Yesterday, six years had passed since an intoxicated driver mowed down five members of the "Chain Gang," a group of experienced cyclists in the Kalamazoo, Michigan area.
To this day, it is one of the worst such incidents I've heard or read about. Charles Pickett Jr., as it turned out, had a history of DUI charges before he plowed from behind into nine cyclists. Paul Gobble, Jennifer Johnson, Paul Runnels and Sheila Jeske were injured and faced long periods of physical therapy and other kinds of recovery. On the other hand, Debbie Bradley, Melissa Fevig-Hughes, Tony Nelson, Larry Paulik and Suzanne Sippel did not survive the horror.
Photo above, l-to-r: Melissa Fevig-Hughes, Suzanne Sippel, Debbie Bradley, Tony Nelson and Larry Paulik
I felt the need to re-memorialize them, however briefly, in light of yesterday's post. Would Ms. Bradley, Fevig-Hughes and Sippel or Mr. Nelson and Paulik have been "asking for trouble," as per the pearl of wisdom of that sage Amanda Holden, if they'd been wearing cameras? Or what if Mr. Gobble and Runnels and Ms. Johnson and Jeske had them?
I can just see someone like her at a trial, telling other jurors the "Chain Gang's" choice to record their ride caused Charles Pickett to drive his van into their backs. Would any other jurors go along with her "reasoning" that the riders brought the tragedy on themselves?
Fortunately, the judge in the case saw the tragedy for what it is and meted out what was probably the longest sentence available under the circumstances: 40 to 75 years, with no possiblity of parole. (In case you're wondering: Michigan hasn't had the death penalty since 1846.) So, Pickett won't see the world outside of prison walls until he's 90 years old.
Of course, that sentence--or Pickett's expressions of remorse--will do nothing to bring back the five cyclists he killed or help the ones he injured. But at least it's good to know that there was some measure of justice served on behalf of innocent victims, whatever else someone like Amanda Holden might want people to believe.
I am amazed by the inconsistencies of our judicial system in cases involving cyclists or pedestrians killed by negligent automobile drivers. This case in Kalamazoo (where I lived during the 1980s) seems to be the exception, with punishment being more than a "slap on the wrist". Sadly, the outcome is often more like that in the case of Tabitha Thompson, who was run over and killed by driver Danielle Rock earlier this year in a community near where I now live. Ms Rock was charged with reckless driving...she'll probably get a few demerit points on her driving record.
ReplyDeleteRob--It's unfortunate and unfair that six years after the "Chain Gang" tragedy, its outcome, at least in criminal-justice terms, is still an outlier. It's also not right that drivers still endanger, maim and kill cyclists with impunity.
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