If the driver did nothing wrong, then of course no charges should be filed against the driver.

But as long as the driver remains at the scene and isn’t drunk, the police almost always automatically and immediately absolve him of any possible responsibility, even when it’s plainly obvious that the driver caused the crash by breaking the law. Until recently, “No criminality is suspected” is how most articles ended. Now they often add that the investigation is still under way, but in practice there does not appear to be any semblance of an investigation.

Just this morning, a driver struck and injured an 83-year-old woman crossing the street in the crosswalk with the light, and the article ends, “Police are still investigating the crash, but do not believe there is any criminality.”

And last week, an off-duty police officer struck and injured 5-year-old Chunli Mendoza and her mother, who were crossing in the crosswalk with the light. Yet “Criminality is not suspected” and the driver “was not issued any summonses.”

The law unambiguously states that “vehicular traffic, including vehicles turning right or left, shall yield the right of way to other vehicles and to pedestrians lawfully within the intersection or an adjacent crosswalk at the time such signal is exhibited,” and that “Vehicular traffic shall yield the right of way to such pedestrians [crossing with the walk signal or flashing don’t walk signal].”

I object to the notion that all drivers are guilty, but I also object to the notion that all drivers are innocent, especially when it’s patently obvious that they’re not.