Last weekend’s tragic accident involving three cyclists and a police officer
Cyclists in the SF Bay community have been grieving over last weekend’s tragic accident involving three very accomplished cyclists and a police officer. James Council, a rookie deputy of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s department, crossed over the double yellow center line and struck and killed 30 year old Olympic hopeful Kristy Gough and 29 year old Matt Peterson. Christopher Knapp suffered injuries. Witnesses reported the deputy saying that he had nodded off….the crash occurred about four hours into his Sunday shift after having worked a 12 1/2 hour shift the day before.
Some alarming information has surfaced about the officer’s past. In 2001 he was charged with two drunk driving counts. He was also convicted of partaking in a “speed contest” (I am assuming this refers to an illicit drag race) in Los Angeles City County. Council was background checked in the hiring process and the department was aware of these past charges. After the crash, he was not required to submit to a blood alcohol test.
As of right now James Council has been placed on administrative leave. The sheriff spokesmen Sgt. Don Morrisey stated, “He has had that one incident…There weren’t any other incidents. We look at that as being young and making a mistake, adapting and learning from that mistake and becoming a viable candidate.” An investigation into what happened is currently being conducted by the CHP. Meanwhile, complaints have arisen over whether Council has received special treatment given that his father was a deputy for 23 years.
The police department has formally apologized to the family and has accepted responsibility. It seems to me, however, that these families are owed more than an apology for the loss of these two extraordinary human beings.
-lauren
March 12th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Please don’t use the word “accident” to refer to this, or any other, collision. “Accident” suggests that nothing could have been done to prevent it.
March 13th, 2008 at 10:52 am
accident- an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss; casualty; mishap: automobile accidents.
It was indeed an accident…though an investigation is pending…it seems pretty clear that the officer did not maliciously run them over. Accidents can be prevented. In this case, perhaps if the officer hadn’t been working back to back shifts he would have been more alert.
March 13th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Lauren wrote: “In this case, perhaps if the officer hadn’t been working back to back shifts he would have been more alert.”
Exactly! The officer did not intentionally fall asleep. He did not intentionally crash into the cyclists (while sleeping).
But it appears he did intentionally drive while sleepy. It appears his schedulers did intentionally give him two long back-to-back shifts (with the change to Daylight Savings Time between the shifts).
Please do a Google search for the phrase “crashes are not accidents”.
March 13th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
http://www.bfw.org/membership/index.php
It is my belief that we are on the same page, Mike…I think that we are just applying different interpretations of the word accident to the situation.
This website is the first entry that pops up on the google search so I assume its what you are referencing. I agree with their perspective, and I have seen the ghostbike campaign in action in Seattle and perceive it to be a very effective way to remind people to be aware of bicyclists on the road.
There are several definitions for the word accident…and I believe their interpretation here refers to accident being defined as something that happens by chance…an unexpected event that happens without a deliberate plan or cause. I agree that this crash was indeed caused by something…the officer being overworked and not having adequate sleep to be vigilant while on duty.
However….The legal definition of the word accident is “such a happening resulting in injury that is in no way the fault of the injured person for which compensation for indemnity is sought.”….I would say that this defintion could apply to the situation at hand…the cyclists were not at fault…the deputy was.
The intent of the post was to inform our readers about what happened and how the police department is handling it…and to be honest I would rather be having a discussion on what should be done in reparation for this tragedy.
When it comes down to it a professional writer I am not…I’m just a girl who loves bicycles and genuinely believes that raising awareness of our rights on the road is a worthy cause. Please excuse me if I sometimes stumble in the process. I no longer want to quibble over diction…I want to honor these two wonderful people who died sharing a passion for bicycles that I also possess.
=Lauren
March 14th, 2008 at 10:13 am
I’m sorry if I came across as argumentative or nitpicky. We’re both working for the same thing.
If you put “crashes are not accidents” in quotes, you get a lot more hits. The first forty or so show that this is an international movement.
The idea is to raise awareness that these things don’t just happen for no reason, and to put the focus back on root causes.
The reports so far suggest that there was nothing the cyclists did, or didn’t do, to cause the collision. The sheriff could have killed a motorist or a pedestrian or a deer instead.
Unfortunately/predictably, much of the local reaction has been about the dangers of cycling. The dangers of driving while sleepy are getting lost in the noise.
March 14th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I used this article as an example in a class on legal writing that I teach at the law school. My law students immediately seized upon the “bicyclists collided with the car” phraseology but also with the word “accident.” They agree that the word is very loaded here and all told me that if they were representing the deputy they would say it over and over, but if representing the estate of the cyclists, they would never call this an accident.
–EBR
March 14th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I have been covering this story all week on my blog, and the latest is that the deputy was working a 12 1/2 hour shift, after working a 12 1/2 hour shift the day before, only 10 1/2 hours prior. I have had 12 hour shifts and by the time my week was over waitresses were giving me senior citizens discounts without even asking if I would like one, I looked that bad.
BTW Eric, I’m Opus. I had to use anonymous posting to get on your comments, for some reason my Google ID wasn’t working.