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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
While what most turns my stomach are the tragic deaths, I am also disgusted with the abuse of language by so-called reporters. Granted, this story in teh Mercury News starts with "Two bicyclists were killed when a Santa Clara County sheriff's patrol car crossed the double-yellow line on Stevens Canyon Road in Cupertino and hit a group of riders shortly before 10:30 a.m. Sunday."
However, it then describes the carnage thusly:
"The group collided with the deputy's car while the deputy was on a routine patrol in the area, Sgt. Don Morrissey said.
Coming around a corner, near a straight-away, the deputy accidentally crossed the center line and struck the group. He called for help and immediately began CPR on one of the fallen cyclists, Morrissey said."
I do most fervently feel for the sheriff's deputy. However, he didn't exactly go a little over the line and have bicyclists *collide with him." The guy went clear across the road and up the embankment on the *other side.* [deciding not to describe further.]
But no, sometimes bicyclists ride erratically. (Absolutely *no* evidence that this happened this time, but we need to find a way to make this just a tragic 'accident.' We need to distance ourselves and turn this into a statistic.) I'm wondering what pressures Mr. Council (the deputy) was under that had him in that condition - sleep deprivation? Kids and three jobs, perhaps? Or partying too hard the night before? Or some medical cocktail? Instead of weeping and writing this off as Fate, let's see how we can make it less likely to ever happen again.
However, it then describes the carnage thusly:
"The group collided with the deputy's car while the deputy was on a routine patrol in the area, Sgt. Don Morrissey said.
Coming around a corner, near a straight-away, the deputy accidentally crossed the center line and struck the group. He called for help and immediately began CPR on one of the fallen cyclists, Morrissey said."
I do most fervently feel for the sheriff's deputy. However, he didn't exactly go a little over the line and have bicyclists *collide with him." The guy went clear across the road and up the embankment on the *other side.* [deciding not to describe further.]
But no, sometimes bicyclists ride erratically. (Absolutely *no* evidence that this happened this time, but we need to find a way to make this just a tragic 'accident.' We need to distance ourselves and turn this into a statistic.) I'm wondering what pressures Mr. Council (the deputy) was under that had him in that condition - sleep deprivation? Kids and three jobs, perhaps? Or partying too hard the night before? Or some medical cocktail? Instead of weeping and writing this off as Fate, let's see how we can make it less likely to ever happen again.
