Local Activist Nearly Hit

Crossposted from Blog for America, August 2005

Drunk, Distracted or Deliberate?

Have we become such a dysfunctional society that our glorification of violence takes precedence over acts of integrity, morality, and justice?

Honoring our soldiers is not a partisan issue. It is a moral one. For all who have friends, family or loved ones serving, none can argue that our troops deserve to be honored for their sacrifices, be kept safe at all costs, and not lied to about why we are sending them into harm's way. This was the motivation behind the vigils throughout the nation last Wednesday night: several hundred gathering in Tucson alone.


Over 600 people showed up at the various locations in Tucson. On hand were our own Raging Grannies... who you recall from The Today Show and Blog for America ...were cited by police for entering a recruitment center. Charges have since been dropped.

At the Wal-Mart location, 95 concerned citizens congregated on the corner of the intersection when just 25 were expected. The vigil was beautiful with a warm breeze under a midnight blue sky. The attendees were a variety of folks: Libertarians, Democrats, Independents, Republicans, Greens and non-partisan patriots.

Throughout the evening the majority response to our vigil was positive... with drivers honking in support of our troops. Mixed in were occasional intermittent fanatical yells of 'killing equates to freedom'. It appears one driver took that message a little too seriously.

As I was standing on the sidewalk taking photos, I heard a vehicle rev up their engine as it swerved by me. I felt a swat of my hair and heard some screaming and gasping from the crowd. As I turned my head, I realized a van had rounded the corner, driven up on the sidewalk, and missed hitting me by no more than an inch. The first question I asked, "Was it an accident or deliberate?" The initial reaction from the crowd was that it was intentional.

Shaken, I asked myself, "what exactly was I doing that justified someone wanting to harm me?" I called the police to report what just occurred. After getting transferred, the first question asked of me was, "Well, do you want us to do a report or just try to locate the van". "Both!" I responded. With a good description of the van, a valid license number, and the company name across the van... it shouldn't have been too difficult to locate it. Were they reluctant to do anything because it was a vigil for our troops? So, I was asked again if I wanted to have a report filed. "Yes, I would like an officer to come here" I responded. In all, I would be asked eight times if I wanted to file a report.

We were on one of the busiest intersections in Tucson, with police cars driving back and forth, but not stopping. After waiting close to twenty minutes for someone to respond to my call, I finally flagged down an officer I saw across the street and another officer in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Neither had gotten the radio dispatch yet. As I relayed my story, I took the officers to the corner to show them the tread marks. It was pretty frightening seeing how close the van actually came to plowing over me.

Unfortunately, two women attending were so concerned that the driver might get fired from their job over this incident, they assured the officer it 'must have been an accident'. No one else seemed to think so... nor did the women when it first happened. Empathy for someone losing their job is great, I thought, but this is a driver who should not be on the road. The women hypothesized maybe the driver was on their cell phone, or was distracted, or drunk. Well, I personally wanted to believe that it was an accident too... since the alternative was a pretty horrific thought.

However, upon reviewing the long black tread marks, which left a distinctive blueprint of what occurred, it was difficult to believe this was accidental. First of all, the vehicle rounded a corner at a speed fast enough and close enough to the curb that the rubber from the tire left a 24-foot plus deep black streak along the side of the curb. I have hit many a curb in my day and you don't keep driving for over 24-feet when you know you are ripping the side of your tire. Second, there was no indication the driver attempted to correct the vehicle once contact was made with the curb. An instant reaction would be to quickly try to correct your vehicle in the opposite direction. Not only did this driver not attempt to correct, but they actually turned their wheels toward me so that the vehicle drove up the sidewalk and left tire marks on it... within one inch of where I was standing. If it was an accident, why would the driver not pull into the parking lot to make sure everyone was okay?

The officers did not take photos of the tread marks or tire marks when it upped the curb within an inch of me. Nor did they measure them (I did). They did not even take down witness testimony and several offered it. The officers said they could not do anything because 'no crime was committed'. No crime? Life endangerment? Attempted assault? At the very least a misdemeanor... reckless driving?

I guess the tax-paying citizens' lives at the vigil were not valuable enough for this to be considered a crime. The police mantra that night was that trying to run someone down isn't a crime in Tucson. Unless, of course, you are an unarmed 14-year old boy joyriding on a bulldozer and coming too close to the police. Then you get shot and critically wounded for it.

I was cited years ago for reckless driving when I pulled out of a parking lot and took a turn too quickly. I never came close to a human, but this was considered 'reckless driving'. Surely, a driver ripping tread on a corner and topping a sidewalk within an inch of me qualified as reckless driving. They had physical evidence and 95 witnesses (including two reporters from the MSM). I told the officers none of us knows the motivation of the driver, but someone needs to find him/her and question them. I would think the huge chunk of taxes I pay each year could get this law abiding citizen a minimal amount of responsiveness. The general attitude of the department seems to be one of apathy.

That brings us full circle. Is that why we are really in Iraq? Are we, as American citizens, so desensitized to violence in our own communities that we are indifferent to the violence inflicted on our soldiers or Iraqi civilians? Are we so apathetic that we trust in our 'leadership' regardless of the contrary evidence of the real reasons we are at war? Or are Americans convinced that their actions will not make a difference because they see it on a daily basis in their own communities?

As I was leaving, the last officer called my name and gave me an update. They located the van. The hood was still warm but the driver was gone. They decided not to search for the driver. "Okay, so you can contact the company that owns the van and ask them who had their vehicle between 7:30 and 8 pm tonight, right?" I asked. He told me it would probably be turned over to the traffic division and he really did not think anything would be done. He said again no crime was committed since I wasn't hurt. Then he asked, "Do you still want me to file a report?"

—Cheryl "Shaken and Stirred" Citizen Activist