Special rules for special people

A story headline from the January 2, 2008 issue of the Georgetown Current of Washington, D.C. (no online link):

"Pedestrian death may spur change in rules" by Elizabeth Wiener

On September 24, 2007, a 70-year-old resident of the District, George Riggs, attempted to cross Wisconsin Avenue at Norton Place, in a marked crosswalk. The driver in the southbound middle lane stopped for Riggs, as the law requires. A marked police cruiser in the left lane, driven by Officer Henry Lee, did not stop, and his cruiser hit Riggs, who later died from his injuries. Officer Lee was not on an emergency call at the time.

After investigating, the U.S. Attorney has declined to file charges against Lee, apparently finding that no crime whatsoever was committed.

Here is an excerpt from the above news story that describes the initial police report of the incident (all emphases mine):

"The October 18 report concluded that the collision 'was caused by the pedestrian ...entering the roadway unexpectedly and colliding into the scout car'. Acccording to the report by Lt. John Kutniewski, Riggs 'was attempting to cross the 3400 block of Wisconsin Avenue ... when he struck the side of a marked Metropolitan Police Department scout car'. Only once does the three-page report note that Riggs was in a crosswalk."

The article further notes that Riggs was actually hit by the front of the cruiser, and bounced off its windshield. So much for "striking the side". Additionally, the homeland security director for the force who was quoted in the article ironically calls Kutniewski's grasp of events a "special report". So it is, so it is.

I wonder if Lt. Kutniewski would have been so generous in his analysis of the accident if the other driver had been the one who hadn't stopped, and had been the one who hit Riggs.

According to the article, further investigation found that "the officer simply could not see Riggs because the stopped car blocked his view".

Well, duh. Hmmm. A car stops in front of a marked crosswalk. Must be for no reason at all. I'll guess I'll just keep on tooling through the intersection. What could "unexpectedly" happen?

The article concludes that the District police have stepped up enforcement of the crosswalk laws since the accident, aggressively ticketing drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians. To date, however, it appears that Officer Lee has yet to receive even that modest penalty. Only the peasants seemingly have to answer for their driving infractions in Washington.