Fairness
I've been struggling with this post for several days. Several versions have been written and then trashed. I just can't find the words to describe what I'm feeling.
The basic facts of the case seem to be undisputed.
A drunk teenager ran over a local cyclist with her truck while backing down a short, one-way, residential street at a high rate of speed. After hitting the cyclist, she plowed through a thick wooden post and into a park. Despite knowing that she had hit another human being, she drove away without providing assistance or even checking to see the status of the person she injured. She is now facing a whole year in jail for her crime as part of a plea deal.
A husband, father, and all-around nice guy is no longer with his family and friends because he made the error of riding a bike down a dead-end street in a residential neighborhood. His family is now facing the remainder of their lives without his presence.
Somehow it doesn't seem fair to me.
The cyclist in me wants vengeance. I want to see the entitled brat's head on a stick. I want there to be serious consequences for killing someone with a motor vehicle, especially when it's done under the influence or distracted by technology. I want people to realize just how deadly a vehicle really is to everyone around it, and handle it with the respect it deserves instead of treating driving as a God-given right. The cyclist in me knows this will never happen, because civility, responsibility, and basic humanity are dying.
"Cyclist lives matter". Screw that. "Lives matter". Period.
I ride my bike just about every day I can on the road system. Based on the laws in place in every state and just about every municipality in this country, it's my right. My kids ride their bikes on roads around my neighborhood. Families push their babies in strollers around my block. This is all completely legal. Driving drunk is not by any stretch of the imagination legal. Yet there are people that will blame the victim because they shouldn't have been there in the first place. We have devolved as a society to the point that we will do anything to protect car culture, even if it means protecting idiots that should have never been allowed to get behind the wheel.
The more I hear about this story, the madder I get... and I don't want to be mad. I don't want to worry that I may leave behind a widow and fatherless children when I go out for a ride. I don't like that my wife worries about me when I go out for a spin. I ride my bike to be happy.
Tuesday night a bunch of cyclists met at the park where the hit-and-run occurred, because they just didn't think justice was served here. I attended with my team. I heard a first-hand account of what happened from the person who witnessed it, aided the victim, tried to stop the drunk driver, and then witnessed a person's last, painful breath. She then had the courage to recount this traumatic event so we could understand what happened. She's a stand-up human, and she's my hero.
To be honest, I don't think the scales can be balanced in this case, because nothing can be done to bring him back. No amount of punishment can do that, but the legal system failed completely in its duty to balance the scales somewhat.
If I had the choice, I would have rather spent Tuesday night hammering up some hill on our group ride. I would have preferred to pass that husband/father/cyclist/all-around nice guy as he coasted down in the other direction. He would have done a subtle cyclist wave and probably would have smiled at our grunting and flailing, knowing he'd already done the hard part and was reaping the rewards. Maybe he'd coast all the way home to his family. I'd prefer that reality, but it isn't an option anymore. The drunk little princess took that option off the table, and after a whole year of punishment will likely be back in her truck, because her license was suspended for 90 days.
We're a long way from fair here.
Petition to balance the scales slightly
The basic facts of the case seem to be undisputed.
A drunk teenager ran over a local cyclist with her truck while backing down a short, one-way, residential street at a high rate of speed. After hitting the cyclist, she plowed through a thick wooden post and into a park. Despite knowing that she had hit another human being, she drove away without providing assistance or even checking to see the status of the person she injured. She is now facing a whole year in jail for her crime as part of a plea deal.
A husband, father, and all-around nice guy is no longer with his family and friends because he made the error of riding a bike down a dead-end street in a residential neighborhood. His family is now facing the remainder of their lives without his presence.
Somehow it doesn't seem fair to me.
The cyclist in me wants vengeance. I want to see the entitled brat's head on a stick. I want there to be serious consequences for killing someone with a motor vehicle, especially when it's done under the influence or distracted by technology. I want people to realize just how deadly a vehicle really is to everyone around it, and handle it with the respect it deserves instead of treating driving as a God-given right. The cyclist in me knows this will never happen, because civility, responsibility, and basic humanity are dying.
"Cyclist lives matter". Screw that. "Lives matter". Period.
I ride my bike just about every day I can on the road system. Based on the laws in place in every state and just about every municipality in this country, it's my right. My kids ride their bikes on roads around my neighborhood. Families push their babies in strollers around my block. This is all completely legal. Driving drunk is not by any stretch of the imagination legal. Yet there are people that will blame the victim because they shouldn't have been there in the first place. We have devolved as a society to the point that we will do anything to protect car culture, even if it means protecting idiots that should have never been allowed to get behind the wheel.
The more I hear about this story, the madder I get... and I don't want to be mad. I don't want to worry that I may leave behind a widow and fatherless children when I go out for a ride. I don't like that my wife worries about me when I go out for a spin. I ride my bike to be happy.
Tuesday night a bunch of cyclists met at the park where the hit-and-run occurred, because they just didn't think justice was served here. I attended with my team. I heard a first-hand account of what happened from the person who witnessed it, aided the victim, tried to stop the drunk driver, and then witnessed a person's last, painful breath. She then had the courage to recount this traumatic event so we could understand what happened. She's a stand-up human, and she's my hero.
To be honest, I don't think the scales can be balanced in this case, because nothing can be done to bring him back. No amount of punishment can do that, but the legal system failed completely in its duty to balance the scales somewhat.
If I had the choice, I would have rather spent Tuesday night hammering up some hill on our group ride. I would have preferred to pass that husband/father/cyclist/all-around nice guy as he coasted down in the other direction. He would have done a subtle cyclist wave and probably would have smiled at our grunting and flailing, knowing he'd already done the hard part and was reaping the rewards. Maybe he'd coast all the way home to his family. I'd prefer that reality, but it isn't an option anymore. The drunk little princess took that option off the table, and after a whole year of punishment will likely be back in her truck, because her license was suspended for 90 days.
We're a long way from fair here.
Petition to balance the scales slightly
Comments
Post a Comment