Monday, March 25, 2013

Drivers who hit people on sidewalks not being prosecuted - m.NYPOST.com

The law needs to be changed. Also, note some more color on the killer
of Brooklyn Heights resident Martha Atwater:
In another case, driver John McKinney, an ex-con with a history of
drug arrests, walked free after hitting Emmy-winning TV producer
Martha Atwater. She was killed Feb. 22 coming out of a Brooklyn
bakery.
The absence of criminal charges against any one of those drivers
illustrates the need for New York to reform its vehicular-crime laws,
according to Steve Vaccaro, a lawyer who specializes in representing
pedestrians hit by motor vehicles.
Under the law, when drivers haven't been drinking, prosecutors must
first find "recklessness" when applying the most serious criminal
charges.
Did John McKinney get a blood test?  He damn well should have.

Driving is a privilege that carries with it responsibilities. One of
those responsibilities ought to be to explain yourself when you drive
onto a sidewalk and mow down some pedestrians.

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