Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Friday, Dec. 26, 2008 | 11:45 a.m.
A 49-year-old Las Vegas man died Friday morning after being struck by a car while walking, Metro Police said.
At about 6:24 a.m., the pedestrian was walking northbound in the right travel lane of Mcleod Drive south of Flamingo Road. Police said a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse, driven by Jeffrey Rutenbach, 46, of Las Vegas, was northbound on Mcleod in the right of two travel lanes and struck the pedestrian from behind.
The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene by responding medical personnel. Police aren’t identifying the victim pending notification of family.
According to Metro Police, the driver was not injured and was arrested for felony DUI with death. The collision remains under investigation.
This is the 112th fatal traffic accident this year in Metro Police jurisdiction.
Hmm, so I'm driving down the street, and a vagrant is walking in the travel lanes. I hit him, and blow an .08, so I go to jail like forever. Question-if he was lying in the travel lane, drunk, do I go to jail forever? What if he ran out into the travel lane, and I never saw him?
If he jumped off an overpass, and hit my car while I was an .08, do I go to the slammer? What if I was an off-duty cop? Aha, things suddenly change.
A drunk should not be driving...period. If a drunk drives and kills someone...even a vagrant...should he go to jail? In my opinion...yes!!! For how long? How about a minimum of 12 years and eligible for parole in 8 years. Maybe that will keep more drunks off the road. This time a vagrant...next time maybe you.
First of all I don't see were it stated any where on this news article that the man killed was a vagrant... He was a man walking, a man with a family.. This drunk driver is just lucky he didn't hit and kill more people.. The sad thing is that drunk drivers rarely kill themselves it is usually some poor random victim that happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Think of that.... There should be no justice for DRUNK DRIVERS!!!!! There is no excuse for drinking and driving take a taxi it's a lot cheeper than a dui and possibly the cost someone's life!!! maddmom
Okay, "doogie" just for the record...I was on my way to work at 7am that morning. That's the road I always take but it was completely blocked off because of this accident. #1) There is NO sidewalk there...just a big dirt area next to where the man was hit #2) There was garbage EVERYWHERE...the only garbage can/dumpster around is in the dirt area on the side of the road...a few yards from the street. The pedestrian was laying in the road directly accross from it. Since the garbage was all over the road I'm assuming the driver also hit the dumpster meaning that the pedestrian may not have even been on the road when he was hit. And in case you didn't know...when a person is hit by a car they don't just stay in the same area...depending on how fast the car is going they could be moved several yards away....
As for the drunk driver, he deserves to go to jail for this. If you look at the bottom of the article it's the 112th fatal accident this year in that jurisdiction. I wouldn't be a bit surprised that more than half of them occurred because some idiot decided to get behind the wheel after having one too many. Why don't you try going to the Coroner's Office and take a look in there? I had to once. Nearly every single person in there was killed because they were hit by a drunk driver. Notice I said they were hit... the drunk almost always survives. How is that fair? You're complaining because the drunk has to go to jail forever...what about the innocent life they took? What about their family?? Are you saying they deserve to die? It's their fault that someone decided to drink then drive? That makes perfect sense. You are a genius. I have no sympathy for this guy. I'm tired of hearing about innocent people dying because other people are so careless. My friend died one year ago in November because someone decided to drive drunk so her life ended on the side of the road. She was 16 years old....and guess what? No sidewalk there either. Maybe I'm the idiot here but I'm really not understanding why you're trying to defend the idiots who kill innocent people because they partied a little too hard and decided they were still okay to drive. There are laws for a reason. If you break those laws then you get to suffer the consequences...period.
kamr and doggie: yes, where does it say the victim is a vagrant? Do you have info that is not in the paper? The story no where IDs the victim in any way. Still do not know who the vicitm was days later. The aritcle does not say what the driver blew either. the article does not say either that the victim was a male or female. Fill us in with all of your knowledge will you?
So, Let's say he/she is a vagrant. Does that make it less of a crime? Make the driver any less drunk? the victim was a human being.
doogie, what if one of your family members got hit by that same drunk driver and someone who didn't know them called them a vagrant? Aha- things suddenly change.
Just for the record and I'am siding with you... ShrinkNP... the paper does state that the victim is a man... People do need to take a step back and look at this as if it was their child, brother, sister, mom, dad, friend or whatever.... it's a reckless thing to do.. I feel that if you choose to drink and drive and you hit and kill someone your just as guilty as if you had a gun and pulled the trigger..... You have a choice and this guy made the wrong one and for that he must pay the price...
ShrinkNP:
I don't have any extra information...I just happened to be driving down the street the morning this man was killed. I did NOT see the accident, just what was left of it.
The police had the entire street blocked off so I had to go around and that's when I saw the man lying in the road...lots of police cars and there was garbage everywhere, too. I had no idea what had actually happened until I found a few news articles about it. All I knew was there was someone lying in the road, not moving, with cops everywhere-putting down orange markers and taking pictures. You would think that if the person was lying in the middle of the road they would need some sort of assistance (an ambulence or something). So right away I knew the person had died, I just didn't know how. There was only one car down the road so I tried finding out what happened by checking all the news websites and police websites...one website just said there was a traffic problem on mcleod and flamingo because of an "accident with injury" and to avoid that area...that was on there from 6:24am according to the website and the last time I checked it was about noon the same day.
I only commented on here because doogie's comment ticked me off. To be honest the pedestrian did not look like a "vagrant". He seemed to be dressed nicely I actually thought it was a woman at first just by the way he was dressed: nice jacket, hat and gloves, etc.
Anyways, my point with this whole thing was that whoever this guy was, "vagrant" or not, he's still a person...I'm sure he has someone somewhere...family or friends that care for him. It was the day after Christmas and this man lost his life because someone did not think before they acted.
In response to your question...I don't care if the person was homeless, wealthy, black, white, purple, yellow, tall, or short. He's still a person regardless. It doesn't make the driver any more or less drunk. Jeffery Rutenbach made a very poor decision...he got behind the wheel of a car, with alcohol in his system, and he hit and killed a man walking on the side of the road.
Anyone that is in this situation and says something along the lines of "I was drunk I didn't mean it" doesn't cut it. He made the decision to drink and drive. He may not have planned to hurt anyone but because he didn't think about what could happen if he drove drunk, he now has to pay the consequences. It's his own fault. THINK BEFORE YOU ACT AND BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS. If you plan on drinking knowing you need to be somewhere then plan ahead on a way to get where you need to go. If your only choice is to drive yourself then don't drink. It's as simple as that. There is no excuse; too many people are killed because of this.
I think this whole situation is absolutely horrible.. I can't imagine losing one of my family members or friends the day after Christmas, especially if it was like this. People need to learn to be responsible in this town.
Also, I do feel bad for the driver's family. He made a stupid decision but he is a person, too. He has to suffer the consequences but now so does anyone that knows him...
I hope that everyone involved in this finds some kind of peace.