Inevitable outcomes

[Mark Abraham]

The light turned signaling it was safe to walk. A four-year-old boy
took his mother's hand. Together they stepped out into the crosswalk
on their way to a pre-kindergarten class at the Philip Schuyler
Achievement Academy in Albany, NY. A garbage truck came around the
corner and they were run down.

This particular incident happened last Friday, but something like it
will happen somewhere else today. ....

"I'm sympathetic to people who suggest that more enforcement is
needed. I'm sympathetic, but I don't agree. I also don't agree that
this is a matter of driver education or awareness. While it seems
barbaric to have a driver speeding in a garbage truck take the life of
an innocent child standing in a crosswalk, how much can we really
blame the driver? Every signal this design gives is that it is safe to
drive fast. In fact, if the speed limit here is 30 mph, the driver may
not have even been breaking any laws. He had a green light, after all.
I'm sure it all looked and felt safe.

Time and time again, driving through this intersection in the exact
same way, the result is no harm to anyone. That's why we're
comfortable calling this tragedy an accident. It seems like a random
event.

Only it's not."

http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/2/15/lower-speed-limits-wont-solve-this