Posted on 02/03/2006 7:07:13 PM PST by highimpact
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- One pedestrian was killed and a second injured Thursday when they were struck by a motorcycle escorting a funeral procession in northwest Jacksonville.
Police said the civilian motorcycle escort was passing the procession to get to the head of the line about 12:30 p.m. when it struck two people in the 5700 block of Avenue B.
"Two pedestrians stepped out into the street, in his path. Both pedestrians were struck," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Sgt. R.A. Harville said.
The motorcyclist and one pedestrian were taken to Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center.
The pedestrian, who has not been identified, died during surgery. The motorcyclist, Roger Thompson, 34, was reported to be in stable condition.
The second pedestrian was treated at the scene and released.
(Excerpt) Read more at news4jax.com ...
Two birds with one stone!
Pinging the pinger!
Well at least it was not an SUV.
Guess what I find hard to understand about this story is that funeral processions are not that hard to spot. Cars moving, lights on. Hearse in lead. So only thing that makes sense is the pedestrians did not look both ways before crossing and ran right into the motorcycle. A sad accident for sure. It was a civilian motor cycle and not a police one with flashing lights. So I guess we will never know.
From the picture in the article it doesn`t look like anyones view would have been obstructed. Pretty wide open street.
I wonder if the motorcyclist was passing in the turning lane ( center lane )? And the pedestrians ran out into the turning lane? If you look at the road its three lanes, with the center being a turning lane. If so, the cyclist was probably breaking the law ( passing in the center lane is almost always illegal ). And the pedestrians probably were as well ( jaywalking ). Just my view of it.
Pretty sad event all around.
Walking out into the middle of a funeral procession? They must have been from MA. I used to see that strange behavior up there.
Funeral processions are more common here in the South than elsewhere, and they are, in a way, nice traditions. But it's long past time to outlaw them, in the interests of safety if nothing else.
The hearse, the "family car," and a stream of other funeral attendees -- could be 10 cars, could be several hundred -- wend their way from the church or funeral home where the funeral was held to the grave-site, which may be miles away. Everyone in the procession turns on his/her headlights so that others can see that it's a funeral procession, and they are waved through red lights and stop signs by the police escorts. In smaller towns, traffic on the other side of the road often stops as a sign of respect.
All very lovely. But, especially in a longer procession, the escorting police officers can't monitor every intersection for the passage of the entire procession; they have to zip ahead and close off the next intersection to cross-traffic. People who drive up to an intersection after the police escort has left will see, it is hoped, by all the cars with headlights on, that there's a funeral procession in progress. But what if it's raining, and all cars have their lights on?
A quaint tradition. But it's time to end it.
I wonder why we have funerals. They are a morbid and depressing display as far as I'm concerned. When I go, I want a party.
I occasionally listen to Michael Savage for amusement. He said (I'm paraphrasing here) that when he goes, he wants the Hell's Angels to drag his corpse through the streets behind a motorcycle.
Over my dead body!
Over my dead body!
How did that happen?
How did that happen?
Oh NO!
Oh NO!
I think that may be a little bit over the top.
It's Micheal Savage, what do you expect? His middle name should be over-the-top.
I always thought that pedestrians had to wait for the light to turn green for them just as for traffic. What I see *ALL THE TIME* is people standing on the curb, watching, actually staring at, a light that is green for them to cross. Then the minute it turns red for them and green for the traffic crossing their path, they just step out into the path of the oncoming traffic, which actually has the green light to go. They end up causing all kinds of traffic issues and almost cause accidents and get hit themselves. Then, when they are halfway across the lane, they seem to realise that something is not right and come to a dead stop. I just cannot figure out where these people learned their traffic laws.
So, it wouldn't surprise me one bit to find out this couple just waltzed right out into the street, fully expecting all traffic to come to a dead stop instantly just for them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.