# How is Mowing Down Pedestrians Not a "Crime?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639 "2004-01-29T20:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/1 "2004-01-29T20:57:03Z")
This baffles me: MIAMI (AP) – Actress Robin Givens struck and critically injured an 89-year-old pedestrian in a crosswalk, police said Thursday. Givens . . . struck Maria Antonia Alcover with her sport utility vehicle Wednesday as the elderly woman was crossing a busy intersection during rush hour, police spokesman Delrish Moss said. Police have ruled it an accident. Witnesses said **Alcover had gotten more than halfway across the street when the northbound/southbound light turned green and Givens’ 2000 Mercedes SUV struck her. Police said Givens’ car had been stopped at the traffic light before the accident.** After being hit, Alcover fell backward and her right foot was nearly severed, police said. Givens drove for about 10 feet before witnesses flagged her down. The actress stopped her vehicle, walked back to the victim and stayed with her while police and fire rescue workers reached the scene. **Givens, 39, of New York, was issued a traffic summons for failing to use due care when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. “We’re looking at it as a pure accident and we don’t expect any additional criminal charges whatsoever,” Moss said.** Ummmm . . . So you can just run down people in the middle of crosswalks in Miami and it’s OK? I’m not putting this in the Pit because I’m more confused than furious . . . ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/2 "2004-01-29T21:11:43Z")
I’m sure you’ve already told us most of what happened, but… …link? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/3 "2004-01-29T21:19:29Z")
[link](http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/ROBIN_GIVENS_ACCIDENT?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT). And how do you _not notice_ you’ve run over someone? I can see maybe not noticing you’ve run over, say, a squirrel or a fetus or something . . . But wouldn’t an entire old lady kinda go “ka-_thump!_” under your car? ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/4 "2004-01-29T21:20:03Z")
[Link from Miami Herald. Same article that **Eve** copied from](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7826138.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/5 "2004-01-29T21:29:41Z")
Law is based on accountability and motive. An accident not due to negligence is not the same thing as an intentional act. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/6 "2004-01-29T21:35:10Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I can see maybe not noticing you’ve run over, say, a squirrel or a fetus or something… And where exactly do you go driving? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/7 "2004-01-29T21:39:00Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Law is based on accountability and motive. An accident not due to negligence is not the same thing as an intentional act. But I’d say “accountability” and “negligence” both come into play here. The woman was in the middle of the street in broad daylight and Givens stepped on the gas pedal and mowed her down! ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/8 "2004-01-29T21:52:38Z")
I’m voting accident, as well. I can’t imagine that Givens sized her up from across the street, aimed for her, and floored it as the light turned green. Sounds like the lady was right at Givens’ bumper as the light turned green. The woman could probably be at fault for being in the crosswalk against the light. I’m not saying it’s the injured woman’s fault, either, but I don’t think this accident qualifies Givens as a criminal. Her stint on \*_Head of the Class_ however… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/9 "2004-01-29T22:23:11Z")
I think more jurisdictions should take DC’s stance on this sort of thing. Both parties would be at fault. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/10 "2004-01-29T22:26:36Z")
Come to think of it, the City of Miami might to blame here for having a walk signal that doesn’t take slower-moving pedestrians into account. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/11 "2004-01-29T22:50:29Z")
Short bent over slow moving woman? Tall SUV? Maybe tall enough so the woman wasn’t visible? I guess I could see it being ruled an accident. Of course, ruling it not a crime doesn’t mean that the victim can’t sue. So it becomes a civil suit, which is probably just what it should be. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/12 "2004-01-29T23:22:42Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > And how do you _not notice_ you’ve run over someone? I can see maybe not noticing you’ve run over, say, a squirrel or a fetus or something . . . But wouldn’t an entire old lady kinda go “ka-_thump!_” under your car? Actually, even a squirrel will produce a feel-able thump if you run over it directly. Is it possible the old lady was nicked by the side of the car? That type of accident might make for less thumpage, especially if she was a _little_ old lady. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/13 "2004-01-29T23:39:07Z")
It’s possible the woman was just nicked by the bumper, but being knicked by a bumper right as someone takes their foot off the brake would make it awfully hard to have your foot nearly severed. Of course, the damage might not be as extensive as that makes it sound, but it does seem that sort of injury would require a pretty hard, direct hit. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/14 "2004-01-30T00:11:08Z")
Well, jeez, Givens only got ten feet or so before she stopped. It’s not like the cops raided her house and found the old lady stuck in her windshield or anything. I suspect she spent that ten feet going “OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!!!” before her brain unseized enough to let her slam on the brakes. As to why she hit the woman in the first place, well, I’m not sure I’d call it a crime. Was she drunk? Coked up? Stalking her victim? …or did she just have an Idiot Moment? This is not to say that Givens is blameless, or that she should not be held accountable for her victim’s injuries, but durned if I see where sending her to jail would solve anything. She has liability insurance on her vehicle, yes? And this should cover at least part of the poor woman’s medical bill, no? I mean, what do we want from Givens, anyway? I’m sure it was an accident. A STUPID accident, maybe, but certainly an accident. She’s gotten this far without revealing any serial killer tendencies… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/15 "2004-01-30T00:55:25Z")
I’m just baffled as to what happened: you’re stopped at a traffic light. There is someone crossing the street right in front of you. The light changes. You hit the gas and run over the pedestrian. I mean, I drive. I don’t shift into “drive” and hit the gas pedal _when there is a person right in front of my car._ The only excuses I can think of are her gas pedal jammed, or Mike Tyson was beating the crap out of her at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/16 "2004-01-30T01:02:10Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I’m just baffled as to what happened: you’re stopped at a traffic light. There is someone crossing the street right in front of you. The light changes. You hit the gas and run over the pedestrian. > > I mean, I drive. I don’t shift into “drive” and hit the gas pedal _when there is a person right in front of my car._ The only excuses I can think of are her gas pedal jammed, or Mike Tyson was beating the crap out of her at the time. We don’t have enough information here. Where was she in relation to the car? It definately does not say that she was in front of the car, the basic assumption in this thread so far, though she could have been. Which crosswalk was she in relative to the car? Was she clipped by the side of the car, meaning she was out of the field of vision of Givens? Was she before or past the vehicle? Clearly Givens was careless but we can’t say what degree of penalty is sufficient from that. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/17 "2004-01-30T02:09:45Z")
[This article](http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-129robingivens,0,1946992.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines) from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel gives a little more information. The accident happened last night at 6:20 PM, so it was dark. The lady could have been wearing dark clothes, and as **Finagle** says, it also could have been a short pedestrian and a tall SUV, further reducing visibility. The article doesn’t say exactly where they were in relation to each other, but I suspect the woman was on the opposite side of the intersection, thus Givens’ vehicle would have picked up a little bit of speed, and also she would not have been right in front of the vehicle when it started moving. In any case, Givens was cited in the accident, so I’m not really sure what the beef is here. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/18 "2004-01-30T03:13:19Z")
**Eve** , you live in New York City. I can’t quite understand your beef either, to be honest. None of the following links are going to come as news to you. So, why is this different? [Queens Boulevard: Road of Death 1](http://www.tstc.org/bulletin/20030811/mtr42705.html) [Queens Boulevard- Read Last full graph](http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dot/html/about/pr2004/pr04_02.html) [Gothamist Has Photos of Boulevard of Death](http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2003/07/11/queens_boulevard_of_death.php) As **Geobabe** mentioned, it was 6:20pm EST. Dusk, around our parts, as you also well know. You said “Broad daylight” in a post up there when in fact, according to that article, it was at dusk. Subdued light is THE most difficult time of day to see when driving. So, what’s your beef against Robin Givens? The fact that she went to Sarah Lawrence or something? ( I met her there, she was there when I …well. I spent a year mostly living on campus, but not attending. 😉 ). I’m guessing she’s horrified. As for going ten feet, take at look at acceleration charts for a second. She had been stopped, she was driving and accelerating, not decelerating. Her CAR is more than ten feet long ( My Nissan Quest mini-van is something like 18 feet long, and some SUV’s exceed that length ). To go not even ONE car-length past the impact point at even say ( let’s be generous ) 15 mph is hardly negligent. In fact, many SUV’s are extremely large and heavy. Had she been aware of the impact on her own, she might not have been able to screech to a halt in much less than 10-20 feet. People accidentally kill pedestrians every day in this country. They just don’t happen to be minor celebs. I feel awful for the woman who was hit. Ms. Givens didn’t flee, she didn’t seem to do anything out of what one would hope a driver who’d accidentally hit someone would do. She stayed as emergency personnel tended the victim. You’re confused? So am I. She wasn’t hunting human game with her killer SUV in broad daylight. You’ve lost me on this one, **Eve**. 😕 Um. It’s why these are called “accidents”. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/19 "2004-01-30T03:19:28Z")
Ummm, that’s why I put this is MPSIMS and not the Pit, schmuck. Am I allowed to call you a schmuck in MPSIMS? ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639/20 "2004-01-30T04:47:32Z")
I am baffled as well. Granted we don’t know all the facts yet, but one thing we do know is someone is dead. It is the responsibilty of the driver to be watch out for pedestrians, afterall the car will never come out worse. There are so many distractions for drivers these days, they must be even more vigilant while driving. Cars can be a dangerous weapons, and people who use it need to be responsible. If somone hits a person in a car because they’re talking on the phone, in a rush or singing with the radio, they’re just as guilty as if they are driving drunk. People need pay attention to the road and be held accountable for their actions. The first thing that should be done is stop using the word accident. How about negligent homicide, I think that fits better than “accident”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-mowing-down-pedestrians-not-a-crime/226639.md?page=2)