And another Bikers life gets a few lines in a paper somewhere

From Daniel Dunnum:

William, "Stay Puff" Hutchinson, 52, was westbound on a 2002 Yamaha
motorcycle on Ky. 80 near the Windsor community about 3:50 p.m. when an
eastbound 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck turned into the path of the
motorcycle, police said. The driver of the pickup, Jimmy R. Sandusky, 24, of
Windsor, was attempting to turn into a private driveway when the accident
occurred. Sandusky and a passenger in the truck, Jessica Dilsaver, 23, of
Bowling Green were belted and not injured in the collision. Hutchinson, who
was not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at Russell County Hospital,
state police said.

6 1/2 lines on Kentucky Connect described the end of a man's life in south
central Kentucky last Friday. One full line indicated that somehow he was
partially to blame because he was not wearing a helmet. No one mentioned
that virtually every bone in his body was broken. He had massive internal
injuries. William "Stay Puff" Hutchinson died tragically. His story
deserved better coverage. The killer was interviewed but not the victims
family. Blame was placed on the victim for not wearing a helmet and there
was no reference for drivers to be more aware of motorcycles.

If I sound a bit bitter, I am. You see, this man was my brother and my
friend. He had a family that relied on him. Am I angry with the driver of
the truck? Of course, he should have been paying better attention. He
should have seen my friend. He should not have been in such a hurry to pull
in the driveway. There is nothing that is that important. However, hating
them will not bring back my brother Stay Puff. I feel they will be
punished; unfortunately it will likely not be in the criminal courts. He
was just an old biker. I am sure there will be some punishment in the civil
court system.

My real frustration is with the media… both print and broadcast.


Stay Puff was my brother. Not by blood, but by choice. He watched over me
and me over him. We have a large family in the state and around the country
and we all mourned his passing yesterday. His life was important. His
death was tragic. He got a few lines, 30 seconds of coverage. Most of his
friends around the state did not find out, and likely still do not know.
There are just too many calls to make for friends and family to communicate
that kind of information. That was what the news used to do, especially
when something tragic happened.


This morning a young man was killed in a car accident. It was as tragic as
Stay Puff's accident. They had his picture on the TV. They described the
accident. They made no inference as to what might have caused the accident.
It was a single car fatality where the driver appeared to lose control and
the car rolled several times ejecting the driver. That was it. Clear and
concise with no moral judgments, not even the slightest reference to any
negligence on the part of the victim.


I cannot understand why that does not happen with motorcycle accidents.
That is not really true. I do believe I know, or at least it appears to me
that most news organizations, either actively or unwittingly, support helmet
laws.


Instead of a complete story that would have notified the public of a tragic
death readers are given a snippet of information that explains a biker was
killed and had he been wearing a helmet he would likely have survived.
There is little mention of running broadside into a car at highway speed.
After all, the occupants of the pick up truck were fine because they were
using their government mandated seat belts, they were uninjured. No mention
was made of his injuries. Only the fact that he was not wearing a helmet


Freedom of the press is fundamental. Our right to express political and
cultural opinion is paramount to our continued freedom, but there is such a
thing as good judgment but using a man's death to push helmet laws is
immoral. I know that the rebuttal to this will be that "we were simply
reporting the facts", unfortunately in this case, as in many, it was not all
the facts.

Stay Puff would not have survived this accident had he been wearing the most
modern and sophisticated helmet available on the market today. His entire
body was broken… I was at the funeral… I saw what was left of my brother…
Every bone in his body was broken and twisted. He had massive internal
injuries. The driver killed my brother when he turned in front of him. He
did not see him… how often do you here that? My brother could not stop and
hit the side of a pick of truck at highway speed. It might as well have
been a house. The impact killed him, not the lack of a helmet. The lack of
attention killed him… not the lack of a helmet.


This world is filled with what I call the "know betters", I didn't coin the
name but I find it fitting. They tell us how to live better and safer
lives. They all feel that they know what is best for us. Most of them came
from my generation. I believe it was the acid or the mushrooms that did the
damage. They became so "enlightened" that they feel much wiser than the
rest of us.

After all, my generation of the 60s and 70s was the first generation to
experience freedom from responsibility and consequence… Now many of those
same individuals think no one is smart enough to take care of themselves and
the government should do it. When people want to take back some of that
personal responsibility they feel threatened and try to manipulate
information to squelch it.


But I am rambling as I often do when I get started with this so I will stop…
I lost a great bother Friday. I mourn his loss with my other brothers and
sisters. As for the media and the no or know betters… I would say you
should be ashamed, but I think the majority of our major media outlets have
forgotten the concept of shame.


Danno


LRB

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