A woman has died after being hit by a Horry County Police Department truck on the beach Thursday afternoon, according to South Carolina Highway Patrol and witnesses.
Yeah and it seems obvious that they shouldn't be driving vehicles where people are laying. This is the third person I've heard of being run over by police on a beach this summer.
At most, something like a golf cart or ATV. Not a full size pickup with the windows up and AC blasting, both of which disconnect you from the environment.
"hit" probably really means..."the lady was talking the sun comfortably on a beach towel when suddenly a big ass truck drove her over, squirting her insides out" but sure, hit sounds accurate. Hit sounds like she was totally visible and happened to reverse bump against the truck. A total accident. Running her over sounds more accurate if that is really what actually happened.
Yeah, my job sometimes requires me to drive round areas where people may be sunbathing. What I do is drive in first gear even if it is frustrating and be observant because I don't want to hit anyone. Seems like this ought to be common sense when you're driving and humans may be lying on the ground.
A similar thing happened here in Seattle. A police officer, who had been fired from another department for reckless driving, decided it would be a good idea to go over 70 mph downtown without his siren on to get to a scene (an OD). Kevin Dave hit a 26 year old woman crossing the street and killed her. The police oversight board recommended he be fired. SPD and the union disagreed and gave him no punishment. Hell, they even joked about it. The city attorney fined him $5000 which he is delinquent on.
That happened a few hours south in Oregon too. A DEA agent allegedly working with a team doing surveillance fell behind the group so he decided to speed and run stop signs through a residential area in an undercover vehicle. He ran over a woman riding her bike and killed her.
The local police department bent over backwards to stall and cover everything up until word got out. The DEA agent was given qualified immunity by the courts and cannot be held responsible for the crime.
Understood from reading, but he should have seen something from a distance. Did he forget? Not care? Was looking at something else? Hard agree with no trucks on the beach. An ATV or some sort is sufficient.
On those beaches, the drivable beach access spots have cones and signs telling people to stay out. It's an emergency vehicle access area for the police, fire, EMS, and life guards. I have no idea if she was in that area or not, but I have seen people laying in those areas.