Last night I was scrolling through various posts in my news feed (timeline, wall, whatever the frick you want to call it).  There among the various photos and article links was a particular troubling news story posted by a local bicycle advocate.

Boy, 6, struck and killed by car in North Austin apartment complex

According to a preliminary investigation, the driver of a 1991 Toyota 4Runner turned into the parking lot, swerved to avoid a parked car with its door open and struck the boy, Aguiñaga said.

The boy’s older brother tried to pull him away from the SUV but couldn’t do so in time, Aguiñaga said. It was unclear whether the boy was playing in the parking lot or ran out in front of the SUV, she said.

Go Ahead Blame The Victim

So much to talk about here.  Once again my anger rises to epic levels.  And it is not just towards the driver; that’s too easy and obvious.  Clearly somebody who needs to not drive anymore.  How do you turn into an apartment parking lot with so much speed that you have to swerve to avoid a parked car and hit a pedestrian?  Who drives like that?  Unfortunately, far too many people.  And once again we see the words “charges not expected to be filed.”

But the majority of my anger goes towards the spokesman in this story and the lazy blotter reporter that let her get away with that statement and printed it as is.  Should a six-year-old boy be playing in a parking lot?  Maybe not.  Certainly not in this society where we’ve allowed parking lots to become just like the rest of the pavement:  a place for vehicle flow at the highest possible speed.

So where is the statement about the obvious excess speed of the driver and his killing machine?  Not a peep.  No, this is just another tragic accident.  And we quietly go on ignoring the sacred bull in society’s china shop.

Seething anger…