She was on the sidewalk, he was exiting a gas station and hit her when she was on the sidewalk. Not much wiggle room for blame on this one.
Slow down and look for more than gaps in traffic to dart into

This is a common problem with gas stations (or any kind of driveway) on busy streets. Car drivers come speeding out of the driveway without stopping at the sidewalk so they can quickly merge into the traffic on the busy street. Often, the driver looks only to the left (where cars are approaching) and not to the right (where pedestrians may be approaching). Because the cars are moving so much faster, the pedestrian has no chance to get out of the way. I hope the cops cited this driver for reckless driving.

I posted this on the last article like this and I'll say it again. Get used to more of these types of incidents as more and more housing is built and the streets become even more congested. This isn't necessarily people acting bad, that's why it's called an accident. But too many people in a small space will make this happen more often.

Central Expressway is pretty sheltered, so I usually don't see any pedestrians walking on it or along it. The driver must have assumed that it would be free of any pedestrians, so he didn't look carefully and had this unfortunate accident. As a driver, I could make the same mistake - so I will now look much more carefully when I am crossing Central Expressway.

Wrong. This intersection is VERY busy with pedestrian traffic coming and going all the time. The corner that the gas station is on also houses a mini-mall that includes Walgreens.
This is a wide open, un-sheltered area which ALWAYS has pedestrians around it, esp at that time of day. If the driver had slowed and looked he/she could have avoided hitting the old woman in the sidewalk. Accidents happen, but they are not always free of blame. The driver should be cited, but at the very least they should pay medical and other expenses because of the accident they caused.

central expressway east of rengstorff doesn't have sidewalks, rarely see pedestrians there.

The stretch where the gas station is does have a sidewalk, and is across the street from Rengstorff park. Seeing pedestrian traffic in that area is normal.

Pedestrians also have a part in avoiding getting hit. Even though they have the right of way it won't undo the injuries they receive if they are hit.

She was on the sidewalk. Yes, we all have to to our part, but this time the driver let everyone down.

A number of commenters here, and on other threads relating to driver-on-pedestrian accidents recently (but most especially the commenter from Rex Manor) seem to have forgotten what drivers' ed should have taught them: Drive defensively. ALWAYS look before proceeding. ALWAYS look for other vehicles, bicyclists, AND pedestrians.

But I guess in an area where the motto seems to be "Get out of my way, I'm coming through!!!" that seems to be forgotten...

Pro tip: if you see a sidewalk or crosswalk or intersection, you should expect pedestrians to be coming from one direction or another and you are required by law to check in all directions for pedestrians before proceedings. If you hit the pedestrian anyway, then you are driving distracted and deserve jail time. Hitting a pedestrian on the sidewalk is negligence, not an accident.

Good thing it was only minor injures.

@ Drivers Ed

Are you referring to me? I haven't forgotten anything. Just stating fact. I am a very careful driver, but still accidents can happen. Certainly more people makes for more accidents.

Yesterday I watched a bicyclist almost get creamed by a car when the BIKE failed to stop at a busy 4 way stop and just sailed on through obviously upset that he almost got hit, but I'm pretty sure the rules state even bikes must stop at stop signs. The car was clearly expecting him to stop and did a good job avoiding the collision.

About a week ago I watched a pedestrian almost get creamed by a bicyclist who was probably going too fast.

Almost 2 years ago I almost got hit by a police car making a left turn onto Shoreline while I was starting in the intersection. I was walking my baby in a stroller and was able to yank the stroller out of the way in time. The officer even apologized.

I see pedestrians step into the street all the time without looking first. We all need to be careful no matter if we are driving, biking or walking. Most people engage in all three at some point in their lives.

All I'm saying is these interactions will be more common with more people. Don't twist my words around to talk about pushy drivers. We all need to be careful, but that will get more difficult with more people.

@Rex Manor: Let's review something, shall we?

A person on a bicycle CAN injure a pedestrian.

A pedestrian CANNOT injure a person in a car.

A person in a car CAN KILL a pedestrian or a bicyclist.

It is therefore imperative that a driver ALWAYS proceed with caution.

And your insistence that "more people will cause more accidents" is garbage. If that were the case, the streets of Tokyo and Singapore would be death zones -- which they are most certainly NOT.

When I am a pedestrian I keep my eyes open and never cross a driveway or street without making sure there are no cars approaching. It is the way my mother taught me and makes sense. I am the one in charge of my own safety and I would rather be safe than sorry even if I am in the right.

The panel will consist of directors from police station traffic divisions around the city. Senior spokesman Koichi Hirota told a news conference Saturday, “The current state of automobile-related deaths is truly in a state of crisis. We need to work to put a stop to this recent trend.”

Hirota outlined a plan to boost the number of patrol officers within the metropolitan area. He said the panel will also look at ways to enforce the wearing of seatbelts, particularly among back seat passengers in cars.

The Metropolitan Police Department said it hopes to keep the number of automobile accident victims in the city below 150 each year.

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To the moderators at the Mountain View Voice: The comment from the poster from Monta Loma needs to be deleted NOW. And their access to this site needs to be denied PERMANENTLY.

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They don't have as many problems in Asia because they don't give pedestrians the misguided sense that they have the right-away. I lived in Asia for 5 years, people over there realize cars will always win and don't feel like they have more rights than vehicles.

I'm with Too Many People and Neighbor....its suicide to keep pushing this idea that pedestrians have right-away. Let's get back to teaching reality and common sense. Don't enter an intersection when there's a car coming for gods sake. COMMON SENSE.

Sorry. Right "of" way

How sad! I hope she'll recover quickly.