A Bump in the Road

Aw, geeze! Apparently blogger Jim Treacher was hit crossing an intersection, and now the State Department is making up stories about when, where and how one of their vehicles and Mr. Treacher came into contact. The following sounds oddly familiar to me:

An agent in the vehicle, Mike McGuinn, did not identify himself to Medlock at the scene, or apologize for running him down. Indeed, Washington, D.C., police drove to a local emergency room to serve Medlock with a jaywalking citation as he lay prostrate in a hospital bed, while a man who identified himself as “special agent” stood by watching and taking notes.

Reached on his cell phone the following day by the Daily Caller, McGuinn refused to answer questions about the incident.

“I’m a federal agent and I’m not allowed to talk to the media,” McGuinn said, citing “liability.” McGuinn initially declined even to reveal which agency he works for. “You can refer to the [DC] police department report,” he said before hanging up abruptly. (According the police department, no report will be publicly available for at least three days.)

According to Medlock, who writes under the name Jim Treacher, he was struck at about 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, while crossing M Street in downtown Washington. Medlock says he was walking within the bounds of the crosswalk, toward a blinking white signal, when a government SUV suddenly turned left and plowed into him, knocking him to the ground.

Bystanders tended to Medlock, collected his crushed glasses and called an ambulance. McGuinn, meanwhile, called The Daily Caller’s offices from the scene to tell Medlock’s colleagues about the incident. But he did not identify himself to them or to Medlock.

In my case, it wasn't a fed; however:

Last night I became a true Chicago cliche. I was hit by a cab while crossing the street, on a green light, with the "walk" sign flashing. He made a left turn right into me. Looking straight at me, too....

So there I am, sitting on my butt in the middle of the street. The Middle Eastern taxi driver gets out of his car, whips out his cell phone and starts making calls, speaking rapidly and animatedly in some type of Arabic. I don't know if he's calling 911 or his cab company. Probably both.

A couple of pedestrians come running up to see if I'm okay and tell me not to move. One woman drags out her own cell phone and calls 911.

In Treacher's case:

Curiously, the ticket says that Medlock was struck at an intersection four blocks from where the accident actually took place. And it claims that Medlock was walking diagonally across the intersection at the time. In one of his strikingly short conversations with the Daily Caller, agent Mike McGuinn acknowledged that Medlock was not jaywalking at all, but walking “outside the crosswalk when the incident occurred.”

In my case? Take your pick of the slew of falsehoods and new allegations that popped up when I showed up to testify in traffic court.

What is it with drivers who hit pedestrians with a clear right-of-way, don't offer assistance when the person they hit is clearly physically hurt and absolutely refuse to admit that they were at fault?

I take comfort in the fact that karma is a real bitch. And so is the fact that both Treacher and I had witnesses. My driver got a big ticket in traffic court, and I still may sue the bastard. Treacher's got his driver by the short and curlies, too. (And in another weird bit of almost-synchronicity, Treacher's real last name is Medlock; my maiden name is Morlock.)

In any case, I feel for Treacher. It's been almost two years, and one of my bruises still hasn't healed completely. Here's wishing Treacher rapid healing. Here's wishing karma, and lots of it, on Mr. McGuinn.

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