Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 21, 1993 TAG: 9307210068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED SHAMY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Her testimony was the stuff of undiluted emotion, and rightfully so. Her son Geoffrey was killed in a May car wreck caused by a suspended driver.
But it was Pelton who, through her grief, most bluntly stated one of the cruelest truths about controlling the movements of suspended drivers.
Whose responsibility is it?
Said Pelton, in a voice that quivered with emotion: "A lot of bad examples are set in homes. We as parents, as a generation, as a population, have been apathetic."
It was a surprising mea culpa, springing as it did from a morning full of testimony that in turn harangued and blamed the committee.
And then she said something outrageous to the 11 state legislators who were gathered in Roanoke County to hear three running hours of commentary.
"I don't think," said Pelton, staring back at the legislators from a podium 15 feet away, "that it all belongs in your laps."
Such an unlikely attitude it was, coming from a woman who wouldn't have been held responsible for any bitterness she spewed, or blame she assessed. Pelton used her time instead to recognize that maybe the control of bad drivers can't fall solely to government.
Previous speakers had brushed on that theme.
"Let's protect us from them," said John Markey.
"This is the responsibility of the whole community," Kate Zawacki told the committee.
But it was the far more popular strategy to portray government as a monolithic, inept, uncaring bureaucracy that has botched some simple solution to the eternal damnation of all Virginians.
After all, the Department of Motor Vehicles licenses drivers. Governments state and local build and maintain the roads. State and local police patrol them.
Shouldn't government, then, be held responsible for what goes on between the white lines?
Sure, somewhat. There are legal mechanisms that might serve as a more powerful deterrent than what we have on the books now. Then it's up to judges to hand down stiffer sentences, and pack jails that already are creaking at the joints from overcrowding. Prosecutors have to steer past yawning loopholes cut by defense attorneys. It's always up to cops to catch violators. Any ideas on how they can easily spot a suspended driver? They're all ears.
Easy targets though they may be, the legislature, courts and police forces may not be at the bull's-eye.
When a suspended driver motors away in his dad's car, has government failed? When a wife drives to work, even though her license has been revoked, is government somehow to blame? When a fellow lends his car, even unwittingly, to a friend without a license, can taxpayers get indignant about their representatives?
Pelton's theme of personal responsibility may not be popular. It is very much in vogue to contort any situation to make yourself the victim.
But it may be the most essential missing ingredient in the effort to control bad drivers.
by CNB