Don’t forget the drivers in pedestrian deaths

To possibly reduce the number of pedestrian deaths, it would be most helpful if members of the media interviewed those who have run over pedestrians to find out how they reacted or recovered. In these cases there are two victims, not one (“Pedestrian deaths increasing in Clark County, nearing record,” Sunday Review-Journal).

I’ve read that there have been instances in which the event was so emotionally shattering to the driver — seeing a body fly up against the windshield — that they went home and committed suicide. I know if I ever hit a pedestrian, I’d have post-traumatic stress disorder until the end of my driving days. I would rack up fines for driving too slow or panic braking.

There’s much more to any story involving a pedestrian death than “the pedestrian wasn’t in a crosswalk, driver exonerated.”