While families of hit and run victims continue to suffer, drivers who caused such suffering were still at large and live as if nothing happened.
Carmen Bachan still mourns for the death of her daughter, Adriana Bachan who had been a victim of hit and run. Unlike other hit and run cases, this particular incident was brutal and odd.
While Adriana and friend Marcus Garfinkle were crossing at a designated crosswalk at Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street near USC, a car beat a red light and hit them. Garfinkle’s body clung to the car’s hood about 500 meters. The car stopped, a passenger got out only to remove Garfinkle’s motionless body from it.
Due to their injuries, Adriana died at the hospital and Garfinkle was in critical condition.
Under California laws, a vehicle driver approaching a pedestrian within a crosswalk is required to exercise all due care, reduce speed and take necessary action to safeguard the safety of pedestrians. Moreover, a vehicle driver involved in an accident resulting to injury or death must stop at the scene of the accident.
Clearly, these obligations were ignored by the victim’s offenders. The utter disregard of human life is unimaginable in this case. I can hardly understand how someone could just speed of and leave lifeless bodies on the street.
The police officers were one with Carmen’s plea for witnesses to give information on the violators’ whereabouts.
Previous to this case, a fatal accident already happened in the same intersection. These two incidents should serve as wake up calls for the authorities to do something.
Surely, some changes must be done or steps to be taken to prevent cases of pedestrian accidents and hit and run accidents from happening in this intersection again.
While Adriana and friend Marcus Garfinkle were crossing at a designated crosswalk at Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street near USC, a car beat a red light and hit them. Garfinkle’s body clung to the car’s hood about 500 meters. The car stopped, a passenger got out only to remove Garfinkle’s motionless body from it.
Due to their injuries, Adriana died at the hospital and Garfinkle was in critical condition.
Under California laws, a vehicle driver approaching a pedestrian within a crosswalk is required to exercise all due care, reduce speed and take necessary action to safeguard the safety of pedestrians. Moreover, a vehicle driver involved in an accident resulting to injury or death must stop at the scene of the accident.
Clearly, these obligations were ignored by the victim’s offenders. The utter disregard of human life is unimaginable in this case. I can hardly understand how someone could just speed of and leave lifeless bodies on the street.
The police officers were one with Carmen’s plea for witnesses to give information on the violators’ whereabouts.
Previous to this case, a fatal accident already happened in the same intersection. These two incidents should serve as wake up calls for the authorities to do something.
Surely, some changes must be done or steps to be taken to prevent cases of pedestrian accidents and hit and run accidents from happening in this intersection again.
