This is what happens when neither driver nor pedestrian are paying attention.
Presumed Kalamazoo, MI resident and Redditor /u/jj202143 posted up dashcam footage to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing the not surprising moment when a distracted driver ran into a pedestrian looking at his smartphone.
/u/jj202143’s thread is linked here, with a copy of his video posted below.
That accident happened at the intersection of Washington Ave. and Portage St. in Kalamazoo, MI (exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
In the dashcam footage, we see a red Pontiac Solstice begin to turn left at the exact same time a pedestrian starts to cross the street at the designated crosswalk.
Like so many of us today, the pedestrian is looking down at his cellphone when he starts crossing.
The Solstice hits the pedestrian and the poor guy flops over the low-slung hood of the convertible.
How the driver in the Solstice doesn’t see him crossing the street is beyond me.
“Holy S***,” /u/greendev comments.
“Was the driver blind?”
Others contend that this is a case of the A-Pillar blocking the pedestrian.
“I had a Saturn Sky before (same platform, different body but same visibility). The visibility out of those cars is f*****g awful. The A pillar is thick…,” /u/shiggy__diggy commented.
Here’s the A-Pillar on a Solstice.
Counterpoint to that, others ultimately said that’s impossible given it’s the responsibility of the driver, and he had clear view of the pedestrian prior.
“In the beginning of the video we see the car sitting at the light waiting for green and we also see the pedestrian standing at the edge of the crosswalk,”/u/whyhellohere163 says.
“…it doesn’t matter if the pedestrian was blocked in a blind spot while the driver turned, the driver should’ve already seen him…”
Thankfully, it was not a hit-and-run and, according to OP’s account, it looks like the pedestrian was not seriously injured.
“Guy that was hit got up, kinda dazed, slowly shook it off and just walked away.”
Guy in the car (Solstice) pulled over, but I’m not sure if they had any interaction. I pulled over and to see if the person was okay or needed to speak to police, but once the two involved were gone, so was I.”
It goes without saying, but if you’re a pedestrian you have to pay attention, especially when crossing.
The physics of car versus human do not work out in the pedestrian’s favor.
This situation could’ve turned out a lot worse.
