After sending the La Crosse Tribune version of the latest article about
the truck which BROKE THE BACK of a cyclist, I found the Vernon County
Broadcaster version which is longer and more detailed. Incredibly, it
appears the sheriff is acting as an advocate for the truck driver (read
it at
http://www.vernonbroadcaster.com/articles/2007/07/16/thisjustin/06leadthis.txt
) (You can also read some locals' reactions there). Here are a few
selected snips:
>An investigation into an accident, in which a truck towing a trailer
struck a bicyclist in rural Vernon County, Saturday, July 7, found no
malice on the part of the truck driver.
>[Vernon County Sheriff, Gene Cary] said in his opinion he was
confident in Sagler’s story. He also thought that initial news coverage,
because it only included statements from the bicyclists, “was blown
completely out of proportion.”
>“After seeing the news reports people were out to hang (Sagler),” Cary
said. “But it’s an altogether different scenario. (Sagler) was beside
himself, a nervous wreck. There are two sides to every story. You’ve got
to hear both to separate the wheat from the chaff.”
Ya think justice will be served? Hmmm...
Forget helmets and mirrors - HELMET CAMS!
- cathy in la crosse
Paul T. O'Leary wrote:
One would think (hope) that the Vernon Co. Sheriff's Dept. interviewed the cyclists
separately (standard procedure). Yet there's no mention of any inconsistencies, before or
after the truck driver came forward, between their stories. How is it that, if the truck
driver's version is the "updated" one, that all the cyclists' stories match up?
Intent aside for a moment, what is, once again, most belief-challenging is that the truck
driver didn't know he'd hit anything. On our way home last weekend, we ran over and
killed a cat. An eight-pound cat. Ten, tops. Yeah, I saw him, so I knew what I'd hit, but
I heard/felt him as I hit (sorry about the "detail"). How can one possibly hit
150-plus pounds of human and bicycle without hearing or feeling it? Even in a vehicle
that size?
And ultimately, how relevant is that? It's like the question of whether "Reagan knew"
(wrt. Iran-Contra). Is it any worse or better that the driver didn't know what he'd done? This is
not a tractor-trailer rig we're talking about; it's a "civilian" vehicle. Should an
ordinary citizen be operating a vehicle with which s/he is capable of hitting something as
large/heavy as an adult human without knowing it? (And no, I'm not asking the question
hypothetically, I think that's the question EVERY motor vehicle driver should ask her/himself
before getting behind the wheel.)
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