Just weeks ago the Ride of Silence was held at White Rock Lake in remembrance of a local cyclist hit and killed while riding there. Similar rides are held all over the world with the intent of raising awareness about safety. Sadly, a quickly organized Ride of Silence was held at Joe Pool Lake yesterday to remember Mansfield residents Meredith Hatch and Mike Alfaro who were hit and killed by the 24-year-old drunk driver of a Lincoln Navigator over the weekend.
There are a couple things that jumped out at me about this story. For one thing, it hits close to home — from the wee morning hours, well into the evening hours, especially during summer weekends, cyclists abound around White Rock Lake and the surrounding neighborhoods. Hopefully accidents such as the one in GP at least serve as a reminder to joggers, cyclists and drivers the potential dangers of living in such an active area.
The second part of this story that stands out is that the alleged drunk driver — who admitted he was coming from a party — was quickly released on bond. A judge set his bond at $50,000 — it only requires ten percent of that to get out. So with 5,000 a killer is free. As I expressed in a post a few days ago about Dallas police suspending the “bait car” program after a deadly accident, judges should think hard before setting such a bond about the effect the suspect’s release will have on his community. Hopefully this guy won’t be driving, but even if he isn’t a physical threat to the community (which I’m not sure he isn’t), a relatively affordable bail of $5,000 is still a slap to the face of the friends and family of the victims.
