The former longtime secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, Charles Atherton, 73, was hit Thursday night while crossing rain-slicked Connecticut Avenue NW. He was hit so hard that Atherton flew out of his shoes and was left crumpled on the road, bleeding from his head and nose after his head smashed into the windshield.
To quote the WashPost article:
Michael Baker, a communications consultant who was a few yards away when the accident occurred, was among the first to reach Atherton. “At one point, we were trying to get him to respond, and it was unclear if he was trying to respond or maybe drowning in blood,” he said. “I think he was having a difficult time breathing. He never said anything. He couldn’t speak, and he wouldn’t respond when we pinched his hand.”
So this elderly statesman of DC is lying in the road, slowly bleeding, maybe to death, and what does the driver think about, what is she concerned with? His health, his survival, his life? Ha! No, she’s worried about liability. She cares more if he will sue her than if he lives. To quote the WashPost again:
Baker said he overheard a police officer “reassuring” the driver involved in the accident that she was not at fault. She had been headed south on Connecticut. On the face of it, Baker said, it may seem “offensive” that Atherton was ticketed, but he believed that the officers were seeking to establish liability. “It seemed primarily to assuage her,” he said of the driver. “She was just distraught. She was wailing for 45 minutes.”
Awww
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
