this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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Not the first time this has happened either, here's another similar case in Atlanta: https://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-boy-killed-hit-run-driver-probation-community/story?id=14158040

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[–] balsoft@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

You know who should be charged over this? It's not the parents. It's not even the driver. And it's not even necessarily the city board responsible for the shitty car-centric design. It's the fucking psychopaths in charge of car & oil companies who lobbied this and forced car-centrism on an entire continent. They need to be on the dock for every preventable pedestrian & cyclist death in city limits. All of them are mass murderers.

[–] Core_of_Arden@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 days ago

Sadly, though this is totally insane, it is by far, not the most insane happening in the US, right now...

[–] PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de 149 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

The thing is, once car-centrism is established and normalized, it's so hard to explain to people what the real problem is. Clearly the kid did a stupid thing and ran into the road when it shouldn't. Clearly the driver had no bad intentions.

But somehow the thought never occurs to people that kids (and adults) will always be stupid and we shouldn't strive to make a world where nobody makes mistakes. We should strive to make a world where making mistakes doesn't kill you.

[–] Broadfern@lemmy.world 58 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (7 children)

EDIT: Leaving this up for clarity, but I did in fact read the wrong link from the post. The above commenter is correct. Carry on and have a good day.

Clearly the driver had no bad intentions.

I hate to break it to you, but:

Jerry Guy, the man who hit the family and never stopped, reportedly admitted drinking "a little" alcohol earlier in the day. He also admitted to being on painkillers and being partially blind in one eye.

Guy had been convicted of two previous hit and run accidents. He pleaded guilty to the hit and run that took A.J.'s life and served six months in jail.

In a world without cars this man wouldn’t have killed a child with his decisions. But this is still gross negligence, especially the multiple hit-and-run charges.

I do agree that if anything this is a great case for pushing public transit and eliminating car centrism. But to not stop/pull over, multiple times, is its own level of selfishness.

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[–] lily33@lemm.ee 117 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (29 children)

after allowing him and his brother, 10, to walk home unaccompanied by an adult from a nearby grocery store.

Wtf, are kids 10 and 7 not old enough to walk by themselves to the grocery store now?

[–] loudambiance@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I live a few miles from where this occurred. The sidewalk is right on the road (only on one side) it's 4 lanes with no crossing other than the light at the grocery store. You cross at the light, you have no sidewalk, you don't cross at the light you have to cross without a crosswalk. It's 4 lanes split by a row of trees, very low visibility, and every one speeds over the 45 mph posted speed limit. I wouldn't let my 13 cross that road and walk down it, much less at 6pm, one of the busiest times.

For context, this is where it occurred: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9GjCYGBAm5BBm8k59

[–] lily33@lemm.ee 2 points 6 days ago

Such a speed limit on a road through a residential neighborhood in insane :O

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 59 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Meanwhile all the boomers talk about how they have such find memories of walking around unsupervised until the streetlights came on or whatever lame Facebook nostalgia meme they're parroting

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[–] Signtist@bookwormstory.social 47 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

Yeah, I remember when I was 7 I'd explore everywhere around my house for at least a few miles. There was a convenience store 2 miles out where I'd buy candy any time I'd scrounged up a few dollars of change.

What happened was terrible, but it was an accident nevertheless. Nobody should have to serve time, especially not the grieving parents.

[–] TankieTanuki@hexbear.net 34 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yeah, but that was just a few miles. These boys walked...

*Checks notes*

The Food Lion store is two blocks away from their home.

jesus-christ

[–] phantomwise@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 week ago

Those who design american neighborhoods to be so car centric definitely should.

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[–] JSocial@lemmy.dbzer0.com 59 points 1 week ago (15 children)

there is no evidence of speeding or wrongdoing on the part of the driver, therefore no charges have been filed.

I feel like Atlanta law enforcement might need a refresher on what "wrongdoing" means.

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[–] nanook@friendica.eskimo.com 44 points 1 week ago (50 children)

@HiddenLayer555 This is a messed up era. When I was a kid from kindergarten and up I walked to school alone. It wasn't a super long distance, about six blocks each way but it was unsupervised, and that was the norm back then. What has happened that it has become so dangerous that kids need to be bussed to school even if they're three blocks from the school?

[–] psivchaz@reddthat.com 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

A vicious cycle happened. 24 hour news reports every child abduction basically in the country, making parents feel that they're more common than they are. Kids freedom starts getting restricted. There's less kids outside, so parents are less comfortable letting their own kids out, and kids have less incentive to go out. At the same time, the number of indoor entertainment options explodes. As they stop being seen outside, the world adjusts to life without them.... Less crosswalks, less bikeable areas, less parks. With so few kids being outside the house, the parents who still encourage their kids to play outside or go do things become the minority and law enforcement fucks with them accordingly, as in this story, making parents even more reluctant to let their kids out of their sight.

There's some resistance to this. Free Range Kids comes to mind. People see the problem and want to do something. But as you can see even in this thread, people have so accepted "kids should stay inside supervised at all times" as the norm that it's an uphill battle.

[–] nanook@friendica.eskimo.com 2 points 6 days ago

@psivchaz I suspect this has something to do with the obesity epidemic.

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[–] wraithcoop@programming.dev 37 points 1 week ago (2 children)

meanwhile, in Japan, they ran a TV show of toddlers running errands

https://youtu.be/ExK0OAi_CVM

[–] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago

I loved that show! Reminded me of running errands when I was little. A turnip "the size of your head", and 20 Rothmans.

[–] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 days ago

Get that socialism out of here /s

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I have watched children be bussed across a stroad rather than making it safe for kids to cross

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[–] stray@pawb.social 28 points 1 week ago (7 children)

the traffic light was a third of a mile away.

I'm having trouble visualizing this. Does this mean that at a walking speed of 3km/h it would take ten entire minutes to get to a cross walk? Because that's insane.

In Sweden we have crosswalks very regularly, usually like a couple minutes of walking at most. For bus stops farther between intersections there are markers indicating that people will cross, even without a normal crossing marker. For areas which can't have a crossing (you may need to walk around a ways to get under or over four lanes) they put up barriers to prevent walking across.

When Americans complain about everything being car-centric, this is exactly the kind of shit they’re complaining about.

My grocery store is a mile away, but I can’t legally walk there. There are no crosswalks to get to the store. If I’m going to fully obey the law as written, I must use a car just to go to the store.

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[–] anti_antidote@lemmy.zip 26 points 1 week ago

That's fucked up.

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