Out-of-town Readers Weigh In: Callous Coverage and My Miracle

July 17, 2003

Dear Editor,

Jorge Casuso and Oliver Lukacs describe Wednesday's tragedy as " ... a scene that resembled a Middle East car bombing, ..." ("Santa Monica Man Kills 9, injures nearly 50, when Car Plows Through Market," July 17)

Are you kidding me? The photographs, imagery and power of Wednesday's trouble are compelling and charged. Relying on the facts, although grim, and local perspective seems a much more scrupulous angle for a community "news" story.

Focusing on car bombings in the Middle East, something I'm sure Casuso and Lukacs have never experienced, trivializes the multifaceted surroundings of Middle Eastern upheaval; likening poignant tragedy in our home with charged events in another country, to me, is callous.

Amy Kelley
Chicago, IL

July 17, 2003

Dear Editor,

The shocking news of the accident leaves me shaking as I had an experience a number of years ago with an out-of-control car. Only after reading about today's horrible events do I realize the miracle I experienced.

My friend and I were walking along-side Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, NY (on the bike path) when suddenly a car jumped the curb and slammed into the railing that divides the bike and walk paths, missing the two of us by just a few feet.

We realized instantly how lucky we were to be alive. But the guy did not stop there. He for some odd reason continued down the bike path, south and then into the intersection hitting a car. His car then went west down a side street where he finally stopped a few hundred feet later.

I ran over to the car to see if I could be of any help. The man seemed very dazed but declined help. The whole incident was very scary for my friend and I.

It's difficult to know what's going on behind the wheel of an out-of-control car. In my story the man probably panicked after jumping the curb and lost control thereafter. My heart goes out to all those precious lives lost.