The life of my friend and colleague, Bill Davis, had been ended by a reckless (likely impaired) driver.
Bill was riding his bicycle with a friend on this sunny summer Saturday in Boulder, Colorado when a woman swerved her multi-ton SUV into the bike lane and killed him.
She then fled. But she was caught. Reportedly, she has been guilty twice before: injuring someone while driving carelessly and driving while impaired. Fines, community service, and probation didn't dissuade her from doing it again.
It is unspeakably horrific to see the photo of Bill's twisted and shattered bicycle. I cannot begin to imagine this experience for his family. His three children have lost their daddy, his wife has lost the love of her life, his parents have lost their son, his siblings have lost their brother. All of us have lost a friend.
For the love of humanity, for the love of daughters and sons, wives and husbands, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers:
Don't drive drunk.
Don't drive if you're impaired in any way, shape, or form.
If you see someone who shouldn't get behind the wheel, don't look the other way. Take their keys. Get them a ride home.
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| Bill Davis in his signature floppy hat, volunteering his wrenching skills for Bike to Work Day in 2008. |
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Just horrible. Multiple drunk driving offenders are no different from serial killers. Society really needs to recognize that. It's just a matter of time before they kill innocent people.
ReplyDeleteReally sorry to hear someone you knew was a victim.
You crossed paths with Bill, too - in 2008, on the Low-Key Hillclimb up Bear Gulch.
DeleteThree of the fastest riders in LKHC 2009 are now no longer with us: Bill, Thomas, and Tom. Life is short and we can't take anything for granted.
ReplyDeleteAnd I fully agree it's not okay to dismiss this as just bad luck, any more than it's okay to dismiss Orlando as just bad luck of the victims there. There's a serious problem with acceptance of vehicular violence as okay, not just drunk driving but any time people drive in a way which fails to adequately respect others on the roads.