So I just killed a man...

...Or at least I thought I did.

I was driving home straight into the setting sun (yeah, the sun does shine in Cleveland once in a while) so I couldn't see very well. It's a busy four-lane road posted at 35 mph and I'm driving my big beater cargo van. All of a sudden I catch a glimpse of someone walking in the street (the sidewalks were buried in snow and nobody bothered to shovel them). I swerved to miss the guy, but hit him anyway. :eek:

I immediately jammed on my brakes and pulled into a driveway. As I was running up to the guy (I knocked him to the sidewalk) I'm thinking "please be alive! please be alive!" Then I'm thinking the guy is seriously injured, I'm going to get sued, I'm going to lose my house, my retirement fund, etc. I was in a total panic.

Turns out the guy was okay. His elbow was a bit sore and it quickly became obvious he was shiatfaced drunk. The best part: he wasn't even mad at me! He was so drunk he didn't even realize what happened.

Man, did I dodge a bullet today. Next stop is the junkyard to find a right-side mirror.

You weren't driving in Boise yesterday, were you?

That's a nasty situation. Anybody walking in the street on a snow covered road is taking their lives in their hands...or your hands. I'm glad it turned out well. I wonder if the guy is going to be really aching in the morning, though. Of course, he may have plenty of other reasons to be aching in the morning.

The reason I made the Boise comment was that on my commute to work yesterday I ended up behind somebody in a beater 15 passenger van (not quite the same thing, but the right state) who managed to wander into other lanes repeatedly. He almost hit three cars in the time I was behind him, and caused one car to change lanes violently to avoid him. He was drinking something, too, though I couldn't see what it was, other than being a silver can.

And since I mentioned that it was the same state, here's why: Many years back, a friend of mine told somebody that I had moved to Idaho. The person replied, "that's nice, but around here we pronounce that 'Ohio' "

A short while back I was approaching a pedestrian crossing. The light was green for me so I drove right through and, a split second before I went through the light, 3 guys walked onto the road in front of me without looking. I mean they literally just stepped straight out. At that exact moment the light also changed to amber and red a short moment after.

Thankfully I was able to swerve and miss them but it made me wonder what would have happened if I had hit them. Any witness would have heard the tyres screech and then turn to see what was happening after a short delay. What a witness most likely would have seen is me part way through a red light having just run over three guys. It would have looked like it was my fault even though the light was green as I approached it. I've been thinking about fitting one of those in car cameras ever since.

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Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker

You weren't driving in Boise yesterday, were you?

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I can honestly say I have never set foot in the state of Idaho. Idaho, Washington, Oregon, the two Dakotas and Maine are the only contiguous states I've never been to.

Funny thing is I usually drive all the way downtown, but I was running late and I knew the cheap garage I usually park in (and one of the few with better than the 7 feet of clearance my van requires) would be full. So I parked at the Triskett Road station and took the train into town. Otherwise I would have come home on I-90 and never even approached Triskett Rd.

And the guy actually apologized for breaking my mirror!

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Originally Posted by homer13j

And the guy actually apologized for breaking my mirror!

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Maybe so, but probably only after reflecting on it a bit.

Seriously, now, is there any damage to your car that can tie you to - what could be - a hit and run?

It wasn't a hit and run, because there wasn't any running. A bit of sweating, to be sure, but not caused by flight.

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Originally Posted by SJWhiteley

Seriously, now, is there any damage to your car that can tie you to - what could be - a hit and run?

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Given the guy's state of intoxication I more than likely could have driven off and gotten away with it, but I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. I had to go back.

Later on last night the police found a murdered couple directly across the street from where this happened:

Man, woman found dead, shot multiple times in West Side residence

And there was that line:

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...police say that the man had the imprint of the side mirror from a cargo van on his back....

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LOL he was facing me when I hit him and there's no way to tell what version (cargo, passenger, conversion, box, etc.) of the Ford Econoline van the mirror came from.

Yeah. Plus, suicides rarely manage to shoot themselves multiple times. Still, it does kind of make you wonder whether there was a connection. Maybe the guy was on his way to or from something much worse.

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Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker

Yeah. Plus, suicides rarely manage to shoot themselves multiple times. Still, it does kind of make you wonder whether there was a connection. Maybe the guy was on his way to or from something much worse.

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Never thought of that. Perhaps he's the one who did it and didn't want to get the cops involved. I was only a matter of 3-4 hours after our encounter that the bodies were found.

That would probably leave you feeling kind of ambivalent about the whole thing.

My cousin possum pete and his encounter with a van

http://www.xtremevbtalk.com/attachme...2&d=1082762846

Just for my knowledge here, as I travel around the world a lot on business. But I have never been to the U.S. or Canada (though I plan to in the distant future), just South America, Middle East, Europe etc.

Is Ohio generally a safe place, what about Cleveland, Boise etc. Are these places OK to walk around in streets.

I usually avoid the obvious thing like walking around with a back pack, camera or showing cellphones on the street, but apart from all this what other things should be avoided?? Are pubs safe for tourists ?? And taxi cabs ??

I heard generally people in the US pull out a gun on you, claiming self defense...Could this happen ??

Sorry If I offended you guys but I need to know the feel of the place, before visiting

thanks
a

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Originally Posted by arunb

Is Ohio generally a safe place, what about Cleveland, Boise etc. Are these places OK to walk around in streets.

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Ohio is mostly farmland outside of the cities. Nothing but cows and corn.

With the exception of some of the poorer neighborhoods and public housing Cleveland is pretty safe. I can't speak for Boise but I can't imagine it's any worse than Cleveland...

First, don't believe all the hype in the movies and television.
I've lived all over the US for 60 odd years and I have never had a gun pulled on me in the US.

Like most areas there are good places and bad.

Pubs in good neighborhoods are usually not an issue.
If you hang out at a dive bar at one am with mean drunks then that could be a problem.

Common sense my friend. ;)

Boise is a very safe city. I wouldn't hesitate to wander around with pretty nearly anything, camera, bags, phone, bike, computer, and whatever. In fact, I have repeatedly. When I bike to work, I leave my bike in a parking garage open to the public. I take some of the bags inside, since they have my computer, clothes (non-biking clothes, that is), and lunch, but others I leave on the bike with repair kit, tubes, and the like, along with a bike computer and a pump. I've never had anything stolen. I do lock the bike to a bike rack, but I'm not even sure that I have to do that. After all, the bike isn't a type that is typically stolen. There is bike theft in the area, which seems to be more true around college towns than elsewhere, but I'm not too worried about it.

As for guns, I remember seeing some lady wearing a gun in Wal-Mart last year. Considering the way she was dressed, I think she was a rancher. I wasn't about to ask her what she had the gun for, because when it comes to ranchers, I probably wouldn't want to hear the answer (snakes, all too often). On the other hand, we do have a whole lot of hunting, and most of my friends hunt, so guns are pretty common at certain times of year in much of this state.

I believe that I have actually had guns pointed at me two times, though once was thirty-five years ago, or so. The other time...well, I'm not sure about that one, it may have been a toy. I wasn't exactly threatened either time. In both cases, the people weren't threatening me, they were just using the guns to make it clear to all around them that they were losers and people should stay away from them, which I had no problem with doing.

The US may be the most heavily armed nation in history, but violence of all sorts is declining, and isn't a big deal in most areas. However, as Gruff pointed out, some pubs late at night can be issues. Alcohol is the universal lubricant for violence of all sorts. In a nation as armed as this one, you can get a more volatile mix at some bars as the night wears on, but not usually.

I did a stint of bouncing after a divorce a long time ago. You generally develop a sense of who might be a problem.

1) Young bucks snorting and trying to look larger than they are almost always are trouble looking for a place to land.
2) Anyone with a chip on their shoulder.
3) Women who like to flirt openly with multiple men.
Take your pick.

In Oregon bartenders are now held accountable for over serving customers.
That has reduced the number of bar fights some.
It doesn't stop serious drunks from loading up before they walk in the door,
but can you do other than spot them early and send them on their way.

Glad I got out of that business.

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Originally Posted by arunb

...
Is Ohio generally a safe place, what about Cleveland, Boise etc. Are these places OK to walk around in streets.
...
Sorry If I offended you guys but I need to know the feel of the place, before visiting
..

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The US is a very, very big place. Ohio is a big place. But as far as walking around...not from 'round here, are you? Depending on where you go, unless you are in a very major metropolitan area, you are not doing any walking around. Tourist areas, also.

The areas you's stay away from are probably the very same areas you'd stay away from in most other first world countries.

Actually, the only thing i'd take offense to is someone being sorry for offending someone...;)

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Originally Posted by SJWhiteley

Actually, the only thing i'd take offense to is someone being sorry for offending someone...;)

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Dude. I am so sorry I took offence at your post
Forgive me?

Glad nothing serious came of this.

Though I'm still disappointed. When I saw the the thread's title I was expecting a tale of infidelity, affairs and insurance money that ended with blood spilled and a man driven insane by the machinations of a clever young and blonde seductress on the hunt for large amounts of money from rich old men.

Although she wasn't a minor she was a gold digger. :)

Titles can be so misleading.

I read this book by Christopher Moore titled. "The lust lizard of melancholy cove."
The cove wan't sad at all.

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Originally Posted by Gruff

I did a stint of bouncing after a divorce a long time ago.

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So....you were on the rebound, right?

I tried to remain flexible.

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Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker

Maybe so, but probably only after reflecting on it a bit.

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Poetry. Poetry my friend. I noticed.