Why were Good Samaritans ticketed for jaywalking in a snowstorm?

[TheStatutoryApe]

http://www.localwireless.com/wap/ne...=28&nid=369784426&cid=60&scid=-1&title=&ith=3

A bus driver saw two elderly people crossing the street in a snow storm. He and another man exited the bus and went to assist the two across the street. The bus driver saw a truck coming and pushed the other three out of the way. The three others were safe but the bus driver suffered severe injuries. He apparently awoke in the hospital to find a jaywalking ticket left for him by the responding officer.

After initially defending the ticketing, stating that the bus driver's jaywalking had contributed to the accident, the local authorities have decided to drop the jaywalking charges likely due to pressure from the public.

 

[Astronuc]

As I understand it, the old couple wanted to cross the street, and the bus driver elected to escort them. He pushed them out of the way of a vehicle, and was himself hit by the vehicle. Ostensibly, the couple would have been run down if not for the bus driver.

 

[rootX]

As I understand it, the old couple were jaywalking, and the bus driver assisted them in doing so and helped them continue moving even when the truck was approaching them with fast speed.

I think other two people acted irresponsible. I don't know if they could see (or were capable of seeing) the truck coming.

When I cross any street or jaywalk, I look both side and only cross when it is safe.

 

[nottheone]

The officers reasoning was they either caused or contributed to the accident, reason enough for a ticket in my book and I hate cops.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

The officers reasoning was they either caused or contributed to the accident, reason enough for a ticket in my book and I hate cops.

I have to agree with Astro. likely the couple would have been hit if not for the intervention of the bus driver. he wasn't so much jaywalking as attempting to protect the couple who had elected to jaywalk.
while I'm sure the officer may be technically correct to cite the man he does have discretion in the matter. its hard for me to imagine ticketing a person for the act of saving lives.
come to think of it the officer would have had to have observed the man "jaywalking" to have ticketed him. the only way he could without observing would be at the behest of the man who hit him which is a pretty pickle legally.

 

[Proton Soup]

the story i read earlier said they hadn't charged the elderly couple with jaywalking, only the bus driver. which seems a bit at odds with equal protection under the law.

 

[Loren Booda]

No good turn...

In the USSR would the bus driver have been ticketed (or worse) had he not helped the couple?

 

[BobG]

The bus driver and another passenger that also helped were ticketed. The two old ladies that were being helped were not ticketed. Both jaywalking tickets were later dismissed (mainly after the public got upset?).

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/24/injured-good-samaritan-gets-ticket-his-trouble/ (Note: This newspaper no longer exists. It has gone out of business after about a 150 years.)

I have to admit that the logic behind the tickets is strange. The two old ladies that wanted to cross the street weren't ticketed, but the two guys that helped them were? Maybe they would have walked down the street in a snow storm to a pedestrian crossing if the two guys hadn't offered to help them cross at the bus stop?

The driver of the pickup truck couldn't see the pedestrians because other cars had stopped to let the pedestrians pass. Instead of stopping behind another car, the pickup truck changed lanes and went around the stopped cars.

Snowstorm, stopped cars, stopped bus - you think most people would wonder what's up and at least slow down? Or did the driver just turn to his friend at an inopportune moment and say, "It's days like these that I really like having four wheel drive." (thump) "What the heck was that?!"