Blaming the Victim Biker, Protecting the Criminal Driver

[XLFD]

It's a theme that happens senselessly over and over again.  A motorcyclist is riding lawfully down the roadway, when all of a sudden a motorist does something unexpected in front of them.  It could be a vehicle going the same way coming to a quick stop in front of them or turning into their lane without looking (on multi-lane roadways).  It could be a vehicle going opposite direction entering their lane while passing or one that fails to yield the right of way by making a left turn in front of them. 

 

These four types of accidents are usually caused by the driver not noticing the motorcyclist, or misjudging the motorcyclist's speed.  All four types have been analyzed in BUMPS.  An accident in Paw Paw Township in Van Buren County was one of the latter type, and the police involvement and coverage has been quite deplorable. 

 

 

Mlive reports:  "PAW PAW TOWNSHIP, MI -- A Paw Paw woman has died from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident Sunday afternoon in Van Buren County, police said.

Mary Jo Hendershot, 54, of Paw Paw, died Friday after a motorcycle, on which she was a passenger, collided with a minivan on M-40 in Paw Paw, Sgt. Dan Abbott, Van Buren County Sheriff's Office, said.

"They took her off life support yesterday," Abbott said on Saturday.

The driver of the motorcycle, Kevin James Rocheleau, 54, also from Paw Paw, is in stable condition at the hospital.

The man was driving south on M-40 on a 2011 Harley Davidson motorcycle with Hendershot when a northbound minivan turned left to enter a gas station. The bike was unable to avoid the van, police said.

Both Hendershot and Rocheleau were thrown from the motorcycle. They were not wearing helmets, police said.

They both suffered serious injuries and were taken to Bronson Methodist Hospital. The driver of the minivan, a 38-year-old Indiana man, was also taken to the hospital with chest pain and is no longer in the hospital, police said.

Alcohol is not a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation by the Van Buren County prosecutor."

This coverage was probably the fairest, and gave an indication of what happened.  The picture shows quite clearly a van turning across the lane where this motorcycle was cruising down.  The incident happened before dark and there was no line of sight issues.  The van driver just turned before he should have and caused the ending of a life, and turmoil for all who loved her.  The driver's name is withheld in all news articles; the victims of his negligence get their name in all of them. 

 

 

The part I don't understand is why hasn't the van driver been arraigned for causing this bloodshed.  The physical evidence shows that he violated general right-of-way laws by turning into the lane when it was not his to enter.  MCL 257.601d is quite clear about what happens when your moving violation causes the death of another person.  Similarly, another count should be made for seriously harming the other rider.  If this was applied regularly to situations like this, perhaps we would have drivers look out more for motorcycles and pay some attention to driving. 

 

But other news outlets and the police they get their data from, put it into the usual template of motorcycle accidents:  leave out details, protect the driver, comment on helmet usage.  Here is WWMT's account excerpted: 

"The Van Buren County Sheriff's Department says 54-year-old Mary Jo Hendershot was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by Kevin Rocheleau, 54, also of Paw Paw. Deputies say they were heading southbound on M40 near M43 in Waverly Township last Sunday when a minivan, driven by a 38-year-old Indiana man, turned into their path.

Neither Hendershot nor Rocheleau was wearing a helmet. They were thrown from the cycle, suffering serious injuries, including head trauma, and were taken to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo.

Deputies say when their investigation is completed, it will be given to the Van Buren County Prosecutor for review."

We have no indication where the minivan was heading when it turned into their path, their helmet usage was emphasized by saying they both suffered head trauma, and the reader wonders whether the investigation is about their not wearing a helmet or some fault of the motorcyclists in causing this accident.  Fox 17 does an even more serious job of clouding the issue:

"The motorcycle was traveling south bound on M40 highway when the minivan turned left attempting to turn into a private drive at the gas station. The motorcycle was unable to avoid striking the minivan ejecting both the driver and passenger from the motorcycle.

The driver, Kevin James Rocheleau, from Paw Paw and Ms. Hendershot received serious injuries and were taken to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo.

Mr. Rocheleau and Ms. Hendershot were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash.

This crash has been fowarded to the Van Buren County Prosecutor’s office for review."

When a person read something like this, how can they not believe that the biker is at fault, and the prosecutor may go after them for causing this crash by being "unable to avoid" the van, or for wearing a helmet?  But not even that account is as bad as it gets, check out this article and picture from WNDU news:

 

"Investigators believe the motorcycle was traveling south on M40 when a minivan turned left, attempting to turn into a gas station.  The motorcycle was reportedly unable to avoid hitting the minivan, ejecting both the driver and the passenger from the motorcycle.

Both the driver and passenger were taken to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo.

The driver of the minivan, a 38-year-old Indiana man, was also taken to the hospital with complains of chest pain.

Neither Rocheleau or Hendershot were wearing helmets at the time of the crash. Michigan law lets motorcycle drivers and passengers to decide for themselves whether to wear a helmet or not, if they meet certain criteria.

Once the investigation is complete report will be forwarded to Van Buren County Prosecutor for review."

The motorcycle was unable to avoid hitting the van, the driver of the van had chest pains, the riders were not wearing helmet and it's unclear whether these met the 'certain criteria', no wonder the prosecutor is looking at this-- the bike rider that lived looks to have caused quite a lot of problems by not avoiding the van and not wearing a helmet.  Chest pains in the driver, no less. 

 

What really galls me about WNDU's article, however, is their clear disdain for these bikers, as seen by the Facebook photo they took from Mary Jo Hendershot's page.  It looks as if both her and James are drinking, something the MLive article made clear was not the case that day, and here's that full picture before the news team cropped it:

 

Did they go and try to insinuate these grandparents may have liquored up that day?  There were plenty of other good pictures they could have taken from her Facebook photos with both of them in which didn't involve them both drinking beer, such as the one above.

 

And since they were reporting on her death in their updated article, they could have included this one that portrays her at her finest, before her life was cut down by someone from Indiana who doesn't know how to drive, who sent her hurtling over his minivan by pulling in front of her.

 

 

But that would involve too much consideration for the victim of this crash, something the media seems to be forgetting in their coverage of events like this.  The consideration instead goes to the driver whose name is kept secret and whose crime is kept secret.  Let's pity him for his chest pains and mental anguish that he has to live through while he is not charged with anything for his reckless driving.