Posted on 07/08/2017 11:17:27 AM PDT by Raymann
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tennis star Venus Williams legally entered an intersection but was cut off by another car, setting off a chain of events that seconds later resulted in a fatal crash with a third car, police say video released Friday shows.
The video, taken by a security camera, shows Williams heading north as she stops her 2010 Toyota Sequoia SUV at a stoplight behind a white car as she exits her Palm Beach Gardens neighborhood shortly after 1 p.m. June 9.
When the light turns green, the white car turns left onto a six-lane, heavily traveled boulevard, but Williams heads straight. A dark colored sedan turns left in front of her, causing her to stop.
She then continues straight into the far, westbound lanes, where her SUV is struck in the passenger's side by a 2016 Hyundai sedan driven by Linda Barson.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
‘roid rage?
I really can’t see how Williams can conceivably be blamed for this incident. She entered the intersection with a green light. She got blocked in the intersection, and when the lights switched, another car entered the intersection and hit her. The other car had the responsibility to make sure the intersection was clear before entering, let alone ramming another car. A green light is not some magic which automatically gives one the right to ignore reality.
Money buys outcomes.
If the video is legit, and there is NO evidence to the contrary, Williams is indeed in the clear.
Now where the heck does she go to get her reputation back?
And how the heck did the cops miss that security cam footage?
I suppose the same place everyone else that has had their rep smeared by the media goes.NO WHERE
Yet she blames herself, something only a decent person with a strong sense of personal responsibility would do.
1. Williams was heading northbound into the intersection, and the vehicle that struck hers was heading westbound.
2. You can't tell from the video, but I'll assume that the statement in the article about Williams crossed the stop bar on a green light is correct.
3. I'll also assume that the east-west traffic had a green light when the vehicle that struck Williams' vehicle had a green light and the right-of-way at the exact moment of impact.
4. There are several stopped cars in the left and/or center lanes of a three-lane approach that may have obstructed the view of the driver operating the westbound vehicle.
5. The only clear fault I could see on the part of Williams would be if she was traveling northbound and turning left onto the major road before being struck. Every jurisdiction where I've worked has a traffic law that requires turning vehicles to turn into the lane closest to their travel lane (except in cases of multiple turn lanes). In other words, if she was turning left from the northbound approach to go westbound, she would be required to turn into the closest lane (the left lane) of the east-west road. If she was turning left, she never should have been in a position to be struck by a westbound vehicle in the furthest lane (the right lane).
6. I'd be curious to see the signal timing plan for that intersection. It looks like the northbound approach had a very short green phase, and I'm wondering if there was an all-red phase that should have given an extra level of protection in cases just like this one.
It won’t matter to their lawyer - she’s got money and they want it.
Looks clear to me that the Barson car entered the intersection way too fast. Probably trying to time the light.
She does not look at fault to me. One thing for certain is the car that hit her was going full speed through the intersection. I was taught and still maintain you should always be “covering” your brake and be prepared for things like this when entering a busy intersection. Emergency vehicles do this even when the light is green. A green light does not mean it’s absolutely safe to go plowing throw at full speed. In my opinion the car that hit Williams is responsible for the severity of this accident.
Did you read the story? It’s pretty clear that Ms. Williams was not at fault but rather while successfully avoiding one wreck got into another. Just horrible circumstance. The person who cut her off most likely is at fault.
Sometimes a horrible accident is just that. A horrible accident.
No it didn’t. What a jerk you are.
Did you even read the details?
Well said. She maybe thinks that as a professional athlete with nearly inhuman reaction speed, she should have been able to avoid the accident. Well, sometimes that’s just not possible.
Nobody wants to say it. But the lady that hit Williams was at fault. She entered an intersection before it was clear. Because it was her husband that died, nobody wants to point out the obvious.
She was not turning left
Find an Angel, and a (Speed) Demon
...but it happens anyway!
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