Jumping to Conclusions in Baldwin Pedestrian Accident

[XLFD]

One week ago, an older pedestrian in Baldwin was killed after being hit by a driver with a suspended license, it was reported in the local newspaper thusly:

COLDNEWS BALDWIN:  A Baldwin man was killed on Tuesday, Feb. 11, after a vehicle struck him on Michigan Avenue in downtown Baldwin. 

According to a press release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office, at approximately 3:24 p.m., the LCSO was dispatched to the scene of a possible hit and run involving a pedestrian. 

Dispatch advised that a pedestrian jumped in front of a single-cab truck pulling a trailer, and the pedestrian was lying in the roadway on Michigan Avenue at Sixth Street, near the Bowling Alley and U.S. Forest Service offices. 

Deputies arriving on scene found the 58-year-old man from Baldwin in the roadway and attempted lifesaving efforts, however, the victim was later pronounced dead. 

This tragedy appears to be an accident, preliminary investigations indicate. 

A 27-year-old man from White Cloud was charged with driving while his license was suspended, causing the fatality, according to the press release. [END]

ANALYSIS:  The two maps provided show the overhead of the accident scene and then a street view looking north to Sixth Street.  The location where the man wound up was closer to the street to the north of this, so even though the direction the driver was going wasn't revealed it appears he was going north with the pedestrian carried a bit by the trucker that hit him.

While 911 received a call from someone saying that the older man jumped in front of the truck, it would be likely that the caller was the truck driver or someone who was only a witness to the aftermath who was relating what the trucker had said.  It would be advantageous for a person that was driving a truck with a suspended or revoked license to make such a claim, even if it wasn't true.  

Fortunately, such a victim-shift makes no difference as to what law applies here.  Whose fault it was doesn't matter.  When your license has been suspended and you operate a vehicle while that is in effect and kill somebody, you're guilty of a felony (MCL 257.904(4)), as you should never have been on the road in the first place.

Unless there is video footage showing otherwise, or a concurrence of eyewitnesses without skin in the game, the family and friends of the decedent should demand that the investigation should focus on the truth of whether the 'jumped in front of the truck' epitaph should apply. 

The speed limit on Michigan Avenue is 40 mph (both ways) and if the truck driver in icy road conditions, already allegedly breaking the law while driving with a suspended license drove over that limit, might not have been able to break in time for an older person taking a little extra time crossing the highway at the crossing of 6th Street.  Someone doesn't live to be 58 years old by jumping in front of trucks, but they often take a little more time in crossing the road, especially in icy conditions.  

Instead, the media (and the COLDNews wasn't the only one) focuses on painting the victim as someone who caused this collision by jumping in front of the truck in the first paragraphs and focuses much less on the felony act that killed him, mentioning it in the last paragraph.  The Cadillac News ridiculously reported this accident with the title:  "Baldwin Man Dies After Jumping in Front of Truck".

Kudos to the police for charging the driver with the proper felony, but next time explicitly indicate whether there was any evidence that any preliminary investigations suggested the initial prejudicial call was accurate.