Man hit by truck helping women cross street, ticketed

Man hit by truck helping women cross street, ticketed
written by: Cheryl Preheim
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ADAMS COUNTY - The first nurse that heard his story started to tear up. Her name was Anna. She called Jim Moffett a hero. His good deed landed him in the emergency room and cost him a ticket for his trouble.



Mark Moffett says it has been hard to see his dad in so much pain but he says he is so proud of him.

"He was helping out. He was being a good citizen and being a man of faith. He was just helping out the elderly," he said.

Moffett, 68, has been a bus driver for RTD for 23 years. He was driving his usual route through Adams County on Federal Boulevard near 63rd Avenue on Friday night at 9 p.m. It was snowing.

Ken McDonald says his stepfather remembers everything from that night.

"He had two elderly passengers get off of his bus. They were going to cross Federal right then and there with or without him. Being a gentleman, he stopped the bus, got out of the driver's seat," McDonald said.

McDonald says Moffett and another passenger, who he only knows as "Eddie," started helping the two ladies across Federal Boulevard.

An accident report from the Colorado State Patrol describes what happened next. A driver of a truck was driving in the turn lane to turn from Federal onto 63rd. The report says the driver didn't see the pedestrians until it was too late. He swerved to avoid them but hit Moffett with the right front of his Dodge pickup.

"Jim saw him coming and pushed the three people out of the way and took the truck head on," McDonald said. "He was knocked clean out of his shoes, his hearing aids were knocked out of his head and his glasses knocked off of his face."

Moffett is in intensive care at St. Anthony Central Hospital. His family says he has a bruised brain and a lot of broken bones. He also has internal injuries. They are concerned about the physical injuries that his good deed cost him. They are baffled by the $22 it could cost him as well.

"I am disappointed he got a jaywalking ticket. I don't understand it," McDonald said. "He just went where the women he was trying to help went."

Mark Moffett says he has talked to his dad about it. He says his dad is taking it all in stride.

"He laughed. He thought it was funny and a little ridiculous. He said, 'If that's what it takes to help little old ladies across the street, I'll take a truck head on and a $22 ticket and do it again,'" Mark Moffett said.

"We don't ever want to see tragedies like this happen. That is why we can't stress enough for people to be careful and always use crosswalks," Trooper Ryan Sullivan with the Colorado State Patrol said. "We understand Mr. Moffett was doing something with great intentions, but it was still dangerous for anyone to be in the road."

The other passenger who got off the bus to help also got a jaywalking ticket. The driver of the pickup truck got a ticket for careless driving resulting in bodily injury.

Jim Moffett doesn't know the women who he risked his life to help, but he hopes he can meet them one day.

His family says he has no regrets.

"I guarantee you when he is back on the bus, back on that route, if those same little old ladies want to cross the street again, he will help them," McDonald said.

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