Violent Vehicles

[XLFD]

Personification and deflection is a common method the media and police use to minimalize the responsibility of careless drivers who hit bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians (BMPs) legally using the roadway.  Two accidents in our area that occurred yesterday illustrate this.  The first happened on the east part of Scottville, investigated by the Scottville PD and reported on by the Mason County Press, the paragraphs describing the accident reads thusly:

Pedestrian struck while walking on State Street, Scottville

SCOTTVILLE — A 72-year-old Scottville woman was struck by a vehicle while she was walking along East State Street (US 10) near High Street in Scottville Tuesday afternoon. Emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene at 2:47 p.m.

The vehicle that struck the pedestrian initially left the scene but later returned, according to Scottville Police Chief Matt Murphy. There is no sidewalk in that portion of State Street.

What could have possibly been the motive for the unnamed, heartless vehicle to strike this woman?  In order to protect the motorist in reporting accidents involving BMPs, the police and media personify the vehicle as the culprit, fully realizing that the vehicle itself did not cause the accident, but its operator is likely to have done so.  This deflects them from having to do their duties in determining who was at fault and reporting why they may have been at fault.  Vehicles cannot be cited, vehicles cannot complain about having their side misrepresented.

Police have other reasons to personify a vehicle and deflect blame away from drivers.  When they ridiculously make it seem as if a 'killer car' was involved, they deflect responsibility away from their agency's failures in enforcing traffic regulations in the area or away from the scene's traffic engineering deficiencies, both of which may have played a part in the accident.  

In this instance, we find that the 'reporter' (Rob Alway) is part of the Scottville City Commission and the investigator (Matt Murphy) is also the Scottville City Manager; this explains why the deflection is more noticeable than usual, as this happened in the Scottville city limits in an area that isn't well suited for pedestrian traffic (poor lighting, lack of sidewalks, 40 mph traffic).  Knowing that, is it surprising to anyone that the vehicle gains sentience and becomes the aggressor, not the 'innocent' driver of that car who wasn't paying due attention or care when they were using the same road?

Last evening in Ottawa County, a couple of cars were reported as acting in concert in taking down a bicyclist legally using the road in a well-lit area.  No drivers were mentioned in the description of this incident either.  

Bicyclist hit, killed by cars in Holland Township

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A man riding a bicycle has died after being hit by two cars in Holland Township Tuesday night.

It happened around 8:15 p.m. on Waverly Road north of East 8th Street.

Ottawa County deputies say a 42-year-old man was riding a bike in the southbound right traffic lane on Waverly when he was hit from behind by a car. The victim was then hit by a second car that was also going southbound.

                                            Waverly Road, North of 8th Street looking south

Unlike the MCP article, it does eventually mention that the two (unnamed) drivers were uninjured.

Blaming cars for wrongful deaths allows the police and media to avoid disbursing the usual lame excuses provided by drivers whose carelessness or inattentiveness in their driving led to the preventable accident.  By giving a ridiculous narrative where the vehicle rather than the driver is given all the blame all the consciousness, they can effectively paint the rest of the accident any way they want and effectively blame two entities:  the vehicle and the victim.

The irrationality of the prevailing protocols of the police and media is easy to see when we replace the word 'car' or 'vehicle' with the word 'bullet' and then consider who may be at fault.  For example, using the second article we would have the following:

"A man riding a bicycle has died after being hit by two bullets in Holland Township Tuesday night.

It happened around 8:15 p.m. on Waverly Road north of East 8th Street.

Ottawa County deputies say a 42-year-old man was riding a bike in the southbound right traffic lane on Waverly when he was hit from behind by a bullet. The victim was then hit by a second bullet that was also going southbound."

Would we blame the bullets for lodging themselves in the bicyclist's back, or would we be more likely to blame the shooter of those bullets (or even the gun, if you were fervently for gun control)?  Barring some improbable mechanical defect that should have been addressed before its operation by its driver, vehicles should not be accused of being at fault for these incidents.  Barring some very unsafe behavior by the victim involved, the vehicle operator is.

"Cars don't kill people, people kill people."