Scottsdale: It will cost you $450 to kill a person
Let. This. Sink. In. Your life is worth $450
The Mafia had it harder, they actually had to bribe the police and elected officials. I am betting it cost them way more that $450 to make someone “disappear”. Payments to the police, council and the unfortunate decedent’s family add up. Scottsdale’s own Amy Alexander had it way easier and is only lighter in the purse by 450 “bone$” after driving over fellow cyclists Shawn McCarthy.
Mrs Alexander, from http://thinkimp.com/principals.php
Speaking of bones, there are 206 in the human body. Mr. McCarty almost certainly had several of his broken while Mrs. Alexander, possibly in, possibly out of control (reports were not clear) of her Chevy Silverado, struck and killed Mr. McCarthy on March 12th, 2017. According to reports from www.azcentral.com and www.phoenixnewtimes.com:
Shawn McCarty was cycling northbound on Thompson Peak Pkwy in the bike lane. Amy Alexander, in control of a Chevy Tahoe (GVW 55oo lbs), swerved into the bike lane, striking McCarty. It wasn’t immediately known what caused her to swerve.
Science Section: A Chevy Tahoe traveling at 45 mph has the kinetic energy of (roughly) 1/2 million joules
Scarry section: You are driving around in a 500,ooo watt ray gun.
According to reports, after striking Mr McCarthy, Mrs Alexander immediately consulted her husband (a lawyer) who wisely advised his client to remain silent when the police arrived. This author has been deposed several times, and, while you should never say anything other than what is asked, shutting up when you run over someone is probably a good idea if you want get away with manslaughter in the USA.
In this author’s opinion, as with most tragedies, there are several people to blame, I’ll lay out my thoughts in order:
First, Mrs Alexander, based on reports, was responsible for the control of her vehicle and f#$*ing killed someone.
Second, I believe the City of Scottsdale’s Chief Attorney, Bruce Washburn, showed a complete disregard for life. Given the circumstances, almost any competent and aggressive prosecutor could have gotten a conviction or at least made a statement by charging the perp. Instead Scottsdale let it be known that, for the cost of an iPhone, you can kill someone. (Prediction: Bruce Washburn will be more angry at this post than with the death of someone in his city because we just don’t understand the complexities of modern jurisprudence)
Third: I believe the State of Arizona’s Legislature has no real statute to protect vulnerable road users. The failure to simply pass a law saying; if you break it, you bought it; strikes a discordant note to me given all the accountability talk going on under the copper capitol dome. Note, ARS 28-735 is, in my opinion, extremely weak and not a solid attempt to protect vulnerable users.
This was no accident, and could have been prevented with attentive driving, aggressive prosecution and safer road design. That being said, Mrs. Alexander broke it and bought it. Her lawyer’s advice was free, The City of Scottsdale charged Mrs. Alexander $450 for killing Mr. McCarthy.
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