April 17, 2010
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No Justice, no peace. Know justice, know peace.
Today, April 16 of 2010, Glenn Gritzner pled "no contest" to a class 1 misdemeanor charge of property damage... and "stipulated" to the facts of the case, which at one point qualified as a felony hit-and-run incident endangering life and limb of a bicyclist who was riding responsibly.
"No contest"? Oh, I beg to differ. Gritzner and the cyclist he hit are indeed in a serious "contest". The criminal case has been closed, but there is a civil suit pending.
It did not have to be this way.
Looking back over the old posts about this incident, it just kills me that Glenn Gritzner and Roadblock could have been allies in this cause (note Ron Milam's comment, #42)-- except that in an unwise moment Glenn became the kind of perpetrator he usually would have condemned. Baser instincts (for self-preservation) prevailed: he fled the scene, he locked down his social media, he monitored this blog & possibly other social media where he was being criticized and picked apart, he lawyered up carefully. He looked out for himself and distanced himself from his victim, multiple times and in multiple ways. Now Gritzner and Roadblock are pitted against each other in the gladiatorial ring we ironically refer to as "court".
Imagine how differently things would have played out if Glenn had:
a) maintained wisdom and vigilance that night. Just another car whooshing quietly past an anonymous bicyclist. No harm, no foul, no opportunity for growth. End of story. Actually, no story is begun between them at all.
b) hit Roadblock, but then stopped to render aid-- to apologize-- to use his silver Jaguar's hazard lights to warn other late night traffic around the scene of the accident, protecting Roadblock from further danger. Imagine Gritzner reassuring Roadblock that legitimate medical bills would be paid, that Roadblock need not worry-- there will be an insurance claim if necessary, and Gritzner has his own money too, if that's what it takes to repair the damage he's just done to another human. Imagine Roadblock's adrenalin-pumped and fear-edged anger venting at Gritzner, emptying and ebbing as Gritzner accepts it and validates it and stays right there with him anyway, because it's the right thing to do. Because it's the human thing to do. Humanity begets humanity.
Imagine Gritzner visiting Roadblock in the hospital early that morning to make sure he's okay. Roadblock thanks Gritzner for his decency, for his remorse and genuine care. It's easy to forgive a guy like that. And when a man you nearly killed can forgive you and shake your hand, your soul can breathe again. It's easy to like a guy like that.
Imagine the posts on TheAmateurEnthusiast and BikesideLA and LAStreetsblog in the days and weeks following!
There would be kudos and praise for both parties, and chatter about how the world needs more people like Glenn Gritzner. It is probable that, having done such an awful thing-- then done your best to make it right-- then discovered a cool guy like Roadblock on the receiving end-- I can see Gritzner & Roadblock getting into some deep talks, finding a common bond in keeping cyclists safe.
I would go to hear them speak, tell the story of the accident and how they dealt with it and what came of it later (with Roadblock on the bike-activist side and Gritzner on the local-politics-and-business side, you KNOW something new would be born from their discussions!). I would buy their book. I would wear their rubber bracelet and talk to people about them and what they embody, what the world would be like if we followed their lead.
But there will be no book. No positive, collaborative, "dang-that's-amazing" book anyway.
Gritzner's blog will go on its breezy superficial way, and the bike blogs will go on decrying the danger of hit-and-run incidents, injuries and deaths. Those most likely to harm us will more studiously ignore our warnings, and those most likely to be harmed will get angrier & angrier. I hope the CVC will be reformed somehow.
But more than simply passing & enforcing laws, painting sharrows and pouring bike paths, I hope we will be more truly human to one another.
