I would think the bleeding of the brain would be ample punishment for the jaywalking offense... but obviously not... DENVER – A good Samaritan who helped push three people out of the path of a pickup truck before being struck and injured has gotten a strange reward for his good deed: A jaywalking ticket. Family members said 58-year-old bus driver Jim Moffett and another man were helping two elderly women cross a busy Denver street in a snowstorm when he was hit Friday night. Moffett suffered bleeding in the brain, broken bones, a dislocated shoulder and a possible ruptured spleen. He was in serious but stable condition Wednesday. The Colorado State Patrol issued the citation. Trooper Ryan Sullivan said that despite Moffett's intentions, jaywalking contributed to the accident. Moffett had been driving his bus when the two women got off. In the interest of safety, he got out and, together with another passenger, helped the ladies cross. Moffett's stepson, Ken McDonald, said the driver of the pickup plowed into his stepfather, but not before Moffett pushed the two women out of the way. When he awoke in intensive care, he learned of the ticket. "His reaction was dazed and confused. I was a little angry," said McDonald. The other man also was cited for jaywalking, while the pickup driver was cited with careless driving that led to injury. Sullivan said the two elderly women haven't been cited but the investigation is ongoing.
But if the two elderly ladies are going accross the road, there appears to be no traffic, your driving a bus, have a schedule to be on... Are you going to stop the two old ladies and say "Hey ladies, wait, we can't Jaywalk!!" I just don't see that happening... But I understand 100% where your coming from...
Helping LOL's (Little Old Ladies) across the street in a snow storm was the right thing to do. Had the driver controlled his/her vehicle properly, the accident would not have happened. Had the LOL's not got on the bus, the accident would not have happened. Had a LEO with compassion arrived on the scene first, the ticket would not have happened. No matter how we each feel about this story, it happened. I personally think the ticket for the bus driver is wrong, but that does not change what happened. The moral of the story is - Don't drive in Colorado when the weather is crappy and you won't get a ticket!
Jeff: As neither one of us was at the scene, neither one of us know all the contributing factors. That being said, if I saw two elderly ladies trying to cross a street in bad weather, I would help them get across. Whether or not there was a "legal" crossing point would be hard to determine if the road was covered in snow. If I got a ticket, I too would probably be upset. Final note, if you are going over the speed limit even by 1 mph, you are breaking the law. The posted signs and the law does not say "Speed Limit 25 or thereabouts". Most LEO's will not ticket you for exceeding the posted limit by a couple miles an hour though.
Jeff, I am LEO and I agree w/ you. Im not saying if I would have issued the same tickets because I wasnt there. But, the officer was doing his job by issuing the tickets to the people who contributed to the accident. I am a little confused as to why the 2 old ladies didnt get ticketed also. Werent they jaywalking also? If youre gonna issue one you gotta issue all of them.
No matter how you spin this It still makes me sick that a guy was doing a "good thing" and thus gets ticketed for It. Whether he was right or wrong with the law all he was doing was a good service to a couple of old women. I'd do It In a heart beat myself. What would the cop have done If he had pulled up In this situation and It was just the 2 ladies walking, would he have got out and violated the law and helped these 2 old ladies or would of he let the ladies cross on there own and not have a care In the world but ticket them after they cross the road? But then again It might be too late to ticket them because they didn't make It across the road because of someones arrogance In not helping these old ladies get across the road! Go bust a bunch of drug dealers/users Instead, there's enough of them around!
