This was in the P-G this morning:
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Driver was untangling flip-flops when he killed biker
Friday, June 11, 2010
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A teen driver was distracted when his flip-flops got tangled with his truck's pedals, causing him to strike and kill a bicyclist last month in Indiana Township, Allegheny County homicide investigators said today.
No charges have been filed against the 17-year-old boy who had been driving the pickup truck. The District Attorney's office will review the investigative reports to determine whether charges should be filed.
Deputy District Attorney Chris Conners said this morning the matter is under review.
Donald Parker, 52, of Hampton, died May 27 after his bicycle was struck from behind by the boy's pickup truck as the two traveled up a steep grade on Harts Run Road near Dorseyville Road.
The boy told police he had been on his way to school at Fox Chapel High School when his flip-flops got tangled in the floor pedals.
The driver, while the truck still was moving, reached down to untangle his feet when the vehicle struck Mr. Parker, who had been riding near the berm ahead of the truck.
"The flip-flops caused a momentary distraction that took [the driver] to the berm, and he struck the bicyclist," said county police Lt. William Palmer.
The boy's name has not been released.
Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/10162/1064915-100.stm#ixzz0qYiOnlSz
I can't recall ever seeing a 17-year old so consistently referred to as a "boy."
The PG's characterization of the driver as a "teen" and a "boy" reeks of bias. If our society deems it appropriate for 16 or 17 year-olds to participate in adult activities such as driving, then they had better be prepared to accept adult consequences - AND we ought not refer to them as children when they kill somebody because their G-D flip-flop got stuck!
(Please forgive the rant.)
Disgusting. No charges?? First the Twinkie Defense, now we have the Flip-Flops Defense?
Words fail me.
...
nope. words still failing me.
