In which we learn that "Kentuckiana" isn't the only place in the country where drivers are not held accountable when they murder walkers and persons riding bicycles.
The Oregonian: Run a Red Light and Kill 3 Kids? “Just a Tragic Accident”, by Angie Schmitt (Streetsblog)
In February, a pickup truck driver in suburban Eugene, Oregon, ran through a red light at 40 miles an hour, killing three children — 4-year-old Tyler Hudson, 5-year-old McKenzie Hudson, and 8-year-old John Day — and critically injuring their mother. The family was walking with the right-of-way in a crosswalk, returning from getting ice cream.
The response to this horrible loss of life? Law enforcement and the state’s largest paper, The Oregonian, have chalked it up as a “tragic accident.”
The Lane County district attorney recently announced there won’t be any criminal charges for the driver, Larry LaThorpe, 68, formerly a commercial truck driver. LaThorpe’s defense is simple enough: He thought the light was green. And that, it seems, is all you have to say to avoid prosecution for killing three children with your motor vehicle.
Larry Lathorp died with them that day.
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