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MichaeltheGreat
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Apolyton Grand Executioner
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mooning the house that Ruth built.
Oct 1999
time: 21:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Oerdin
Yes, but it makes you wonder what type of parent lets their kids play in the middle of the street. |
In Palo Alto, depending on the area of town you're in and what street, it's pretty common. Many of the smaller streets on the SW side are interrupted every 3-5 blocks by creeks and drainage channels coming down from the foothills to drain into the south bay, and only major streets have bridges for cars. You have an effect of small neighborhoods a few blocks square with no through traffic, so it's common to have dogs, cats and kids cruise around nonchalantly, and kids can play frisbee or stickball or whatever.
PA also has a relatively huge cyclist population, and low speed limits on almost all streets, no real direct freeway access, stoplights out the wazoo, etc., so local drivers tend to be real slow, since there's no way than can go anywhere in a hurry.
As for the little *****, she got off way too lightly. If there was any indication that if the driver had stopped immediately and sought aid for the little girl, that she could have survived, then the driver should have been prosecuted for 2nd degree murder.
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mrmitchell
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If I was a judge:
1 year license revoke for the hit.
Regular...vehicular homicide? charges for the hit, between 10 and 30 years depending.
Another 15 years for running
$10,000 fine, and pay for all medical bills etc. incurred to the family.
However, it would appear she already paid the judge quite a lot.
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Ben Kenobi
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McGregornobi!
Oct 2002
time: 21:30
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Well, then my apologies.
Might as well post her letter:
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercuryn...cal/6731837.htm
quote:
To the Honorable Diane Northway and the Santa Clara County Probation Department:
This is the hardest essay I have ever had to write. While trying to focus on what I am writing, the sadness and guilt I am feeling begins to overwhelm me. You see, this is all still so much of a nightmare to me. One day I was just another high school kid. I even thought I was a pretty good high school kid. I was among the few who did not smoke, drink or have sex. I even drove the speed limit. However, I would find out the hard way that that is not enough. I would wake-up one morning and find out that the good kid was now the criminal.
It is still so easy some days to believe that this is all one big nightmare; that one morning I will wake-up and my life will be like I understood it to be again. Then there are days like today where I have to sit in front of my computer and write about things I know are real, yet I still cannot believe in their reality. Days like today, when the guilt hangs so heavy on me, I can barely open my eyes and getting out of bed seems too big an obstacle to face. It is in this state of depression, where all I can feel is shamed and guilty, that I must write to you.
I will start with letting you know how very sorry I am for what has happened. I think about it daily and have included the McAuslands and the Malzbenders in my prayers. I am also sorry that I could not apologize to them earlier. After I had gotten out of the hospital, following the accident, it seemed already to be too late as well as it was going against the advice of my attorney.
On the morning of January 28, 2003, my care (sic) was parked out on our street, Arroyo Court. That morning seemed unusually cold and dewy, which I believe is why all the windows were fogged. I let the defroster run until I thought the front windshield clear(sic) enough to drive safely. However, I left the wipers on when I turned on the engine because sometimes the added heat re-fogs the window while I am driving. Unfortunately, the rest of the windows, side and back, were still fogged.
As I turned out onto Miranda Avenue from Arroyo, I had to roll the side windows down to check for pedestrians. I did not see anyone, so I rolled the windows back up as I drove around the corner. The only other memory I have clearly from that morning is a sensation like running over the large metal plates that had occupied Miranda for some time while they did work with the gas lines, or something related. They had to tear up the road to do their work and the holes they had made were covered with large metal plates that rose a little of the road level. I associated the sensations of that morning with those from that particular past experience but I had no idea that anything so terrible had occurred. In fact, I went on to pick up my boyfriend and then to school as usual, thinking it was nothing to worry about.
It was not until the police took me in for questioning that the nightmare really began for me. I had not even seen the girls that morning and the idea that I could be responsible for their injuries was not only mind-boggling, it was heartbreaking. The more the police talked, the more the questions raced through my head: how is it possible that I could have been the one responsible and not have known it; do I just not know what I am talking about; should I agree with the police because they are the police? I wanted to help them, but I am afraid that even now I do not have the answers to many of the questions the police had for me.
Although the police were frustrated and seemed to disbelieve me at the time, I do appreciate the compassion they showed me later that day. They got me help by placing me under a suicide watch, and saw to it that I was transferred safely to the hospital immediately after my release from jail early the next morning. I spent the next five days in the hospital trying to make sense of, cope with this nightmare, which I do now understand to be a reality. I also acknowledge and accept my responsibility for this tragic accident and know that I will have to carry that burden all my life.
I would also like to let the families know that I am sorry to them for what I have done but I hope to be able to provide, through probation, services to them and the community as a whole. I know that nothing I can do will ever make up for the loss of the precious life of Amy or for the horrible trauma now staring Chloe in the face. I only want to do everything that I possibly can. If it were up to me, I would take Amy's place, but I know that I cannot bring her back to her family no matter how much I want to. I can only continue to do what I have been doing, serve. Not only will probation give me that chance to serve, but the chance to prove to you that I am not the kind of heartless person that could have knowingly left someone to suffer, especially a child.
I have called these terrible events a nightmare not only because of the terrible loss of Amy and trauma to Chloe, but because ironically, I have spent the past four years involved in serving children by; teaching Sunday school, co-directing the children's choir at my church, helping with Vacation Bible School, and whatever other activities for children the church has to offer. It feels good to know that the adults respect my opinions and the children come to me for guidance and comfort. I would not trade my hours of service there for anything in the world.
I do all of these things because I love children. I do them out of service to my Father God. In addition, I hope to make children the focus of my livelihood by becoming a child psychologist. I believe many young children who experience trauma in their life need help dealing with the trauma more than adults do because they do not have the necessary coping mechanisms. It is this group of children I want so much to touch. Maybe on probation I could continue to work with kids as I have been dong, or even in new ways, because of the many things I have learned through this experience about life, death, grief, and how every day activities, such as driving, can so profoundly affect us.
Perhaps I can speak to teenage drivers about the importance of caution. No matter how cautious you are, something unexpected can always happen and you have to be prepared. Even someone like me who respects the power of her vehicle, can find themselves in a accident as horrible as this one. I hope that what has happened to me will remind adult drivers, as well as teenagers, that you can never be too careful.
Whatever punishment is given to me, I hope that probation will also allow me to continue my education. I hope to be accepted and looked to as a good person and citizen in our community. Besides my commitment to community service, education will allow me to achieve that objective. I have been accepted to college and I hope to begin my studies to become a child psychologist. I realize and accept that I can be sent to jail, but I cannot work to give back to the community or pursue my education while I am in jail.
Through the community service I perform, my studies in college and into my adult life, I will be working in memory of Amy. In a sense, I will be living the rest of my life in memory of Amy because, although I have never seen her face nor heard her voice, she is in my thoughts every day. You see this is one of those things that never leaves a person. Every day I will wake up and remember that there is a little girl who cannot wake up because of me. So far I have woken (sic) and cried every morning. Maybe some day I will get up and look forward to something more than grieving for her, but I will always remember her. Always she will be in my thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Megan Joelle Coughran
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Some of my commentary:
"I was among the few who did not smoke, drink or have sex. I even drove the speed limit."
Why put this sentence? Clearly Ms. Coughran feels she is the victim here.
"I would wake-up one morning and find out that the good kid was now the criminal."
"It is in this state of depression, where all I can feel is shamed and guilty,"
Again, we should all feel sorry for my horrible life.
"I will start with letting you know how very sorry I am for what has happened."
Finally! On the THIRD paragraph, she apologises.
"Unfortunately, the rest of the windows, side and back, were still fogged."
If she can't see a kid on the middle of the street, then why not wait until the car is fully defrosted?
"As I turned out onto Miranda Avenue from Arroyo, I had to roll the side windows down to check for pedestrians. I did not see anyone, so I rolled the windows back up as I drove around the corner."
How do we know that she rolled the window down?
I'm not going to comment any further. This letter reinforces my opinion that this girl is not truly sorry for the hit and run.
A parting shot.
"I have spent the past four years involved in serving children by; teaching Sunday school, co-directing the children's choir at my church, helping with Vacation Bible School,"
 
Don't do that, it just tarnishes everyone else.
Last edited by Ben Kenobi on 13-09-2003 at 05:05
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MRT144
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Seattle Washington
Oct 2002
time: 21:30
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i agree with japher on this.
plus, its ****ing palo alto. i cant believe anyone could be so blind as to hit someone there. Ive driven down university, oregon expressway, hamilton, etc etc hundreds of times and theres no possible way someone should hit a ped. she should never be allowed to drive again.
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MRT144
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Seattle Washington
Oct 2002
time: 21:30
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plus palo alto is nothing but nice wide streets. its mind boggling.
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13-09-2003 00:42
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