Joeventures

Google Voice Fail

This is the transcript of a voice mail I got from my mom today:

Hi Joe, it’s Mohammed calling to see how you’re doing it and also we. Doubtly again home finalize plans for. It’s Susan a miracle. Jillian on feet, so if you would give me a call. House 0. You can just call when you can. I’ll be home most of the day. I’ll talk to you later. Hope everything’s whale. Love you. Bye bye.

5-year-old girl hit by car on her way off the school bus

The motorist, according to the story, was 82-year-old Edith Anderson:

The child was let off the bus at a curb, but a car behind the bus continued to the right of the bus, running onto the curb and into the grass, Hernandez said. Police do not know what caused Anderson’s 1995 Nissan Altima to exit the road.

Emphasis mine.

My initial thought: the cause might be that the motorist is 82-years-old and living in Cobb County, where there is very little access to any alternatives to driving a car. But that would only be part of the story — and I’m sure it’s a part of the story that the AJC would rather not cover. After all, it would be a shame for the AJC to offend the suburban octogenarians among their readership.

Thankfully, the AJC does a little reporting on the road conditions:

Davis Road resident Amy Johnson said people often drive too fast past her house, and she has asked the county numerous times to install a three-way stop or a caution light in front of her home.

Just Wednesday morning, Johnson said she called the Cobb County department of transportation about the road.

In a Nov. 2007 AJC report, Cobb County spokesman Robert Quigley said the county had looked into the issue, but that the county would not install an additional stop sign because not enough accidents had occurred.

And thank goodness for Google Street View, where we can take a look at the spot where the incident happened. This is clearly one of many classic cases that demonstrate an essential principle of pedestrian-friendly design: just because a sidewalk is present doesn’t automatically make the place safe or pleasant for pedestrians.