this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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The grieving parents of a 7-year-old child who died hours after being hit by a car were charged with involuntary manslaughter after allowing him and his brother, 10, to walk home unaccompanied by an adult from a nearby grocery store.

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[–] korazail@lemmy.myserv.one 65 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm SO mad at this story. There is no reason to charge the parents. As others have stated, helicoptering kiddos is detrimental, and they need to be allowed to roam their environment -- That can come at the cost of danger, but we cannot be expected to grow with 0 risk.

Sure, as a parent, you can state: 'don't go there', and 'always look both ways', but kids are kids and there's only so much you can enforce without being overbearing. In this scenario, without video evidence, there's no clear conclusion about fault for either the driver or the child.

I'm okay with letting the driver off (criminally, let insurance pay the family but don't put the driver in jail) and acknowledging this as an accidental death, especially since he stuck around and is complying. Charging the parents for negligence, though, is just fucking brutal when they are suffering the loss of a child, not to mention the impact on the older son, who probably is feeling an unreasonable amount unreasonable of guilt: "I could have held his hand; I could have reminded him of the road..." (not his quotes, my presumed internal dialog). Again, as others have stated, this is a city planning problem, not a parental one: If there was a way to walk to a grocery store that didn't cross a 4-lane road, that'd be a better option, but there are plenty of places where that is not possible.

These parents do NOT need the extra burden of being held legally liable for an accident and anyone blaming them for this without knowing them personally and being able to describe other aspects of their parent as negligent is just an asshole.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

it's ghoulish.

[–] RadioFreeArabia@lemmy.world 60 points 3 days ago (3 children)

They got it backwards. I will hold the road planners, the city government, the driving license issuer, and the driver responsible. It start with poorly designed roads and ends with poor driver training. The parents are the victims here.

[–] Hanrahan@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Speaking of planners, i follow

@drtcombs@triangletoot.party

on Mastodon (a transportation expert who cycles and cycles with her kid) and she put me onto this book

https://bookwyrm.social/book/1907724/s/killed-by-a-traffic-engineer

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

If you watch the video in THIS report, it's clear that planners should bare some responsibility here.

They designed no logical, safe crossing where people need to cross. Even during the report, you can see other pedestrians walking across.

The only "sidewalk" is a tiny strip on only one side, and it's right against the curb. You might as well be walking in a shoulder!

And the speed in an area like that is too damn fast.

That road was designed to be anti-pedestrian. Not the parent's fault.

[–] jnod4@lemmy.ca 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's the parents fault for birthing a child into this hellscape into the first place. We've built this inherently violent landscape and your letting your spawns roam free? /s

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[–] BigBenis@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Anything to shift accountability away from drivers, huh? Cars and the people behind the wheel of them are just an unavoidable force of nature now?

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 5 points 2 days ago

76yo probably shouldnt be driving, wanna bet the driver could be well connected, alot of these wierd incidents magically disappears.

[–] Scott_of_the_Arctic@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago

The us is so fucked. I've been letting my kid take the buss to the other side of town alone since she was 9. And traffic accidents are very rare despite most neighbourhoods not having sidewalks at all. Of course we drive a lot slower and it takes months of obligatory coursework to be eligible to take a driving test. https://www.vegvesen.no/en/driving-licences/driver-training/how-to-get-a-driving-licence/passenger-car--b/

[–] Headofthebored@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

District Attorney Travis Page. Gaston County. Prosecutorial District 38. (704) 852-3113. Tell him your thoughts.

with a bus, driving right at him.

[–] Vinstaal0@feddit.nl 50 points 3 days ago (6 children)

This is absolute bullshit, just because the US is incapable of making good walkable neighbourhoods doesn't mean the parents are at fault of letting their childeren be normal.

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[–] MehBlah@lemmy.world 25 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Never blame the asshole in the car. Always blame someone else.

[–] Aragaren@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (15 children)

Did you read the article? The kid ran out into the street. The driver wasn't speeding or impaired. They did nothing wrong so what exactly do you want them to be blamed for and why are they the asshole in this situation?

[–] GoodOleAmerika@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No he did not read. People here do not read and just go for "oh the poor kid" without knowing the whole story. Also they want to stop a vehicle going 45mph to 0 in a dime. Literally these commentator have never driven a car.

[–] mcv@lemm.ee 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

In Netherland, max speed is usually 30 kph (about 20mph) when there's any chance of interacting with other traffic (bikes or pedestrians). The idea of walking along a busy road where cars go 45 mph is ridiculous. Separate the traffic streams and give them crosswalk with traffic lights, or slow down the cars.

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[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 40 points 3 days ago (7 children)

I walked two blocks between home and school every day when I was 7. This is insane.

[–] barneypiccolo@lemm.ee 14 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Back in the 60s, I walked to and from kindergarten in a school that was at least a mile away, starting when I was 5 years old. Once I could ride a bike, around 6 years old, a typical Saturdayor summer day meant hopping on my bike after breakfast, and disappearing for the day, with no phone, wallet, id, money, etc. My pockets would be literally empty. If I needed a drink of water, I would knock on a stranger's door and ask for one. The only rule was be home by 5 for dinner.

Everybody was a free range kid back then.

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[–] 5too@lemmy.world 107 points 3 days ago (5 children)

there is no evidence of speeding or wrongdoing on the part of the driver, therefore no charges have been filed.

He hit a pedestrian. If you cannot react to a pedestrian entering the road unexpectedly, especially at a crosswalk, you are, by definition, driving recklessly.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 33 points 3 days ago (15 children)

The article says they attempted to cross between the crosswalks. A witness said the younger child jumped into the street. There's only so much reaction even the most alert driver can do.

[–] Don_alForno@feddit.org 15 points 3 days ago (8 children)

You see unaccompanied children, you take your foot off the gas and hover over the brake pedal.

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[–] redwattlebird@lemmings.world 31 points 3 days ago

Then the speed needs to be reduced.

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[–] showmeyourkizinti@startrek.website 57 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

This some serious bullshit not even the cops can't be that heartless ... Oh wait the parents are black ... in North Carolina ...

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[–] justgohomealready@sh.itjust.works 223 points 4 days ago (10 children)

At seven I went to school and back home on foot and alone, about a mile, everyday. I did once have a close call with a car that didn't stop for a crosswalk.

Are parents supposed to accompany their kids at all time until they are 18?

[–] Maestro@fedia.io 135 points 4 days ago (7 children)

According to 'murica, until 16. Then they can drive their own car.

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No but North Carolina cops will arrest a black parent to avoid having to arrest a white driver.

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[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 157 points 4 days ago (1 children)

“In such cases, adults must be held accountable for their responsibilities to ensure a safe environment for their children,” police said in a statement.

That's ... beyond callous and (hopefully) has no legal standing, even in the USA.

Let's fix it:

The "adults" who continue building car-friendly environments that are positively dangerous to pedestrians need to be held accountable for their responsibilities to ensure a safe environment.

[–] Buske@lemmy.world 50 points 4 days ago (1 children)

So the city, as a group of adults, failed also to ensure a safe environment, should also be arrested.

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[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 12 points 3 days ago

This feels like an origin story for a Punisher reboot.

[–] jaschen@lemm.ee 6 points 2 days ago

My sister and I played outside until it was dark. Then my dad would blow a whistle so loud that the entire neighborhood would hear it and come home.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 49 points 3 days ago

City makes walking on foot a death sentence, offloads responsibility on people foolish enough to produce life in a world that wants us to die.

[–] manxu@piefed.social 119 points 4 days ago (1 children)

A while back I watched a video about jaywalking. The idea was that, before cars were very common, people would just walk around the street and cars had to go around them. As cars became more common, car owners wanted to get rid of the people on the street, so they invented the term and offense jaywalking. Take something that poor people do (like walking instead of driving) and turn it into an offense.

This is basically the same thing. Make the parents responsible for what was a driver's fault on a road that shouldn't have been built the way it was in what must be a residential area - given that the kids just crossed the street from house to store. You have to turn the victim into the perpetrator, because looking at facts makes the wrong people look guilty.

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[–] Retrograde@lemmy.world 23 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I bet it's in a Republican shithole city in a Republican shithole state?

I don't even have to check

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[–] topherclay@lemmy.world 133 points 4 days ago (3 children)

They gotta blame the people who designed the city. If these kids were a small fraction of the same age and in Japan they would be on TV for braving their first solo trip into the market to buy a vegetable for dinner. It would be a cute TV show called "Old Enough" on Netflix with English subtitles instead of a cruel reality on this side of the same planet where a kid is now dead.

That part of it isn't the fault of the parents, but the fault of the society we have created.

Btw that TV show is a few decades old but my point is that the world is possible. We don't need to be like Japan was in that TV show, but we do need more walkable cities.

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[–] andybytes@programming.dev 15 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Mountains of shame looking for someone to blame in the dum dum land of lowest common denominator. This Yankeeland, this imperialist empire, this empty vessel of lesser things, this pit of despair we lean into the Edward Bernays dreamland of sucking the tit of the rotton corpse of the rugged individualtic mother. Ohhhh the humanity. Ohhhhh the humanity thots and prayerzzzzzzz. Fascist are the useful idiots of empire and capitalism and fascism are like peas and carrots. The liberals are fascist. You call me negative and I think you are stupid. Welcome to the lords and ladies of the clown kingdumb. The leader is a follower ,the follower is a leader that is dead. If their is a hell it is inside your head. Nothing WILL EVER change in Yankeeland. It is like demanding for HBO in Alcatraz. You can not solve generational issues until the boomers in office finally die this won't happen in your lifetime. This evil empire is gonna set the world on fire.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 52 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

USA is the premiere shithole country.

edit: It's kind of amazing how many people in here take NBC quoting cops as fact. The cops' tale is obviously bullshit as usual. They're just reciting whatever the old man said. Ofc he thinks the kid just jumped in front of him. The old coot probably had no idea what was even happening: "I was just driving along when this colored boy jumped under my truck...." Cops are like, "Yes, sir, we understand. It happens all the time. Best we can do is lock up the parents." ---> NBC.

edit2: Seriously tho, I feel bad for the driver too. This is a good example of how car dependency is not good for the elderly. Let's get that driver out of a car and onto a train. Ok I gotta get on with my life...

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[–] calcopiritus@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Was the driver driving a child-killing American truck? If so, both the driver and car company should be charged with voluntary manslaughter.

They knew this was going to happen, yet they still bought and produced the child-killing tank.

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[–] huppakee@lemm.ee 78 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Sounds like evil inception, first the nightmare of losing your child and then the nightmare of possibly losing your job and house etc. I hope they at least don't have to go through the nightmare of prison (which they would likely have to go through alone, since there is no couples-prison). Evil evil evil

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[–] Armok_the_bunny@lemmy.world 98 points 4 days ago (2 children)

The 76-year-old driver will not face any charges.

[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 70 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (6 children)

TBF, the child ran onto the road (a typical US road that encourages drivers to drive fast and be oblivious of pedestrians, I guess), and - according to the police - the driver was neither speeding nor under the influence and is "cooperative".

But to charge the parents with involuntary manslaughter for letting their children walk 2 blocks is madness, and makes me question the police department's objectivity, to put it mildly.

My guess is at the very least the driver's reaction and/or eyesight was impaired due to old age.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 83 points 4 days ago (2 children)

You see children next to the road, you slow down. You are the adult operating the deadly machine. You have a duty to be extra careful around kids.

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[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 80 points 4 days ago (5 children)

What??? In Switzerland we walked to school by ourselves at age of 4.

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[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 39 points 3 days ago

“In such cases, adults must be held accountable for their responsibilities to ensure a safe environment for their children,” police said in a statement.

Okay, I get the rational behind it.

Gastonia police declined to comment to NBC News, but said in a statement that “there is no evidence of speeding or wrongdoing on the part of the driver, therefore no charges have been filed. The driver continues to be cooperative and the incident remains under active investigation by the Gastonia Police Department’s Traffic Division.”

Except when you drive a car, fuck it! You can do whatever you want. As a driver of a vehicle that can kill people, you don't have be responsble for anything.

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 96 points 4 days ago (3 children)

This doesn't serve justice, in any way.

Why were the children trying to walk between crosswalks? I'd bet because the only crosswalks anywhere in the area are at stoplights and way too far apart. A painted cross wall at minimum, or a HAWK light that stops vehicle traffic should have been there. But those are too expensive until multiple people are killed by traffic, it takes a lot of blood to get human-cebtric infrastructure installed in this country.

The crosswalk directly leading to the middle school near me was known by the school and the neighborhood to be dangerous due to traffic speed, and the community had been fighting for a HAWK light to be installed by the county for nearly a decade. They even widened and replaced the road during that time and still refused to install it (although they did install the underground conduit necessary when doing the roadwork). It took 4 children total being killed by vehicles outside of school hours before they finally agreed to install a HAWK light there.

Charging the parents doesn't do any public good. I doubt they're going to find a full jury that could convict unless there's some underlying information about the parents trying to kill the kids or some shit like that. I can't imagine a jury of 12 would unanimously convict.l based on the info provided.

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[–] SpicyLizards@reddthat.com 68 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Gastonia police declined to comment to NBC News, but said in a statement that “there is no evidence of speeding or wrongdoing on the part of the driver, therefore no charges have been filed. The driver continues to be cooperative and the incident remains under active investigation by the Gastonia Police Department’s Traffic Division.”

Fucking insane. Ancient driver must be good, we must blame someone. How about the folks? They seem to be having a good run!

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 73 points 4 days ago (1 children)

During my driving lessons in Germany i learned that you always have to slow down around kids. Kids are unpredictable. Kids do not pay attention all the time. Kids struggle with estimating distances and speeds of cars coming your way.

Unless the case is something like "Kids jumped from a bridge right in front of your car." There is no way that the driver couldn't have done something to prevent the accident or at least form it being a fatal accident.

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