In The News

In the news: distracted driving

May 5, 2009 by kathi

This tragic incident has been on my mind, saddening and infuriating me since it happened this past weekend:

Charges mulled in fatal nail-polish crash

Anita Zaffke had stopped her motorcycle at the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and Old McHenry Road as the light turned yellow. Lora Hunt’s car struck and killed Ms. Zaffke. Ms. Hunt admitted to painting her fingernails as she drove, and claimed she did not see the motorcycle until she hit it.

I will freely admit that my opinion is extremely biased because I am a biker’s wife and a motorcycle rider myself, though not lately. I have heard the whole “I didn’t see the motorcycle” scenario way too many times over the years. When you are the unseen motorcycle, as all of us who ride have been at one time or another, if you are lucky, you have enough room and time to evade an accident. If not, you become a victim of the classic motorcycle accident where the driver of a car doesn’t see the motorcycle who had the right of way.

I am amazed and incensed at some of the comments made on the linked news reports and other accounts of the incident that imply that the victim was partly to blame simply because she made the choice to ride a motorcycle. I cannot agree that someone should expect to be injured or killed because they choose to legally ride a motorcycle on a public highway. From all accounts, Ms. Zaffke was a responsible and trained rider. At the time of the incident, she was wearing a helmet and reflective vest, and had yielded for the yellow light. She was not doing anything wrong. Yes, motorcycling is inherently risky. No, no and a thousand times NO should anyone be injured, let alone KILLED, because some freaking irresponsible moron decides that painting her nails in her car is more important than driving that car and watching where she is going.

Some of the other comments that bothered me most are the ones that say “what if the car driver was distracted for some other reason.” Ummm. She wasn’t. She wasn’t trying to read a map because she was lost. She didn’t just get a phone call with an emergency. She wasn’t trying to attend to a baby or child riding with her. She wasn’t being stung by a bee that entered her vehicle. She was PAINTING HER NAILS. Yeah. I think that’s way different.

At this time, the only charge against the car driver is a traffic violation, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. To my knowledge, we do have distracted driving laws in Illinois. The language is such that it must be proved that the distracted driver’s recklessness was so extreme that he or she acted with complete disregard for the safety of others. I understand the need for a proper investigation, but if this incident does not constitute “extreme recklessness” with “complete disregard for the safety of others”… what does??

Most of the laws introduced recently here have had to do with texting while driving. I don’t think texting while driving is a good idea, but it seems to be far from the most common or most distracting thing that people do while driving. Maybe the current distracted driving laws just need to be revised and strengthened.

I admit (and probably so should you, and you, and well, just about everyone) that I do not always have 100% of my attention on the road. This whole thing has made me look again at what I do while driving. I wish everyone would take a moment to do that, especially if you live and drive anywhere near where my husband or I might be on a motorcycle.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 5 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 101 of 274)

Send in the clones

May 1, 2009 by kathi

Canine cloning experiments have both fascinated and repelled me since the start of the Missyplicity Project in 1998. I am not a very religious person, but the element of playing God just does not sit right with me. Everyone wishes their beloved pet could live forever, but cloning will never be the way to get there. Genetics is important, but so is environment. There is no way to duplicate all of the external events that helped to shape any creature’s life.

Genetic modification smacks even further of playing God. This week’s announcement of the cloned fluorescent beagles left me with a whole gamut of conflicting feelings. The thought of planting disease-related genes in these dogs makes me very uncomfortable. But the thought that these techniques will be used to find cures for human genetic disease intrigues me and gives me hope. Then my feelings go in the opposite direction when I wonder what would happen if someone with a lot of money, no brains and no ethics wanted to buy one of these fluorescent dogs as a novelty item or status symbol. Notice I do not say “pet.”

Back in 2001 during a visit to Honolulu’s Bishop Museum, I saw the fluorescent mice from an earlier cloning experiment. They left me with this same vaguely uneasy feeling. Again, the technology and science angle was fascinating. The ethical implications, fascinating in a very different way.

I would be so much more able to accept all of this if there was some more public and visible evidence that progress was being made, and to see that we are in fact approaching a cure to any one of the genetic diseases that affect so many human lives. I guess all we can do is wait and see.

(NaBloPoMo | May ’09: 1 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 97 of 274)

What goes next? (23 of 31/23 of 274)

January 23, 2009 by kathi

Maurice Lenell cookies sold and closing its Norridge bakery. Waterford crystal going into receivership.

And now Best’s Kosher Hot Dogs will be gone by the end of the month. Even though Vienna Beef is my first choice dog, Best’s runs a close second. It has been the dog of choice at both major league ballparks here. Summer will be a little different from here on out.

Big losses and layoffs at Harley-Davidson, too. Some years that’s been our only investment that’s grown nicely or at least held steady (actual motorcycles and stock shares both). Heard a segment on NPR this evening where they gave the average price of a new Harley as $15,000. I guess they aren’t talking about fully loaded touring models bought by a chrome- and gadget-loving person who actually puts substantial miles on the beast. I’m pretty sure my husband’s most recent bagger cost more than any 4-wheeled vehicle I’ve ever owned.

The older you get, the more things there are that exist only in your memories. Of course. How else could it be? But it sure seems that the process has been accelerated during the past couple of years.

Crystal clear (5 of 31/5 of 274)

January 5, 2009 by kathi

So in the news tonight was the story of Waterford Wedgwood, makers of fine crystal and china for… well, forever… filing for receivership, or whatever they call bankruptcy in Great Britain.

I really hope a buyer is found that will be able to keep these high quality brands going. Even with the global economy in a tailspin, I can’t say this is something I expected to see. Some things you really don’t think will ever change and for me, Waterford Crystal was surely one of those things.

I am probably one of the last people you’d expect to own fine crystal. My life may be very casual, but I feel very strongly that everyone should, as soon as they are at a point where they are able to do so, have at least one very nice thing that they truly love, just because sometimes it is a real pleasure to look at, handle and enjoy something purely because it is classy and beautiful.

I have a pair of Waterford champagne flutes in the Colleen Tall pattern. Did you know that Waterford never discontinues a pattern? Every crystal pattern is forever available as a special order. This allows me to preserve the illusion that someday I might grow up and into a more lavish lifestyle, and at that time I’d finish my set of Colleen Tall crystal stemware, perhaps even completing it with matching bowls for the dogs and cats. Okay, that last may have been a bit over the top.

Still, I hope that Waterford doesn’t die, and take a tradition for many, and my own illusion, along with it.