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Letter: A life sentence on Mother’s Day
Sunday, May 10, 2009
NorthJersey.com
A life sentence on Mother’s Day
On Mother’s Day last year, my husband and I went out for brunch with my mother and our 24-year-old son, Dan. Afterwards, Dan planted his gift to me: a tea rose bush. Then, he washed my car. It was a lovely day.
In the afternoon, as often happened, Dan went out for a walk. As dinnertime approached, three Paramus police cars pulled up to the house. The policemen were subdued and respectful as they told us that Dan had been hit by a car in Ridgewood. And that he had died of his injuries.
On a Sunday afternoon, in full daylight, crossing with the green light, he was struck in the crosswalk with enough force to put him on the hood of the driver’s car, carried 40 feet and then thrown off the car. The head injuries killed him. Dan never saw what hit him.
Eyewitnesses with a clear view of the scene said that the car, turning, cut the corner and was speeding. Yet the driver was charged only with “failure to yield to a pedestrian.”
Ultimately, the driver was fined about $300 and his license was suspended for three months.
Our son was killed, and “failure to yield” sounds like a case of bad manners, not an act that resulted in such tragic consequences. We are amazed that no greater charges, not even careless driving, were brought. The Ridgewood Police, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office and the state Motor Vehicle Commission all have minimized the consequences to the driver for a careless, negligent act that resulted in a death.
Failure to impose any greater penalty sends a very bad message, one that trivializes one’s responsibility to drive carefully and to be held accountable for one’s actions. We appeal to the state lawmakers to strengthen pedestrian safety by passing a law with a mandatory penalty when a pedestrian injury or death occurs.
Dan’s life did matter. He was a kind, hard-working young man, engaged to be married and with a bright future ahead. And in the blink of an eye, he was gone. The driver has his driving privileges back, and we’ve received a life sentence.
Andrea DeVries
Paramus, May 7