BS: The only one they could catch?

Subject: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Bert
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 07:59 PM

The only one they could catch?

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An 82-year-old woman received a $114 ticket for taking too long to cross a street. Mayvis Coyle said she began shuffling with her cane across Foothill Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley when the light was green, but was unable to make it to the other side before it turned red.

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Kweku
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 04:06 AM

wow!

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Bert
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 11:54 AM

I can just imagine them chasing her in their squad cars.

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 12:07 PM

"Well, she WAS breaking the law!"

"But what about those illegal aliens over there on the other side of the street? Aren't they breaking the law?"

"Uhh....well...one of them cleans my house, two wash dishes in my favorite restaurant, and two more have legal relatives on the force...and besides, the chief says not to bother.."

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Sorcha
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 12:17 PM

This is pathetic.

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 12:36 PM

"this"? not these, those, and them?

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: gnu
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 01:46 PM

Sick.

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Sorcha
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 03:23 PM

An idea whose time has come.....moving sidewalks at the crossings...press button....will only move when light is green....will not move when vehicles are crossing....??

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: autolycus
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 03:54 PM

Is this in the land of freedom?

Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Kaleea
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 06:53 PM

I used to live in a city that had a crosswalk in front of housing for disabled people. Finally, after a few people died-some walking, some in wheelchairs-they put in a traffic signal light which gave much more time for crossing.
The woman should sue the city. There is an act for people with disabilities.

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: SINSULL
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 06:59 PM

There has to be a song in this. Shall we write it and send it to Mayvis?

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 07:01 PM

This is what happens when Conan the Barbarian is governor.

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Paul Burke
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 05:52 AM

Here in the unfree UK, there's no crime of jaywalking on ordinary roads. Some special roads (motorways) are prohibited to pedestrians, but the assumption in law, if not in the minds of motorists, is that the pedestrian was there first, and has precedence.

No wonder you can't understand roundabouts.

It's the kind of thing that makes me hope people like Schwarzenegger get really poor when they are old.

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 11:41 AM

Here in the USA, in many cities, there are roads where jaywalking (crossing where there is no crosswalk) is a VERY serious problem...but the item that started this thread was not about jaywalking.

Often, there is a protected place to stand in the middle of wide roads for those who cannot make it to the other side before the light turns red. The story did not say whether the elderly woman had that option....but usually, motorists are supposed to wait if a pedestrian....especially an elderly or handicapped one, is still crossing.

-------------------------------

hey! Mudcat didn't take that post, so while I was waiting, I went looking. Mayvis is fighting and sueing the city...and I went to Google Maps and found the intersection where she was trying to cross.
There is no central pedestrian 'safe' haven...only turn lanes.

ain't technology wonderful!

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 12:27 PM

No excuse for what happened. Why, that woman should be ashamed! Holding up traffic like that, just so she could selfishly walk across the street! The drivers should sue! I'll be some of them might have been late for appointments and maybe even missed the green light at the next stoplight because of her! Those poor drivers lost seconds, even minutes! waiting for her to cross the street! I think she should have the book thrown at her and the cop who arrested her given a special award! I say, if you can't walk the walk you should stay on the sidewalk and not cross the street!

Q: Why did the old lady cross the street?
A: To annoy the drivers!

These old folks should be dealt with promptly and quickly -- no nation can afford to have them shuffling around loose!

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 04:25 PM

Based on fairly numerous trips to LA (when I had a job that required it) I was under the impression that it was illegal to be a pedestrian there.

Maybe things have gotten better? Now it's okay if you can run fast.(?)

John

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 04:40 PM

If she wins her suit, I hope she buys a motorized chair with a big gunsight mounted on it...(no need for a working gun, I'd just like photos of the drivers' faces when she pointed it at them!)

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: Kaleea
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 06:32 PM

Look out, folks, Ellen is riled up about the elderly lady & she's on the job! Ellen DeGeneres just announced that she's going to speak to the mayor of Sunland, Ca about the incident. They showed footage of an able bodied feller who went to the intersection & could not cross before the red hand started to flash. The cops in that town better run & hide, as reporters the world over are about to show up.


    uh, . . . evil cops? or diabolical plan to get lots of publicity for the town? hhmmm

Subject: RE: BS: The only one they could catch?
From: bobad
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 06:56 PM

I wonder if they did the appropriate takedown and cuffed her hands behind her back a la TV show Cops, in which they seem to do it to everyone no matter the offence.