Demonstrators and driver clash at Occupy Oakland
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Posted on Friday, November 4th, 2011 
The demonstrators at Occupy Oakland make up a group that is nothing if not diverse. As noted in most every major media outlet, no demographic or ideology has a monopoly on the protests, and this is especially true in Oakland, where peaceful protestors and people just looking to stir stuff up mingle and march in front of government buildings.
Unlike in many major and even minor cities, Occupy protesters in Oakland have spent time not only in public spaces, but in the streets of downtown and Oakland and even the port area. While marching is an accepted and expected element of non-violent protest, the more aggressive elements of Occupy Oakland crowds may be creating a situation that forces confrontations not just with police officers and government officials, but with drivers making their way through town.
The scene turned ugly Wednesday night, when the Mercury News reports a man was intentionally struck by a motorist at 11th and Broadway, right downtown. According to a witness on the scene, the driver of a Mercedes Benz became irritated by protestors making their way in the street from Frank Ogawa Plaza to the Port of Oakland and “deliberately ran over” two of them. The symbolism is impossible to miss.
An eye-witness told Mercury News that “The guy who got hit by the car hit the hood of the car, and then the driver hit the gas. This is a situation where you have two people with bad decision making skills.”
After striking the pedestrians, the male driver switched seats with his female passenger. However they could not make it through the crowd, which immediately swarmed the vehicle and pulled its occupants out as medics arrived to care for the injured demonstrators.
When police arrived, the driver was released. Perhaps law enforcement officers felt they had enough to deal with already.
“Moving forward, we still have the evening to get through,” City Administrator Deanna Santana told the Mercury. “I need to reinforce what we need to ensure our law enforcement can maintain public safety: We need no fires, no vandalism, no rocks, bottles or human waste thrown at officers. We need to enforce traffic and crowd control. With that, we can have more peaceful demonstrations.”
There’s an uneasy balance between taking to the streets to be heard and seen and inviting anarchy and the type of thoughtless, dangerous actions exhibited by the driver who wantonly ran through two protestors. Clearly, the usual law enforcement response would not have been to let such an incident go unpunished. But there’s no widely understood protocol for drivers and passengers in this situation.
As the protests show no sign of diminishing or losing momentum, drivers should expect delays in the downtown and port areas and are probably better off just avoiding the scene all together. Pedestrians may feel safe in a large group, but the reality is, any time you walk down the middle of a usually busy street in a unsanctioned march—the kind that really gets everyone’s attention—you take your safety into your own hands.
Photo credit: Brian Sims
Oakland County car accident lawsuit filed
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-Michael j. Smith, Waterford, MII chose Larry Buckfire as my medical malpractice lawyer for a wrongful death lawsuit against the VA Hospital in connection with the death of my father. He settled the case before filing a complaint. I will give it the top rating for a medical malpractice attorney of Michigan. He's the best!
-Sharon A., Ann Arbor, MIIf you need a personal injury lawyer in Michigan, I recommend Buckfire & Buckfire P.C. You won a Saginaw nursing home neglect settlement for my father, after the case rejected two other law firms.
-Jeffrey R., Detroit, MIWhen, I was in a Lansing-bicycle accident injured, I chose the company, in my no-fault insurance lawsuit represented me and mean to claim uninsured motorists. They made the insurance company to pay the whole directive and all of my services. If you are looking for the best car accident lawyers in Michigan, call them now!
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Oakland crosswalk update could improve pedestrian safety
Posted on Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Here in the Bay area we are happy life in or close to cities, which are known for their ability to walk. Lists the site walk score, for example, recently on place in the most walkable cities in the country, and San Francisco in the second place and Oakland in tenth. This is certainly could lead that for celebration, not security to take into account, when you consider that it was a terrible year for the safety of pedestrians in San Francisco and that more than 550 pedestrian alone kills a year in California. A new account by local blog Oakland North one reason explains why the East Bay City not up to the hype on foot life: dangerous pedestrian crossing signals.
In contrast to most of the cities, the Oaklands crosswalks say not automatically to pedestrians "go", when the light turns green. Rather, pedestrians must press the button on the crosswalk to obtain permissions to the cross. Lauren McFall notes that this creates an inherent conflict between the California vehicle code rule, that "the driver of a vehicle right of way to a pedestrian crossing of the road in all marked crosswalk or all unmarked crosswalk at an intersection yield" and others saying that "no pedestrians will start to cross the road in the direction of the signal" when it says "don't walk" or "wait." By requiring pedestrians to push a button to the road cross, streets are not Oakland pedestrians that grant automatic way, such as those of the California vehicle code.
Fortunately, a simple solution to this problem is dangerous. Oakland could a¼Blicher of the display automatically a "walk" signal, when cars go just or right turn in a transform specific crosswalk adopt. In this way pedestrians must must not care about, whether they cross the road may based on regardless of whether they pressed the. This is an example of a simple solution to a dangerous problem for California streets.
If you agree to the need for this change, McFall invites someone to her in Oakland City Hall on 18 August the bicycle & pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting join.
Photo credit: Dylan Passmore
