Country Singer Conner Smith Kills 77-year-old Woman With His Truck, Only Receives A Misdemeanor Citation

Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

The nighttime of Sunday, June 8, 77-year-old Dorothy Dobbins conscionable wanted to locomotion her dog. The retired lawyer was besides nan erstwhile lead lawyer astatine nan Legal Aid Society's Nashville Family Law Unit and helped recovered Nashville's first home unit center. Tragically, contempt crossing nan thoroughfare astatine a marked crosswalk successful Nashville's Germantown neighborhood, 24-year-old state vocalist Conner Smith killed her pinch his truck. No one, including Smith's attorney, denies that Smith killed Dobbins. Still, nan authorities only decided to complaint him pinch a misdemeanor, Fox 17 Nashville reports.

"The Metro Nashville Police Department said Smith showed nary signs of impairment aliases distracted driving astatine nan clip of nan crash," WSMV adds.

It's been much than a period since nan fatal collision, and up until now, it looked for illustration Smith mightiness flight immoderate accountability astatine all. Too galore states dainty roadworthy deaths arsenic wholly unavoidable accidents that nary 1 could person perchance prevented. Still, astatine best, Smith's misdemeanor complaint of 'Failure to Yield nan Right of Way Resulting successful Death' feels for illustration a slap connected nan wrist.

In Tennessee, that nonaccomplishment to output complaint is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a condemnation of up to 11 months and 29 days, a $2,500 fine, aliases both. So it's imaginable Smith whitethorn person to salary a nominal good and walk a fewer weekends successful jail. According to nan authorities of Tennessee, that's nary worse than immoderate different Class A misdemeanor, a class which besides includes elemental assault, theft of little than $1,000, and elemental marijuana possession.

Nico De Pasquale Photography/Getty Images

If there's immoderate bully news to beryllium had, here, it's that Dobbins' canine Angel reportedly survived nan clang uninjured and is presently staying pinch a neighbor. 

Unfortunately for each of us, Tennessee isn't nan only authorities that apparently cares little astir people's information if they aren't successful a car. It's a nationalist problem that's besides progressively unsocial to nan U.S.: While different developed countries proceed to get safer, the U.S. is nan only 1 wherever nan roads are getting much dangerous. As National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said successful a committee gathering past year, "By earthy numbers, nan U.S. has much motor-vehicle deaths than immoderate different developed country. We besides person nan highest decease rate." 

Last year, nan National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took 1 of nan first steps toward possibly benignant of almost doing thing astir nan number of group drivers termination successful nan streets each year, proposing a caller norm that would require pedestrian information testing connected caller vehicles. Sadly, nan caller Secretary of Transportation seems much obsessed pinch reminding group he's excessively frightened to thrust New York's subway.

What's particularly frustrating is that, while we do request amended laws that make cars safer, we besides request amended roadworthy design. Yet efforts to make nan roads safer for group who aren't successful cars — like attempts to instal protected motorcycle lanes aliases pedestrian information infrastructure – are almost instantly met pinch fierce resistance. Until we really do thing astir really vulnerable our roads are, drivers are conscionable going to support sidesplitting group for illustration Dorothy Dobbins.