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| Rochester, NY Police officer N. Madrid doing a great job crossing pedestrians at East Ave. and N. Winton Rd. |
On May 16, 2009, I was hit by a car, at Rochester, NY's Lilac Festival, while crossing the intersection of South and Highland Avenues.
I was hit by a Toyota Camry, driven by an RIT student who claimed that he never saw me in the crosswalk, even though I waited for the "Walk" sign, and had the right of way.
Ironically, I was hit in front of two Rochester, NY Police officers who were supposed to be manning the intersection, but were too busy talking with each other, instead of crossing pedestrians.
I will never forget how, after I was hit, flew over the car, and landed in the middle of the street, a Rochester Police officer told me "Dude, get away from me, you're bleeding all over the place!", when I was stumbling, dazed, confused, and bloodied, wearing only one sneaker.
After undergoing surgery, and spending a week at Strong Hospital, I didn't walk for almost 6 months.
The best thing after getting out of the hospital was being able to see my beautiful daughter being born, as I sat in a wheelchair, with my leg propped up, looking like the Michelin Man, dressed me in an all white Tyvek suit.
I thank God for surviving getting hit by a car, and seeing my princess come into the world.
Since my accident, I have never looked at crossing an intersection, the same way again.
Whether by myself, or with my children, I can't even explain just how careful I am when crossing a street.
In fact, since my accident, I am more aware overall, of pedestrians in general, which is why on Sunday afternoon, I couldn't help but notice two Rochester, NY Police officers, on the corner of East Ave. and N. Winton Rd., each 'protecting and serving', in completely opposite ways.
Now let me explain something, police officers in New York State do not have the duty of crossing pedestrians.
Simply put, they don't have to.
By law, they're not obligated to, for reasons of liability, such as in my own case, when I was hit right in front of the two RPD officers who were too busy chatting, yet, by law, I could not go after the City of Rochester.
So, back to the two officers at the new Wegmans, if you are going to perform a service, even if by law, you are not obligated to do so, at least look like you want to do it.
Case in point:
In the first video below, Rochester, NY Police officer Aaron Eyrich clearly sucks at crossing pedestrians.
Eyrich's body language alone, shows that he clearly would rather be doing anything else, other than crossing pedestrians.
In the video, Eyrich doesn't even walk out a tenth of the way into the intersection, to safely cross 8 pedestrians.
By the way, the intersection of East Ave. and N. Winton Rd, is one of the busiest intersections in the City of Rochester.
The second video however, shows Rochester, NY Police officer Nelsy Madrid, not only clearly taking his job serious, crossing 7 pedestrians, but also going above and beyond, in 'protecting and serving', by almost completely walking to the other side of the street, and even extending his hands out making sure motorists stop for the pedestrians!
I just wish RPD officer Madrid had been at the intersection of South and Highland Avenues, to cross me four years ago.
I may not have gotten hit.
Great work RPD officer Madrid!
Click Play to watch video of RPD officer Eyrich unsafely crossing pedestrians
Click Play to watch RPD officer Madrid doing a great job, safely crossing pedestrians!
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