Driver Kills Andrew Otho Polston in Hit-and-Run on Windsor Island Road - Updated

A person driving has struck, killed, and then fled from a person biking on Windsor Island Road.

First Report

From the Keizer Police:

On October 9, 2020, at just before 12:30 p.m., Keizer police officers were dispatched to the 6100 block of Windsor Island Road North to a reported vehicle crash involving a pedestrian. Officers found a 70-year-old man deceased at the scene, an apparent victim of a collision with a vehicle. The vehicle that struck the man did not remain at the scene, and officers with the traffic team are currently investigating, assisted by detectives and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Because this is an ongoing investigation, no further information will be released at this time, and the name of the deceased male will not be released until his next of kin has been notified.

Not only did the vehicle not remain, neither did the driver.

Once again our language betrays us into erasing the driver, who is responsible for the safe operation of a car and for remaining on the scene and rendering aid.

Today's death coincides with an ODOT press release in which they continue to blame people on foot:

With shorter days and rainy weather, fall and winter can be challenging for pedestrians.

But we can all take steps to keep roads safer for everyone, from being mindful of our surroundings and wearing bright clothes as pedestrians to watching our speed and minding crosswalks as drivers.

Maybe, you know, we should really focus on drivers, who are the ones who employ lethal speed and power and weight. A person on foot who makes a minor error of inattention or judgement does not deserve to be killed by a driver who makes a minor error of inattention or judgement - let alone a major error. (See below for more notes on this.)

Update, Monday the 12th

It was a person biking, not a pedestrian.

From the Keizer PD:

On Friday, October 9, 2020, 70-year-old Andrew Otho Polston, of Keizer, was lawfully riding his bicycle north on Windsor Island Road when he was struck and killed by a northbound 1973 Dodge van driven by 93-year-old Robert E. Lindsey, of Salem. The Keizer Police Department and Marion County Sheriff's Office investigated the fatal crash, which is ongoing. No arrest has been made.

Once completed, the investigation will be forwarded to the Marion County District Attorney’s office for review and determination of any potential criminal charges. The district attorney’s office will release any further information.

(And there's a "huh" here: The Robert Lindsey Tower on Church Street, named after a mayor. There could additional reasons no arrest has been made. Clearly there will be more to say on this.)

This post will be updated.

Back in 2015 we said "troubling"
but really, how troubled are we?

Killed in 2020

• Jaime Le Ann Hall (on skateboard) 
• Sharon Pritchard
• Mario Lopez-Lopez (walking a bike) 

Killed in 2019

• Marshall Leslie
• Linda Adamson (south Salem) and Stephanie Ashford (just outside Salem)  
• Jason Libel (on bike)
• Josephine Watkins
• Rodric Kenyon Drolshagen 

Killed in 2018

• Kirk Daniel Wilcox
• Jack Rice
• Alexandria Tereshka  
• Daniel Tibbot

Killed in 2017

• Srabonti Haque
• Sandra Hill
• Shatamera Pruden

Killed in 2016:

• Olivia Stroup
• Jaren Nash  
• Alex Armes
• Anthony Earnest  
• Baxter Harrell
• Unknown (just outside Salem)
• Bradley Goad (in Silverton)

Killed in 2015:

• James Alton
• Caroline Storm
• William Hatch 
• Travis Lane
• David McGregor  
• Michael and Christine Crossland 
• Rebecca Schoff

On erasing the driver - Columbia Journalism Review

For more discussion of language see these examples:

• "Headline Omits Verb, Erases the Driver; New TRB Paper Addresses Problem" (2019). This also has links to a follow-up study on framing and reader interpretation.
•  See the way the story develops with different publications in "Driver Strikes and Kills Marshall Leslie on Foot near Downtown Safeway." (2019)

For more on the cultural and legal context of our autoism in which we minimize the responsibility of drivers and shift blame to people on foot, see:

• "Why so much Acceptance for Traffic Cone Theory of Walking?" with discussion of a Salem Police PSA (2015)
• Notes on a City of Salem PSA, "City PSA on Time Change and Safety Needs Paradigm Change Itself." It has many links to the history of jaywalking also. (2019)
• On "distracted walking," "Death on Foot: Too Much on Distracted Walking Canard." (2018)
• "Why Pedestrian Rights themselves may not be Sufficient." (2015)
• Two discussions of a law review article about our system of subsidy for autoism, "The Laws for Compulsory Autoism at The Atlantic," and "Police Publish Video on How to Speed Without a Ticket." (both 2019)