"Editor's Note: If you don't believe that pedestrian safety is a serious issue, please read the following article:
A 72-year-old Pearl man and his guide dog were struck by a car early Saturday and killed as they walked along U.S. 80 en route to a favorite restaurant.
Hiram E. Turner, 72, a retired equipment operator, died of injuries he suffered in the accident in Pearl, said Rankin County Coroner Jimmy Roberts.
Turner's black Labrador, Sam, died at the scene of the 6:30 a.m. mishap.
Pearl police would not comment, but Turner's daughter, Joyce Pope, 55, of Pearl, said Chief Bill Slade told her the driver of the car had not been charged.
"Police say there were no witnesses," Pope said.
For the past two years, Turner had eaten at the Pearl Cafe every morning, his daughter said.
Forty years ago, before glaucoma took Turner's eyesight, he served as a U. S. Army paratrooper. His wife, Lula, has Alzheimer's disease.
Turner's burial will be Monday in Lakewood Memorial Park in Jackson.
"Daddy will be buried Sept. 25, the same day my 19-year-old brother died in a motorcycle accident in 1977," Pope said."
End of text.
So we don't really know what happened? It obvious that once again, the police are saying no charges were filed. Maybe there should not have been and maybe there should have? Was the trainer of the dog certified? did they have the right attitude about the capacity of the blind handler to use his dog successfully? Does it really matter now?
Maybe there are AER certified instructors who have a bad attitude and maybe there are not. One thing is for sure, the issue is much bigger than that and maybe our two organizations ought to be fighting together for pedestrian safety rather than one of us wringing our hands about attitudes and keeping accessible signals to a minimum.
-- Charlie Crawford.