I have had pedestrians cross right in the middle of the road without them looking to see if I am going to stop
That is very unwise here in SC. Pedestrians here are protected
only when crossing properly at a marked crosswalk, crossing properly at an intersection where there is no crosswalk, or crossing properly on a rural road where there are no intersections nearby. Crossing properly is defined as crossing with the light or obeying a walk/don't walk indicator, or if those are absent crossing only when it is clear and safe to do so in both directions of road travel. If they cross between intersections or leave the crosswalk or cross without looking or cross against signage or indicators, then it's just too bad for them if they get mowed down. I like the way this law is here because it places the responsibility of pedestrian safety mostly on the pedestrians which is how that should be. Do things right, you're protected by law- do things wrong, you're not protected. Which follows simple logic, for if you do things right you are very unlikely to get mowed down regardless of what the law says.
I didn't see or hear the details of the minivan possibly running a red light.
If that be the case then they deserve the crucifixion they're about to get. And we here all know that dashcams are worth their cost. I don't think most folks realize that there are reliable dashcams out there for so little cash. With good choices of card and cam, $75 will give you 3+ years of adequate protection and maybe even for longer than that. $25 a year isn't much at all; less than 15 cents per day. Just trade one Coke or Pepsi a week for a glass of water and you're set.
Ain't costly at all. What
is costly is needing a dashcam and not having it. In this case, if there wasn't a red light and the minivan driver could prove that via dashcam footage they would only face prosecution for leaving the scene- a relatively minor charge compared to what they're now facing. Now their freedom, license, and lots of their money are depending totally on what that other pedestrian says, and that person is definitely not going to admit it if they were crossing illegally, so the outcome is now a given all for the lack of a 15 cents per day dashcam.
Oh well. I didn't see much of anything in this which could be called "smart" anyway except for the Police catching the minivan driver.
Phil