The Darkest Depths of Mordor

I love The Planet Ann Arbor but sometimes I get mighty tired of the bickering.

Last night we were finished with our episode of Downton Abbey and I checked twitter or email or facebook or probably all three once more. Bike fatality. 6:54 PM. Corner of Dexter and Wildwood. CORNER OF DEXTER AND WILDWOOD. CORNER OF DEXTER AND WILDWOOD! That is only BLOCKS away from here. It is just up the street from the y-shaped intersection where Huron splits into Jackson and Dexter. I used to live a couple houses away from the party store there. 54-year-old man. Toooooo close to home.

One man dead. His family likely in a shock that I can’t even imagine.

The driver? A 20-year-old young woman likely wishing she could turn time back just one split second. I just killed somebody with my car? What? Thinking about being a kid again with no driver’s license. Well, that’s what I’d likely be thinking about. Why was I so eager to get behind the wheel back then? And I was. Drive drive drive. I wanna drive. I still love to drive. Her mom? What will happen to my beautiful child, the college student with so much promise? What will the (insane) legal system do to her and our family? The dead man is the main victim but there are so many other victims here.

Stepping back a minute, I don’t know what happened and likely won’t for a while. I don’t know anything about either one of these people. Was the driver drunk? Or “texting”? Did she drift over into the bike lane. What about the biker? Was he visible? Was he in the bike lane or did he drift out in front of traffic?

I got distracted there for a minute by remembering that I found evidence of mus musculus under the sink today, so where was I?

I’m not sure where I was but I’m not gonna link to any of the mlive articles about the bike accident because many of the comments make my head explode (and I’m too lazy to link). Our city is trying very hard to promote modes of transportation *other* than driving and I totally agree with that! Alas, trying to retrofit our city with truly bike-friendly lanes on some of our major roads is probably not affordable at this time. This is a complex issue and it will take some time and maybe a shift in our country’s main mode of transportation to sort it out. We have made this kind of shift before, given that my grandparents traveled by train and sometimes steamship when they were children and a mere 50 years later, I grew up with one (and then two and then three…) cars in the driveway. Maybe self-driving cars will avoid pedestrians and cyclists?

Until that kind of shift happens, let’s try to get along together. It is so damn dark during the commuting times of the day at this time of year. Please please please. Drivers please watch for cyclists and pedestrians. Cyclists and pedestrians, please remember that even the most sober, attentive drivers cannot always see you or know what you are planning to do next. And whatever the traffic laws are, even a teeny little Smart car is bigger than you and can smash you like a bug. So be careful, because someone loves you. And someone loves the person who unwittingly kills you by hitting you with their car.

Love y’all, KW

P.S. Mus musculus update. The GG does not want a cat. I wasn’t suggesting we get one. That is all. [big cheesy grin here]

3 Responses to “The Darkest Depths of Mordor”

  1. Sam Says:

    PS comment: that would be a Cheshire cat grin? hahaha

  2. Margaret Says:

    Very sad news. It only takes a split second. So terrifying. 🙁

  3. jane Says:

    you need to find a Mike-cat to borrow! 🙂