Posted on 05/16/2005 9:04:09 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - A well-known volunteer police officer who directs traffic at a busy Georgetown intersection was fighting for his life Saturday after he was struck my a sport-utility vehicle and rushed to George Washington University Hospital in critical condition, a District of Columbia police spokesman said.
Joseph Pozell, 59, was seriously injured just after 3:30 p.m. when he was directing traffic at the intersection of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Sgt. Joe Gentile said. A 19-year-old woman driving a Honda CR-V ran into him while making a left turn onto M Street, Gentile said.
Pozell, a native of Moundsville, W.Va., is a familiar face at the intersection and in the Georgetown community. He has volunteered on many weeknights for nearly 18 months to help ease congestion during rush hours, and local groups recently honored him as a model citizen. Gentile said Pozell is a three-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department's reserve officer corps.
During the day, Pozell manages the Oak Hill Cemetery and lives on the property with his wife, Ella. Pozell also has an adult son.
Michael Palermo, manager of the Papa-Razzi restaurant and bar told The Washington Post that he saw the accident Saturday.
"I saw fear in his eyes," Palermo said. "The woman hit him head-on.... I don't know how she missed seeing him.
"He was standing in the middle of the street."
After the accident many blocks on M Street were cordoned off with yellow police tape, and vehicles were directed to K Street, which was gridlocked.
"I saw fear in his eyes," Palermo said. "The woman hit him head-on.... I don't know how she missed seeing him."
*I* know how.....she was probably merrily jabbering away on her cell phone about the latest "Desperate Housewives" episode.,....
May G-d grant him a complete healing.
I want that technology that enables SUVs to drive on their own.
"Latest news on those Detroit spawned demons of the roadway."
No, this was a Honda CR-V, a fairly small, 4 cylinder model. Note in the article that the driver was at fault, not the SUV. Had it been a Detroit behemoth, she would have been blameless.
Do they not have editors that proof read anymore?
A Honda CR-V is hardly an SUV.
My Toro's got more power than one of these things.
I'm sure he would not have been any less seriously injured had he been struck by a speeding hybrid vehicle, a truck or even run over by a chariot. Why if an SUV is involved is the vehicle reported as if it had something to do with the accident?
"Why if an SUV is involved is the vehicle reported as if it had something to do with the accident?"
Because the SUV, as well as those who drive them, are deemed insufficiently "progressive," and are therefore targeted for ritual denunciation.
I now make a practice when I am stopped at a light to check/count the drivers who cut across my front making a left turn to go down the street from which I am coming who are talking on a 'phone - almost half are talking and not driving!!
The worst offender (I believe - proving it is another thing) is the guy ahead of me who starts going much slower than traffic will bear and then, as I pull up along side him and see he's on a 'phone, picks up speed - he had to look up/select a number to dial!
I don't know what the answer is but I am thinking in terms of a zapper that will render a cell 'pnoe unusable for 2 to 5 minutes, in and out. Of course, all the 'phone users will then be able to blame EVERY problem on " being distracted by having the 'phone suddenly be zapped."
I damn near got T-boned by some idiot talking on his phone....took a lot of self-control to resist the urge to follow him home and knock out his teeth.
""A Honda CR-V SUV carrying a 19-year-old woman ran into him"
Actually, this is dangerously close to "Leftist Econocar Attacks Authority Figure, Female Driver Shows Solidarity."
I saw this on the local news last night. Fox 5. They had a city counsilperson on who said that he is looking into proposing a bill that will outlaw SUVs for teenage drivers. Of course this girl could have been driving a much larger truck, vans or sportscar and done just as much damage to the officer. The girl is to blame and nothing else.
Ditto to everything you've said. It never fails; I'll see some idiot going way below the speed limit, tying up an entire lane of traffic . Then when I'm finally able to pass, I'll see that he/she is on the phone.
If people are so insistent that the MUST be on the phone, I believe our states should make them pass tests to see whether they're capable of driving while talking on a phone. They should be able to use turn signals and keep up with traffic; if not, they would not be allowed to drive and yack yack yack.
People will argue that other things, like eating, applying makeup, conversations with other passengers, etc. also distract drivers. And that is true maybe 1% of the time. But 99% of the time it's a driver on the phone that's the problem.
Tying up traffic is bad, but it's traffic accidents and fatalities that most concerns me.
I was driving in the same area on Friday. It's hard to believe she could have been going fast enough to hurt anyone. It's pretty congested, even on weekends, with alot of cars creeping along.
I was shocked and upset when I heard this on the news this morning. I've seen this guy quite a few times, and he takes his job very seriously. So sad - I hope he recovers.
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