It has been a very bad six months for crowds and pedestrians in America.
First came Mardi Gras in New Orleans in February, when a crowd watching a passing parade was struck from behind by a pickup truck driven by a very intoxicated driver. 28 people were injured, some seriously.
Next came Times Square in May, where a crazed driver accelerated down a sidewalk in Manhattan deliberately aiming at pedestrians, injuring 22 and killing one young girl.
Now in August comes the events in Charlottesville Virginia, when an angry driver deliberately crashed into a street demonstration, resulting in the death of Heather Heyer and injuries to 19 others.
Three separate incidents involving angry or drugged drivers. Three separate incidents where pedestrians and visitors were struck without warning. Three separate incidents that have put the rest of America on notice:
1) Vehicle attacks against pedestrians and crowds, whether acts of terrorism, acts of anger, or criminal acts such as drunk driving, are increasing.
2) Failure to take simple preventive measures against possible vehicle incursions into crowds exposes the public to death and injury
3) Failure to take preventive measures after being put on notice of hazardous conditions will expose cities and counties to civil litigation and judgements.
Today I saw a news report (pasted and cited below) which if accurate, could expose the City of Charlottesville Virginia and Albemarle County to increased civil liability in any upcoming litigation that stems from this vehicle-into-crowd crime. A county employee had sent an email to the Charlottesville City Council warning just four months prior to this incident that the area of the attack was vulnerable to just this kind of vehicle attack. Says the report in the Daily Progress "
He noted that driving a large vehicle into pedestrian groups at tourist destinations had become the “new terrorist trend,” and he warned that the Downtown Mall “could be an immediate threat.”Three points raised in the article seem to be prominent: a) the lack of a coherent traffic plan for these demonstrations, b) the lack of enforcement of a vehicle ban called for in the traffic plan as drawn up, and c) the lack of any effective barriers to actually prevent vehicle incursions. These will be significant factors in any case that is brought against the city and the county in this matter.
More broadly, this report highlights a more universal truth for municipal officials -- not only are they all on notice that pedestrians are increasingly targeted on purpose in America, it is also clear that crowds in areas perceived to be under the control of public safety officers
presume that they are safe from accidental or deliberate vehicle incursions. They assume that if the police have a presence on scene or there are traffic cones set up, the area has been made safe. Thus having been put on notice, failure by any municipal agency to take appropriate steps could be seen as negligent in any civil litigation.
While the legal fallout from the Charlottesville incident will likely take many months if not years to resolve, this basic fact remain:
Vehicle-into-crowd incidents are frequent, they are dangerous, and they are deadly. Ask officials in New Orleans, New York City, and Charlottesville. If you cannot reach them, ask officials in Austin Texas (four killed at SXSW by a drunk driver) or Stillwater Oklahoma (four killed at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade by an impaired driver) and see if they can speak with you. If not, you can probably reach someone in Santa Monica California (10 killed and over 60 hospitalized at a farmer's market.)The need to protect pedestrians and crowds from deliberate or accidental vehicle intrusions is obvious, officials in cities and counties large and small have been placed on notice by recent events and national coverage, and a failure to act will result in two things: more body counts, and more lawsuits.
It doesn't have to be this way.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/county-employee-raised-concerns-about-downtown-mall-crossovers-in-april/article_c970b3c2-8162-11e7-82d4-0fa6fb7ba8af.html County employee raised concerns about Downtown Mall crossovers in April An Albemarle County emergency management employee warned Charlottesville’s City Council in April that the Downtown Mall’s vehicle crossovers posed an immediate danger to public safety.
Months before a car plowed into a group of anti-racist demonstrators, killing one and injuring 19 others, the county employee penned a letter to the city imploring officials to install collapsible traffic bollards at certain access points on the Downtown Mall. He noted that driving a large vehicle into pedestrian groups at tourist destinations had become the “new terrorist trend,” and he warned that the Downtown Mall “could be an immediate threat.”
The sole response to the employee’s April 10 missive was a four-sentence email from Councilor Bob Fenwick that did not address the crossovers, the Downtown Mall or any substantive portion of the original email.
“Thank you for the email. Many of us are working on how to best protect our families, friends and neighbors, not just in the outside areas but the inside areas as well. This is a real challenge when we live in an open society but we will address it as appropriately as possible. I would not want to publicize our efforts for obvious reasons,” reads Fenwick’s response in its entirety.
The concerned employee, who told The Daily Progress his letter represented his own views and was not sent on behalf of Albemarle County or his department, asked to remain anonymous.
Chief Al Thomas said the violence was initiated by “mutually engaged combatants” at an “alt-right rally” that was met with large numbers of counter-protesters.
The employee wrote that there are “hundreds of types of traffic bollards on the market that are relatively cheap,” and that certain types still would permit access to the mall for emergency personnel when necessary.
“I know that these access points exist for public safety vehicles to enter the mall for emergency situations, therefore a collapsible type that can be quickly unlocked when needed would be best to explore,” he wrote.
James Alex Fields Jr., 20, a security guard from Maumee, Ohio, is charged with second-degree murder in Heyer's death.
When reached by email, Fenwick recalled reading the email and said that past efforts to install traffic bollards “never had enough support.”
“If I remember correctly the last time this came up, the fire department and first responders were very concerned about possible delays in immediately locating a key or a passcode, and to address this concern, I noticed more frequent training drills in moving the large safety vehicles around and down the mall,” Fenwick wrote. “Perhaps this time that will change.”
He added that in the wake of the tragedy, the city would take renewed looks at security improvements.
When asked, Mayor Mike Signer was unclear about whether he’d seen the email.
“I mean, we get thousands of emails,” Signer said. “The city manager receives all the emails that are sent to council … I think the question would be what really could stop somebody determined to use a car as a weapon?”
“I think it’s something we should look at with our professional staff who received that email,” Signer continued. “My initial inclination is we should keep striking a balance between public safety in our civic spaces with an eye toward having an open society rather than a closed one.”
Both the ACLU of Virginia and the Rutherford Institute received blame from some for the turn of events Saturday because of their representation.
City Manager Maurice Jones said he had seen the email in question, and that it had sparked a discussion about safety in Charlottesville.
“I shared those concerns especially after the incidents in Berlin, Nice and Stockholm,” Jones wrote in an email. “We have been discussing these types of bollards as part of a more comprehensive look at safety.”
In his original email, the county employee warned that there were four locations on the mall that could be targeted for a vehicular attack, including the Fourth Street crossover where James Alex Fields Jr. is accused of driving his gray Dodge Challenger into a crowd of people during Saturday’s white nationalist rally. Fields faces a second-degree murder charge, among others.
During a news conference Monday, Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said that, like other streets crossing the Downtown Mall, Fourth Street was not supposed to be open to traffic during the rally, which saw thousands of white nationalist demonstrators and anti-racist protesters inundating the heart of the city.
When asked why Fields’ vehicle and two other cars were able to access Fourth Street, Thomas replied, “I’m not sure.”
A city official later confirmed that Fourth Street was supposed to be closed as part of the event’s traffic plan, and that authorities still were investigating how Fields’ vehicle and two others were able to access the street.
White nationalist leader Matthew Heimbach drew a crowd outside the court-house but was shouted down.
More than a decade ago, the Fourth Street crossing was a hot-button issue for the City Council. After the crossing at Second Street was opened in 1994 despite widespread public opposition, the idea of opening another crossover was floated to the council by downtown business owners.
Those owners claimed the then-recent closures of Sixth and Seventh streets for the construction of what is now known as the Sprint Pavilion had impacted their sales, and that a new crossover could ease traffic congestion and parking difficulties.
The notion faced adamant opposition from pedestrians and city residents “who want[ed] the mall to remain as car-free as possible,” according to a 2006 Daily Progress report, and the Charlottesville Planning Commission voted against the crossover earlier that year, though the council was not bound to the recommendation.
In April 2006, the council voted to open the Fourth Street crossing for a one-year trial run, which started on May 1, 2006. The following year, the city voted to make the crossover permanent, saying it had made it easier for drivers to navigate around downtown and access shops without burdening pedestrians.
“A majority of the councilors concluded that the one-year trial of the Fourth Street East crossing, which ended last month, had benefited the business community and should become an enduring fixture on the commercial strip,” reads a 2007 Daily Progress article.
Dean Seal is a reporter for The Daily Progress. Contact him at (434) 978-7268,
dseal@dailyprogress.com or
@JDeanSeal on Twitter. Daily Progress staff writer Chris Suarez contributed to this story.
