It's odd how the NYT article names neither the DA nor the judge that prosecuted them, and let the driver walk.
Edit: I missed it: they do name the DA later in the article. The judge remains anonymous.
NewJazz · 1h ago
It names the DA at least. In bold.
anonfordays · 1h ago
Did we read the same NYT article?
"Gaston County’s district attorney, Travis Page"
petermcneeley · 56m ago
Why is this child even walking around? Did his pod run out of bugs?
john-h-k · 1h ago
> The “walk” to the store includes crossing a 45-mph, four-lane stroad with no midblock crosswalk, no traffic calming, and a median that hides oncoming traffic.
Yes, this is bad design. But I do think it’s negligent to let a child cross this road unsupervised. If it was a suburban street this would be crazy, but it’s not and I think them being charged is reasonable
falcor84 · 1h ago
I disagree. My parents let me walk around the city when I was 7, and I think that I would have been worse off if they hadn't. As I see it, if a kid is old enough for compulsory education, then they're old enough to walk outside without parental supervision.
potato3732842 · 26m ago
At 7? Really? I was allowed to roam dilapidated industrial sites and ride my bike on the streets around at age 7-10 but I wasn't allowed anywhere near a 4-lane boulevard with high speed traffic like that. Heck, the highway I wasn't allowed to cross didn't even have four lanes.
There's a pretty big difference between random streets and a 4-lane arterial road like this one. I would take great care crossing it as an adult and I would only consider letting a kid cross it with explicit instructions to use a marked crossing or wait for traffic to stop for them and practice doing it accompanied.
fellowniusmonk · 23m ago
I lived ON a four lane 55mph road that was a heavily trafficked arterial road and crossed it all the time at 7.
Roads 100% are community killers, it's insane that people put up with such extreme infantilization and isolation, no wonder deaths of despair and chronic loneliness is on the rise. We've cultivated our own sad fragility.
potato3732842 · 14m ago
>I lived ON a four lane 55mph road that was a heavily trafficked arterial road and crossed it all the time at 7.
And you just waltzed across it when it looked clear or you used marked crossings, timed it with the lights after practice with your parents, etc.?
I'm not saying there aren't ways to cross this road and that a 7yo can't be taught a couple of them, but to just turn a 7-10yo pair loose-ish on it seems foolish.
>Roads 100% are community killers,
There were a bunch of contributory factors leading to this kid's death. You're just as ignorant and wrong as the prosecutor who thinks this is all the parents fault.
>It's insane that people put up with such extreme infantilization and isolation,
Surely you see the irony here (by which I mean you are unwise for having a self-contradictory opinion)? You're basically saying that "people can't handle these roads". They clearly can. 4-lane boulevards with medians are all over even the most walkable cities in Europe. And some of America's worst cities for walking are grids that lack bigger roads. The devil is in the details.
On a related note https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2025/being-hit-suv-i...
Edit: I missed it: they do name the DA later in the article. The judge remains anonymous.
"Gaston County’s district attorney, Travis Page"
Yes, this is bad design. But I do think it’s negligent to let a child cross this road unsupervised. If it was a suburban street this would be crazy, but it’s not and I think them being charged is reasonable
There's a pretty big difference between random streets and a 4-lane arterial road like this one. I would take great care crossing it as an adult and I would only consider letting a kid cross it with explicit instructions to use a marked crossing or wait for traffic to stop for them and practice doing it accompanied.
Roads 100% are community killers, it's insane that people put up with such extreme infantilization and isolation, no wonder deaths of despair and chronic loneliness is on the rise. We've cultivated our own sad fragility.
And you just waltzed across it when it looked clear or you used marked crossings, timed it with the lights after practice with your parents, etc.?
I'm not saying there aren't ways to cross this road and that a 7yo can't be taught a couple of them, but to just turn a 7-10yo pair loose-ish on it seems foolish.
>Roads 100% are community killers,
There were a bunch of contributory factors leading to this kid's death. You're just as ignorant and wrong as the prosecutor who thinks this is all the parents fault.
>It's insane that people put up with such extreme infantilization and isolation,
Surely you see the irony here (by which I mean you are unwise for having a self-contradictory opinion)? You're basically saying that "people can't handle these roads". They clearly can. 4-lane boulevards with medians are all over even the most walkable cities in Europe. And some of America's worst cities for walking are grids that lack bigger roads. The devil is in the details.