems extremely ill-advised. As a long-time adult driver, I find this new confusion regarding how to respond to road conditions quite challenging under even the best of circumstances--add less experienced drivers, many out-of-town college students and their parents who are less familiar with our local laws, commuters/shoppers from neighboring communities who do not follow this ordinance, numerous bicyclists and bike lanes that merge with traffic at busy intersections, many children who are pedestrians/runners/bicyclists (especially before/after school), and high traffic volume on multi-lane roads moving at 35 to 40 mph and it does seem like a disaster waiting to happen whether or not it can be determined whether any of those issues was directly involved in this particular case.

Jerome Blue

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 12:05 p.m.

I hope they fine the heck out of the driver.

Diane

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 11:03 a.m.

hopefully he'll be OK

a2baggagehandler

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 1:46 a.m.

She said said seven times in seven sentences. Sheesh.

snapshot

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 1:31 a.m.

A witness said that the truck had a green light. Could there have been some confusion caused by the Ann Arbor local pedestrian law that confused this youth and had him thinking he could cross at any time in any crosswalk?

leezee

Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 1 a.m.

The responses to this article indicate very clearly that people do not understand this poorly thought out ordinance. At a LIGHTED crosswalk whoever has the green light gets to go. As unfortunate as this accident is, and I hope this child is okay, the driver is not at fault. Pedestrians don't understand the ordinance because they are crossing at LIGHTED crosswalks when they are red. Some drivers believe you have to stop for a pedestrian even if you have the green at a LIGHTED crosswalk. At a lighted crosswalk, drivers and pedestrians must abide by the light indicated!!!!! My heart also goes out to the driver. Not one of you would feel anything but horrible for hurting a young boy.

Urban Sombrero

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 10:45 p.m.

I really hope he's alright. I'm not even going to comment on the new law or the crosswalks, any of it. That's irrelevant right now. I just hope this kid will be O.K.

Carole

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 10:36 p.m.

My best wishes are with the lad who was hit, hoping that he is not seriously hurt. Also, with the driver of the truck who most likely is quite distraught regarding the accident. It is dark out in the a.m. when middle schoolers are walking to the bus stops. I know, because I've seen several usually in dark clothes -- so we all need to be alert and cautious.

jcj

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 10:15 p.m.

Cindy "we have no indication that the Ann Arbor school district's new transportation policy is relevant either." I do not know if it is relevant or not, but it is a valid question assuming the boy was walking to the AATA bus stop to catch a bus to school.

Blazingly Busy

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 9:31 p.m.

This is right at the corner of my neighborhood. I know it's not my 12 year old boy but I have two neighbors with 12 year old boys and I don't know if they are ok or not.

G. Orwell

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 9:10 p.m.

To follow up. Even if this accident was not associated with the pedestrian crosswalk ordinance, this ordinance need to be repealed. How stupid is it to give pedestrians the right of way against a 3,000-6,000 pound car going 25-50 mph? What about drivers from out of town that is not familiar with this stupid ordinance? We live in Ann Arbor. We get thousands of out of town people each day/week.

Cindy Heflin

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 8:55 p.m.

Off-topic comments and comments that violated AnnArbor.com's commenting guidelines have been removed. Please note: The Ann arbor pedestrian crosswalk ordinance is not relevant to this story, and we have no indication that the Ann Arbor school district's new transportation policy is relevant either.

David Frye

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 8:46 p.m.

Put "Ann Arbor," "pedestrian," and "crosswalk" together in a headline and you are sure to be deluged by comments by readers who jump to the conclusion that this is another story about the new Ann Arbor crosswalk law. The article might have pointed out that this intersection falls outside the Ann Arbor city limits. The Ann Arbor law does not apply here. The article did mention a witness statement that "the truck had a green light." The Ann Arbor crosswalk law does not override traffic lights -- another key fact that might have been pointed out. Comments about the crosswalk law are out of place here.

conairaa

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 8:01 p.m.

Am I missing something? A witness said the truck had the green light, which means the pedestrian did not.

Katie M.

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 7:55 p.m.

A very sad story indeed! Accidents like this are unforutnately going to continue to happen, luckily, under our current auto insurance system this child will get the medical care he will likely need for the rest of his life. Under the new proposed bill, HB4936, this child would only be afforded the most limited amount of coverage since he was not in a vehicle. The case is the same for other children and non-drivers, like our elderly parents. Yes, we need to ensure pedestrians are safe, but we also need to ensure that when horrible accidents like this happen that those injured recieve the care they deserve!

Mousedeva

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 7:55 p.m.

I fear the next accident will be all those kids (with strollers!) getting off bus rt 5 on Packard northwest bound after the split. There's not even a cross walk there yet they have to get to their school on the other side....VERY DANGEROUS spot at rush hour especially! Maybe someone from the city is reading these comments and can do something about it. You can also add arrows on the pavement for all the idiots that don't know how to merge ahead of time when the road goes to one lane near Independence St.

Lynn Liston

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 7:35 p.m.

The Jackson-Wagner intersection is less than 8 minutes from downtown Ann Arbor. I'm always amused by those who refer to it as being 'out there'. We actually do have sidewalks and traffic lights. :) I read that the boy was struck on the S side of the boulevard, where there really is excellent visibility, a traffic light and a pedestrian crossing. Even if the driver did have a green light and the right of way, you still have to keep your wits about you and watch out for pedestrians, especially the youngsters. For those who wonder - yes, it's true the Ann Arbor pedestrian crossing law does not apply in Scio Twp, but the State law does, as it applies everywhere in Michigan. Let's all hope that this child recovers from his injuries quickly.

rkb0929

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 7:03 p.m.

I sure hope this young man recovers well. No matter who's fault it was, I'm sure the driver feels very badly.

Subroutine

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:46 p.m.

I don't know if there are Walk/Don't Walk signals at this intersection but it is a signaled intersection and not just a random crosswalk. One thing I think is noteworthy though is that the immediate area is very well lit. There are brightly lit auto dealerships on the SW and NE corners so it's never really that dark through that intersection.

Ryan Munson

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:36 p.m.

It is actually a good question of whether this is in the city of Ann Arbor as Wagner Rd. is the boundary.

say it plain

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:03 p.m.

I really hope this person is okay, recovers quickly... This isn't just about distracted drivers or the whole crosswalk broohaha.... That whole section of town is seeing increased foot traffic but the *pedestrian infrastructure* is not good enough to insure pedestrian safety! I hope our City Leaders get past cutesy 'easy' answers like setting up new crosswalk laws and focus on real issues like the ones that exist out there... Those are fast roads that do not support pedestrians... @njd has it spot on... the roads in Ann Arbor area outside downtown need to change if we want to make them safer for pedestrians--you can't just throw a sorta sidewalk on a dark winding 'country-type' road and pretend that this now will work for pedestrians. Again, not to make excuses for distracted or aggressive drivers--I don't like how many there are on our roads either!--but a real comprehensive approach to problem areas like this one would be much better for the community than the us-versus-them awfulness that the whole special-crosswalk law clearly is...

Baker

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:20 p.m.

The laws of Physics don't take into account the laws of Man... I hope the young man recovers from this incident. Just because pedestrians have the right of way does not mean that they will always get it. Pedestrians also need to be alert when crossing as it is their responsibility to look for oncoming vehicles. Remember kids "Stop... Look... Listen"

Lynn Liston

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:08 p.m.

The intersection of Jackson and Wagner has stoplights and has sidewalks with well-marked crosswalks on the SW side and crossing to the northwest side. It's also a divided boulevard at that point and there is clear visibility in all directions. However, there is a large auto dealership on the NE side with a lot of traffic in and out of their parking lot, and a demolition site on the NW side, site of a former auto dealership. The North side of Jackson at Wagner is not really optimal for foot traffic. I hope the young man is going to make a good recovery.

njd

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4:31 p.m.

I hope the teenager has a full and speedy recovery. That area near the I-94 ramp on the west side is one more place where Ann Arbor dumps sidewalks and bike lanes onto road systems designed for large volumes of auto traffic going really fast. I normally walk and bike around town, but when I'm in that area I find myself driving aggressively if I don't consciously slow down. We can and should blame the party at fault, but roads also have their own social psychology. Outside the downtown, Ann Arbor's roads encourage drivers to be distracted and aggressive.

PhillyCheeseSteak

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4:07 p.m.

Sadly, this only adds to the list of teenaged victims of vehicle accidents in our area: the Chelsea cross country runners; the bicyclist riding to Pioneer High School; and now this. It's dark time of the year...drivers must pay more attention and watch out for our children and all pedestrians.

Red Floyd

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4:03 p.m.

There's a crosswalk at Wagner and Jackson? I didn't know there were even sidewalks out there.

Olive

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4 p.m.

Not enough information yet to know what happened. Anything else is speculation. Hopefully we'll learn more soon.

jcj

Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 3:56 p.m.

I hope against hope that a2.com will provide more details as they are available.Fact we think we know are.. It was a crosswalk. It was dark. A pedestrian was hit. End of facts. The possibilities that we don't know are endless. Was he crossing with or without the walk sign? Was the driver distracted? Was the pedestrian wearing dark colors? Was the driver drunk? No need to assume it was the pedestrians fault or the drivers fault. We need more fact IF we feel the need to judge.