But it was.
This is why I struggle with hearing much of the "logic" of some of the "protesters" and the so called "left" in America.
Its dark. They have no flashlights. The are not wearing reflective gear. outside. Nobody is carrying a flashlight. They walk into a four lane road yelling, "back up, back up, we want freedom" and then it happens.
An innocent person simply driving down the street suffers a financial loss and could have suffered a serous personal injury.
Within seconds of the accident happening several of the protestors can be heard saying that everyone needs to make sure they tell them it wasn't the protestors. Then later in the video protestors can be heard saying the other car (silver Ford Focus) "hit" the driver of the blue Nissan. By the end of the video even the man taking the video seems to agree that the silver Ford Focus hit the blue Nissan.
Except that simply isn't true. The "peaceful protesters" began walking into the street at about 30 seconds into the video (see below). As they walk into oncoming traffic the approaching vehicles had a green traffic light but had stop to avoid hitting the protestors or had to take evasive action to prevent from hitting them.
At 31 seconds protesters are now across two lanes of traffic and continuing across the street. An oncoming vehicle (north or above the protesters as you view the photo) appears to be in the left turn lane. This vehicle's position creates a "billboard" or obstruction for the approaching silver Ford and blue Nissan.
At 32 seconds the protesters are further into the road with more protesters entering the street from the right of the photo. Below the protesters a dark colored sedan can be seen stopped in the road in an effort to prevent hitting a protester even thought the vehicle has a green light.
33 seconds into the video the protestors are no into the middle of the street and continuing left. A vehicle approaching them (top of video) appears to be stopped in the left turn lane and the lights of the silver Ford and blue Nissan can be seen to the left side of the street (upper left of road). At this point it appears the silver Ford is beginning to maneuver to the left (drivers right) to avoid the protesters.
34 seconds in the protestors have a dark colored sedan and another vehicle stopped in the road below them (to the right on the screen) and the silver Ford is now clearly moving to the left (drivers right) to avoid the protesters. Notice the vehicles still have a green light.
At 35 seconds in the protesters have now moved clearly into the turn lane and are completely blocking off three lanes of traffic. The silver Ford has now moved to the left (drivers right) to avoid the protesters who are being led into traffic by someone wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans.
36 seconds into the video and the protesters can be seen to the left of the silver Ford which has now crossed the intersection. The silver Ford has taken evasive action and has moved to the left (drivers right) to avoid hitting the protestors. The actions of the silver Ford require the driver of the blue Nissan to take evasive action and move to the left (drivers right).
At 37 seconds the blue Nissan makes contact with a light pole as the silver Ford crosses thru the intersection that the protesters have blocked. There does not appear to be any physical contact with the silver Ford and the blue Nissan.
In the screen shot at 38 seconds the silver Ford is completely past the intersection and the protesters can be seen still blocking three lanes of traffic. There appears to be no damage on the silver Ford.
There also appears to be no drivers side damage to the blue Nissan as can be seen on the video and captured below.
In essence many things may have contributed to this accident; driving conditions (late at night, poor visibility, wet driving surface), driver error (was the Ford going to fast, did the vehicle in the left turn lane (above the protesters position) come to a stop to far back from the intersection and thereby cause the blue Nissan and silver Ford to have limited visibility or awareness of the obstructions they would soon encounter).
But the one clear cause was the action of the protesters moving into traffic and attempt to imped the legal progress of approaching motorist. Without the protesters entering the roadway illegally it is highly unlikely this accident would have occurred. Their actions set-off the chain of events that caused this event.
In the video the protesters can be seen surrounding the driver of the Nissan and offering "support" by telling him that the silver Ford caused the accident. The trouble is the silver Ford was trying to avoid the protesters and it is very possible that the driver of the blue Nissan could not see the protesters as his visibility would be blocked not only by the silver Ford but by the vehicle in the left turn lane.
Someone within the group of protesters should have had enough awareness to say, "man, we shouldn't have been in the street" and acknowledged the role they played. Instead they took great pains to make sure everyone would know "the protesters didn't do this" and even tried to sell the idea that the silver Ford "hit" the blue Nissan even when it's clear there appears to be no damage to the blue Nissan on the driver side in any of the video taped shots. Notice how quick that narrative spread on the video? The problem is that it is nothing more then a self serving lie. Notice also that people quickly buy into this because it supports what they want to believe - "we" didn't cause this. Let's be fair it would suck to think and know you did cause it but in the end ethics should tell you that you have to be honest. Instead what happens is a collective group basically agreeing that it wasn't us - even when video tape evidence shows that without them in the road the silver Ford does not have to swerve to the right (entering the lane of the blue Nissan) causing the Nissan to swerve also. The longer the video goes on the more angry and demanding the protesters get needing to ensure that people know "they" didn't cause this accident. It's a wonderful example on how "group think" works and how quickly it takes hold without ever being spoken. Everyone just "knows" that we are all "good" and "we" couldn't have done this. Except they did.
This got me thinking about the whole Michael Brown / Darren Wilson tragedy and how this is all, IMO, a narrative being sold to people and how it could have been avoided. Consider this; Mr. Johnson states that he and Mr. Brown were stopped by Mr. Wilson because they were walking in the street and he (Mr. Wilson) told them to get on the sidewalk.
Mr. Johnson relates that Mr. Wilson, after telling them to move to the sidewalk, began to drive away and then stopped and backed up to them. The "leaks" in the media tell us (if true) that Mr. Wilson returned to Messer's Johnson and Brown because a radio broadcast had been announced regarding a BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for two suspects involved in the robbery at the Quick Mart (which BTW, we now know by the admission of the Brown family attorney that Mr. Brown was actually the person on the video). So here's a thought - would this incident have ever occurred if Messer's Brown and Johnson had just been walking legally on the sidewalk and thereby Mr. Wilson would have had no reason to stop and notice them. He could have just simply continued on his merry way and driven past them.
The chain of events and how the results they have are important here. Without robbing the store there would have been no "BOLO' and Mr. Wilson as no reason to turn back and engage with Messer's Brown and Johnson. Without walking in the street Mr. Wilson has no reason to stop and engage with Messer's Brown and Johnson.
The ultimate and tragic realization of the truth and power of the "butterfly effect". Think about it. In video that shows the accident from a different angle (see below) a "protester" is heard at 14 seconds into the video proclaiming, "we going to block off the streets right here then". If only they had considered what walking into traffic at night, in dark cloths, while the street is wet and while the cars you are attempting to block have a green light, might ultimately result in. By not thinking about that the protesters were selfish, inconsiderate and acted illegally. By then demanding on video that people know "it wasn't protesters" fault they prove themselves to be not only selfish but demandingly ignorant and unaware of the true cause and effect of ones actions.
This is why I struggle with hearing much of the "logic" of some of the "protesters" and the so called "left" in America.
Its dark. They have no flashlights. The are not wearing reflective gear. outside. Nobody is carrying a flashlight. They walk into a four lane road yelling, "back up, back up, we want freedom" and then it happens.
(Note: I am having trouble getting the video to embed and be viewable. If it is not viewable it can be seen here).
An innocent person simply driving down the street suffers a financial loss and could have suffered a serous personal injury.
Within seconds of the accident happening several of the protestors can be heard saying that everyone needs to make sure they tell them it wasn't the protestors. Then later in the video protestors can be heard saying the other car (silver Ford Focus) "hit" the driver of the blue Nissan. By the end of the video even the man taking the video seems to agree that the silver Ford Focus hit the blue Nissan.
Except that simply isn't true. The "peaceful protesters" began walking into the street at about 30 seconds into the video (see below). As they walk into oncoming traffic the approaching vehicles had a green traffic light but had stop to avoid hitting the protestors or had to take evasive action to prevent from hitting them.
At 31 seconds protesters are now across two lanes of traffic and continuing across the street. An oncoming vehicle (north or above the protesters as you view the photo) appears to be in the left turn lane. This vehicle's position creates a "billboard" or obstruction for the approaching silver Ford and blue Nissan.
At 32 seconds the protesters are further into the road with more protesters entering the street from the right of the photo. Below the protesters a dark colored sedan can be seen stopped in the road in an effort to prevent hitting a protester even thought the vehicle has a green light.
33 seconds into the video the protestors are no into the middle of the street and continuing left. A vehicle approaching them (top of video) appears to be stopped in the left turn lane and the lights of the silver Ford and blue Nissan can be seen to the left side of the street (upper left of road). At this point it appears the silver Ford is beginning to maneuver to the left (drivers right) to avoid the protesters.
34 seconds in the protestors have a dark colored sedan and another vehicle stopped in the road below them (to the right on the screen) and the silver Ford is now clearly moving to the left (drivers right) to avoid the protesters. Notice the vehicles still have a green light.
At 35 seconds in the protesters have now moved clearly into the turn lane and are completely blocking off three lanes of traffic. The silver Ford has now moved to the left (drivers right) to avoid the protesters who are being led into traffic by someone wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans.
36 seconds into the video and the protesters can be seen to the left of the silver Ford which has now crossed the intersection. The silver Ford has taken evasive action and has moved to the left (drivers right) to avoid hitting the protestors. The actions of the silver Ford require the driver of the blue Nissan to take evasive action and move to the left (drivers right).
At 37 seconds the blue Nissan makes contact with a light pole as the silver Ford crosses thru the intersection that the protesters have blocked. There does not appear to be any physical contact with the silver Ford and the blue Nissan.
In the screen shot at 38 seconds the silver Ford is completely past the intersection and the protesters can be seen still blocking three lanes of traffic. There appears to be no damage on the silver Ford.
There also appears to be no drivers side damage to the blue Nissan as can be seen on the video and captured below.
In essence many things may have contributed to this accident; driving conditions (late at night, poor visibility, wet driving surface), driver error (was the Ford going to fast, did the vehicle in the left turn lane (above the protesters position) come to a stop to far back from the intersection and thereby cause the blue Nissan and silver Ford to have limited visibility or awareness of the obstructions they would soon encounter).
But the one clear cause was the action of the protesters moving into traffic and attempt to imped the legal progress of approaching motorist. Without the protesters entering the roadway illegally it is highly unlikely this accident would have occurred. Their actions set-off the chain of events that caused this event.
In the video the protesters can be seen surrounding the driver of the Nissan and offering "support" by telling him that the silver Ford caused the accident. The trouble is the silver Ford was trying to avoid the protesters and it is very possible that the driver of the blue Nissan could not see the protesters as his visibility would be blocked not only by the silver Ford but by the vehicle in the left turn lane.
Someone within the group of protesters should have had enough awareness to say, "man, we shouldn't have been in the street" and acknowledged the role they played. Instead they took great pains to make sure everyone would know "the protesters didn't do this" and even tried to sell the idea that the silver Ford "hit" the blue Nissan even when it's clear there appears to be no damage to the blue Nissan on the driver side in any of the video taped shots. Notice how quick that narrative spread on the video? The problem is that it is nothing more then a self serving lie. Notice also that people quickly buy into this because it supports what they want to believe - "we" didn't cause this. Let's be fair it would suck to think and know you did cause it but in the end ethics should tell you that you have to be honest. Instead what happens is a collective group basically agreeing that it wasn't us - even when video tape evidence shows that without them in the road the silver Ford does not have to swerve to the right (entering the lane of the blue Nissan) causing the Nissan to swerve also. The longer the video goes on the more angry and demanding the protesters get needing to ensure that people know "they" didn't cause this accident. It's a wonderful example on how "group think" works and how quickly it takes hold without ever being spoken. Everyone just "knows" that we are all "good" and "we" couldn't have done this. Except they did.
This got me thinking about the whole Michael Brown / Darren Wilson tragedy and how this is all, IMO, a narrative being sold to people and how it could have been avoided. Consider this; Mr. Johnson states that he and Mr. Brown were stopped by Mr. Wilson because they were walking in the street and he (Mr. Wilson) told them to get on the sidewalk.
Mr. Johnson relates that Mr. Wilson, after telling them to move to the sidewalk, began to drive away and then stopped and backed up to them. The "leaks" in the media tell us (if true) that Mr. Wilson returned to Messer's Johnson and Brown because a radio broadcast had been announced regarding a BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for two suspects involved in the robbery at the Quick Mart (which BTW, we now know by the admission of the Brown family attorney that Mr. Brown was actually the person on the video). So here's a thought - would this incident have ever occurred if Messer's Brown and Johnson had just been walking legally on the sidewalk and thereby Mr. Wilson would have had no reason to stop and notice them. He could have just simply continued on his merry way and driven past them.
The chain of events and how the results they have are important here. Without robbing the store there would have been no "BOLO' and Mr. Wilson as no reason to turn back and engage with Messer's Brown and Johnson. Without walking in the street Mr. Wilson has no reason to stop and engage with Messer's Brown and Johnson.
The ultimate and tragic realization of the truth and power of the "butterfly effect". Think about it. In video that shows the accident from a different angle (see below) a "protester" is heard at 14 seconds into the video proclaiming, "we going to block off the streets right here then". If only they had considered what walking into traffic at night, in dark cloths, while the street is wet and while the cars you are attempting to block have a green light, might ultimately result in. By not thinking about that the protesters were selfish, inconsiderate and acted illegally. By then demanding on video that people know "it wasn't protesters" fault they prove themselves to be not only selfish but demandingly ignorant and unaware of the true cause and effect of ones actions.
(Note: I am having trouble getting the video to embed and be viewable. If it is not viewable it can be seen here).
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