DC Police Ticketed Deceased Victim of City’s Negligent Snow Removal
Joseph Brown might be alive today if the District of Columbia had cleared the snow from the sidewalks on the John Phillip Sousa Bridge across the Anacostia River last week. Instead, Brown celebrated his 61st birthday in the hospital after being struck by a pickup truck driver, then succumbed to his injuries on Monday. How did DC police respond? They gave Brown a ticket for walking in the street, reports Greater Greater Washington.
Brown was on his way to the Potomac Avenue Metro station, bound for a doctor's appointment, when he was struck.
Instead of ticketing Brown after his death for walking in the street, Matt Johnson at Greater Greater Washington says it might have been more appropriate to pursue action against the party that failed to maintain the sidewalks along the bridge where Brown was struck. DC law requires property owners to clear snow from the sidewalks, and as Johnson notes, there are no adjacent property owners on a bridge:
In this case, the responsibility for clearing this sidewalk rests with the District government, and the Department of Public Works does actually work to clear bridges. But at the time of Mr. Brown's death, less than 24 hours after the snow ended, they hadn't yet cleared the Sousa Bridge sidewalks.
Laws regarding sidewalk clearance aren't generally enforced in the DC region, according to Johnson. "When tragedy strikes, it's far easier to simply blame the victim," he says. "After all, he's the one who walked in the roadway."
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog USA
Tuesday’s Headlines Are Getting Warmer
EVs and renewables are not going to be enough to stave off a climate catastrophe, scientists are warning officials at an international conference.
How (And Why) To Start a Delivery Bike Revolution
Delivery vans and trucks are responsible for nearly a third of urban emissions, and a lot of congestion and traffic violence, too. Here's how cities can replace many of them with clean, safe cargo bikes.
Monday’s Headlines Are For the Children
For the 1 billion children who live in cities worldwide, the streets are too dangerous for them to play outside.
The Explainer: What’s Next for Congestion Pricing?
Let's run through the major issues still looming over New York City's first-in-the-nation congestion toll.
How To Build a Car That Kills People: Cybertruck Edition
The Cybertruck represents a lot of what's wrong with the U.S. transportation system — even as it purports to address those problems.
