Quote Originally Posted by scutechute View Post
I think that to say "forget about being a good samaritan" is wrong also - but totally justified given the actions of the police department. What would you have a person do? - Watch two old ladies get off a bus and get ran over? Did these two guys trying to help those old ladies directly contribute to the crash? Can you say "But for these two guys trying to help these old ladies, this crash would have never happened." Of course you can't, accidents happen all the time. There are cars on the road and people trying to cross those roads - accidents happen. I think the driver should have gotten a ticket, it should be the responsibility of the person operating a multi-thousand pound weapon/vehicle to avoid pedestrians.

I work downtown, and used to ride public transportation to work and home everyday for 3+ years. People jaywalk all the time.
My point exactly, people jaywalk all the time and any city bus driver knows this. He/she also normally would know their route, know their route during poor weather conditions, and not do something so shortsighted as to walk two old women into oncoming traffic on wet roads.

I can say if those women were not on that road at that moment they wouldn't have been struck at that moment. If the oncoming driver had been driving to conditions and they were there, injuries might have also been prevented. In my mind both the vehicle driver and the bus driver deserved the tickets they got.

The driver, as a professional operator of his vehicle, I believe should not have left his vehicle, should have advised his passengers of the danger of crossing (jaywalking) in that weather but in the end if his passengers chose to put themselves at risk, I don't believe he should have assisted them in such a foolhardy thing.

Being a good samaritan also involves showing good sense. You don't need any training for that.