Inbox: Asleep at the Wheel

 Wweek.com readers comment on “Asleep at the wheel,” WW, March 16, 2011

"So, was a citation issued? Careless driving, reckless driving? He was the only one driving. He should have received a citation. Or, do elected Democrats enjoy diplomatic immunity in Portland?" —Mairez Calderon

"Your story shows a curious dichotomy in its implications about the credibility of the parties involved in this accident. The accounts of so-called 'witnesses' (who did not witness the accident) seem to be accepted at face value. Hence, 'One witness says the Democratic congressman smelled of alcohol. That witness and a second one say Wu appeared impaired.' Yet the investigating police officers detected no odor of alcohol, and Wu passed a field sobriety test. You then feel the need to add some slant by saying of the officers, 'Neither Worthington nor Hunzeker is a state-certified drug recognition expert.' Which may be factually true. But it's a good bet that they've had far more training and experience in detecting and evaluating impairment than the two bystanders.…" Jim G

"…When I read the line 'Neither Worthington nor Hunzeker is a state-certified drug recognition expert,' my first reaction was: So the bystander—who was also the victim of the accident, so she just might have some bias—is a "state-certified drug recognition expert"? Because unless she is, I'm not really sure why her comments are being presented as more accurate than the police. The police that deal with car accidents routinely. And if he didn't smell like alcohol to them, and passed the sobriety test, why would they give him a Breathalyzer? I've been in car accidents, caused some as a teen. I got in trouble, but not once was I given a Breathalyzer. It's not a routine thing to do in a car accident.

And while, again, the woman whose car was totaled doesn’t think Wu falling asleep “added up,” it sounds like it did to the cops. 

I know there are a lot of people out there who don't trust the police, or think they will cover things up.... But I don't see how one person's version of a story is grounds for a political cover-up and inability to effectively serve in government. It doesn't sound like the person writing this article made any effort to present the fact that this event just might have occurred the way Wu explained it, and the way the police agreed and reported it. As opposed to the way a pissed off woman whose car had just been totaled decided to tell it." —Nine

"I love that two commenters wrote lengthy opuses trying to get past the fact that a guy hit a parked car while driving on the wrong side of the road and two people felt he was impaired. And he asked them not to call the cops.... —Read the Lines

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