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After the tragedy, more of the same.
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Bunsen Honeydew
May 22, 1999, 3:00:00 AM5/22/99
to
At 1 PM on September 28, 1998 a southbound dump
truck pulling a trailer
approached a short, steep two lane railroad bridge.
The small community of
Merritton, a suburb of St.Catharines Ontario, was
coming out of the lunch
hour, as busy people hurried about their errands, at
the
intersection just north of the hill's crest. Just
ahead of the dump truck, a lone
cyclist strained to climb the hill. He began the
cool coast down the back side,
when he felt, before he heard, the steel and rubber
pass him. His heart must
have frozen, as the truck driver drifted right,
forcing him into the rubble and
holes at the edge of the roadway. It was to be his
heart's last experience. A
few short beats later he was crushed beneath the
wheels.
He leaves a wife, and young child.
On Tuesday May 18, 1999. The truck driver, a 56 year
old father of four, left
the Provincial Court House $500 poorer. His legal
penance complete, he is
back driving today.
How do such ludicrous events happen with such
sickening regularity in this
Province?
The Crown Prosecutor is quoted as saying the truck
driver "was not speeding
or showing a reckless disregard for anyone's
safety". How does someone die
as a result of a safe manouever? The result of
passing a vehicle while on a
narrow bridge, with a concrete curb, and railing in
the middle (for added
flavour), is fatal. Would it have shown a
"reckless disregard for safety" if the victim's
vehicle had been a car? The
result of this story is that, once again, the
perception of drivers is that cyclists
need not be afforded the right of passage, neither
the law nor the Police will
protect them, and they can be flattened for "half-
a- thou".
I am ashamed of the way this case was mishandled by
the Police and the
Crown. I am also ashamed of a Provincial Government
that refuses to enforce
it's own rules and regulations, and protect it's
citizens equally.
This engenders disrespect for the law.
That endangers us all.
truck pulling a trailer
approached a short, steep two lane railroad bridge.
The small community of
Merritton, a suburb of St.Catharines Ontario, was
coming out of the lunch
hour, as busy people hurried about their errands, at
the
intersection just north of the hill's crest. Just
ahead of the dump truck, a lone
cyclist strained to climb the hill. He began the
cool coast down the back side,
when he felt, before he heard, the steel and rubber
pass him. His heart must
have frozen, as the truck driver drifted right,
forcing him into the rubble and
holes at the edge of the roadway. It was to be his
heart's last experience. A
few short beats later he was crushed beneath the
wheels.
He leaves a wife, and young child.
On Tuesday May 18, 1999. The truck driver, a 56 year
old father of four, left
the Provincial Court House $500 poorer. His legal
penance complete, he is
back driving today.
How do such ludicrous events happen with such
sickening regularity in this
Province?
The Crown Prosecutor is quoted as saying the truck
driver "was not speeding
or showing a reckless disregard for anyone's
safety". How does someone die
as a result of a safe manouever? The result of
passing a vehicle while on a
narrow bridge, with a concrete curb, and railing in
the middle (for added
flavour), is fatal. Would it have shown a
"reckless disregard for safety" if the victim's
vehicle had been a car? The
result of this story is that, once again, the
perception of drivers is that cyclists
need not be afforded the right of passage, neither
the law nor the Police will
protect them, and they can be flattened for "half-
a- thou".
I am ashamed of the way this case was mishandled by
the Police and the
Crown. I am also ashamed of a Provincial Government
that refuses to enforce
it's own rules and regulations, and protect it's
citizens equally.
This engenders disrespect for the law.
That endangers us all.
The foregoing true story was reported in the
St.Catharines Standard, May 19,
1999, by Cheryl Stepan. This is my version of the
report as it appeared. I invite
your comments in this newsgroup.
Bunsen Honeydew
PS. CDN$500. = approx. US$330
j.mo...@unikix.com
May 23, 1999, 3:00:00 AM5/23/99
to
I'm so sorry to hear of this. Are there advocacy organizations in Canada
aware of this? I know the attitude towards the government is a little
different up there than the States, but perhaps there is an appropriate
means to work this...
aware of this? I know the attitude towards the government is a little
different up there than the States, but perhaps there is an appropriate
means to work this...
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