The story has been going around the transportation blogosphere about the mother who was convicted of vehicular manslaughter because her 4-year-old son was killed why trying to cross the road. Check out the maps from that Infrastructurist article and I think it’s clear that she didn’t exactly have any alternatives on getting across the road. That people were outraged at the mother, and that she was convicted, just shows how much of a reality distortion field we live in. It’s time for people to start thinking beyond cars.

What really should have happened is that the Georgia DOT should be held responsible for not providing safe streets. Their Mission Statement reads,

The Georgia Department of Transportation provides a safe, seamless and sustainable transportation system that supports Georgia’s economy and is sensitive to its citizens and environment.

Reading that mission statement, and looking at the traverse from the bus stop to the home, it sounds to me like the Georgia DOT completely failed, not the mother.