There was another great example of how little our society values the lives of the non-car driving public. A woman with extensive speeding tickets and “moving violations” has been fined $1500 and given a 4-month suspension of her license for killing a motorcyclist while passing on a double yellow. The Times Colonist has the full story.
Also in today’s paper was a story about a man running over a pedestrian twice in Port Alberni is what looks like a road rage incident. At least in this case the RCMP officer said:
“The only difference between this one and a homicide is that the guy’s living,”
Hopefully the driver, who is apparently known, will be charged with attempted manslaughter or assault with a deadly weapon. I am not holding my breath, however.
Further afield, the DA in New York city has decided not to charge the driver of a van which, while running and unattended, jumped the curb and killed two children. The families of the two dead as well as pedestrian and safety advocates held a rally recently to demand action.
These kinds of stories are all too common. Often the driver is not blamed and the incident is called a “tragic accident” or “an act of god”. What will it take for society to consider cars to be the dangerous weapons they are? If the driver who killed that motorcyclist had pulled out a gun and shot the man, it would have been considered manslaughter. There would have been a huge outcry, just as has happened recently with all the apparently gang related shootings. Just because they used car doesn’t mean that we should treat it any differently.
Great post , i like your writing 🙂