This kind of thing is unfortunately common.

A young woman was killed a few months back while jogging along a highway in the Columbia Gorge.

Another person was badly injured just recently, under circumstances similar to the one Jim describes.

Well, walking _in_ a lane is a bad idea, but I was taught to walk against the direction of the traffic. It makes you a heck of a lot more visible. Walking south beside a northbound lane is not merely unexceptionable, it's smart, especially in rural areas without street lights. I'm just commenting because the report sounded to me like it was making an issue of the direction the pedestrian was walking, not the fact that he was in the middle of the road.

Unlike Jim I investigate motor accidents for a living, rather than pick up the pieces afterwards (Jim, you are a real hero in a time we call someone who scores a goal a 'hero')

Over here, the Highway Code instructs pedestrians to walk facing oncoming traffic, as this man was, and wear something light at night.

This last week a motorist was sent to jail for knocking a cyclist off her bike (while she was out training, she recovered and went on to win a Commonwealth silver medal) and driving on. He said he didn't know anything had happened because his music was too loud...

Similiarly, a trucker was jailed for ploughing into a stationary car while checking a text on his mobile phone (using a mobile while driving is illegal over here and I am specifically prohibitted from speaking to anyone while they are driving, hands free or no f***ing hands free) He got 3 years. My thought? Not long enough. Not nearly long enough.

I hope they catch this driver and make an example of him, but I won't hold my breath.

A year or two ago, our car was parked in front of our house when it got smashed by a hit and run driver. Someone plowed into the back end and took off. Impact pushed our car up on the sidewalk and scattered taillight and headlight and other debris all over the street.

I was picking up all the debris and putting it into a trashbag. And then I found a sliver of a permit sticker with the first number on it. I was smaller than my thumbnail, but I thought maybe I could find enough to ID the guy. It was wintertime, and the ground was covered with snow, and it had been snowing after we discovered someone had hit our car.

So, because I was ticked off enough to do it, I got a shovel and completely cleaned the entire street and sidewalk in front of my house and shoveled it into those big paper leaf bags. I took the bags down into the basement and left them overnight to let the snow melt.

The next day I dumped out all the stuff. I ended up finding five or six pieces of a 1 inch square parking sticker with the name of the town and a specific number on it. I photocopied it, called the police and faxed it to them.

Guy got a year probation, and had to pay all damages.

Always gives me a warm fuzzy when I tell that story.

Here's hoping you have equal good luck in your search.

Greg -- seems like you had a tougher time of it than a Boston driver I heard of; after being hit-and-run on she pulled off and found a rather larger piece of detritus. She went into a police station to file a complaint, was asked -"Do you have any identification of the offending vehicle?"-, and dumped a bumper, with license plate attached, on the desk. Cops called the owner and got the usual I-was-home-all-night, which changed after they advised him they'd hold while he had a look at his car. You may have gotten more satisfaction out of the effort paying off....

Meanwhile, a Boston case similar to Jim's has at least found a culprit, although it doesn't make the pedestrian any less dead; Globe says he turned himself in. Some people have a delayed sense of responsibility, some have none at all.

My folks only *get* the News & Sentinel; they don't live close enough to know anything. (Specifically, they live in the Boston area and have a house in North Stratford.)

Hope they find the driver-- things like color and other ID markers *can* be useful, though not, it seems often.

Some years ago, there was a hit-and-run (car against car) on my street. I saw it, because I was walking home from the post office. I was the first one to reach the car that had been hit; the other car slammed into their right side at the rear and then took off. (A local young man on a bicycle tried to follow them to get the number.) Anyhow, after all the "are you two OK? do you need a phone?" stuff, we looked at the car, and it turned out that the offending car's license plate got stuck under something on the car that had been struck and was still there. The guy driving the car that had been struck plucked it out and showed it to his mother, who was in the back seat, and said, perfectly deadpan, "Got their license number."

It was great.

It would be nice sci-fi device to have a substance on vehicles that rubs off with impact and leaves identifying trace markers.

Wow, I'd love some instant-ID stuff for the extremely friendly person who took out my driver's-side mirror while I was parked in Central Square, Cambridge (MA). I've always been careful about parallel-parking close to the curb, but now I am conscientiously extra-snuggly - replacing one mirror out-of-pocket was quite enough, thanks. (it was less than my deductible, but still a nice chunk of disposable income)