“Tanya feels safe her her GMC Yukon” is the title of this video ad from a couple of years ago.
Never mind the child riding his bike to school in Contra Costa County you might run over, drag for 60 feet and kill with your six half-tons of American pride when you make that free right turn out of a school parking lot without looking, because you have the AutoTrac system to “help you stay in control during complex driving situations.” StabiliTrak and Proactive Roll Avoidance ensure you can zip out of the school drop off line at high speed and keep your vehicle on the road. If you push your Yukon beyond its limits and still manage to lose control while taking that sharp turn at 60 MPH, six airbags will protect the driver and passengers during the inevitable rollover, and OnStar will deploy emergency services and a tow.
Safety first!
It’s a good thing Contra Costa County CHP office already plans a safety seminar for the children at the victim’s school. Let’s put the onus of safety on these kids who have no experience with how the motor vehicles they’re supposed to watch for are supposed to move. [That was sarcasm.]
The poor victim was riding on the wrong side of the road when the driver made her free right turn onto Byron Highway. Kids riding or walking in ways that violate traffic rules next to schools is something every driver should anticipate, no matter how much safety instruction we give them. For their sake, please look left right left and look again when driving near a school. This “accident” was something every driver should anticipate and was easily avoidable.
I don’t see the connection. Tanya had a SILVER Yukon Denali while the perp vehicle had a SLATE Yukon Denali. Since motorists almost ALWAYS fail to stop when making a “free” right turn, how could the “mom” have seen someone to the right? Even a truck would have been hit. Yes, I’m being a bit sarcastic with all this…
I am reminded of the mass shooter drills that schools do now. Kids will just have to learn to deal with violence because adults have no political will.
One of the people who commented in the newspaper said the boy that died was the only kid who rode a bike to school. So I guess that safety class for the kids is sorely needed. [That was sarcasm.]
Some drivers at my school harass the kids ridding bikes to school through a quite residential 25 mph zone, telling them ride on the sidewalk instead of the road. This, because they want to drive 45 in a 25 and cut a few seconds off their commute time. Everyone knows the sidewalks are statically more risky, so its obvious the drivers don’t care anything about the kids safety. Its supposed to be a school zone, not a Gymkhana race track for Yukon XLs.