Trailnet wants stiffer penalties for St. Louis drivers who run over people | Law and order | stltoday.com

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Trailnet, an organization that advocates for safe and alternative options for pedestrians and cyclists in the St. Louis region, is holding up a double-fatality accident in Wellston as an example that stiffer punishments are needed for drivers.

Most traffic fatalities don’t result in criminal charges because they are merely the result of human error, and negligence can be hard to prove. But Trailnet says more needs to be done to make sober drivers more accountable.

The organization is specifically scrutinizing the deaths of LaTonya Williams, 19, and her boyfriend, Jermaine Byrd, 22. They were run over by a car one evening in 2015 while walking on a sidewalk near Martin Luther King Drive and Kienlen Avenue. The driver wasn’t charged with a crime and didn’t have any points taken off her drivers license.

“It’s really kind of disturbing to us and our organization,” said Ralph Pfremmer, executive director of Trailnet. “It speaks to how vulnerable everybody is and how the system doesn’t always work in favor of the victim. This isn’t the only story that is out there. There are many.”

Link: 

Trailnet wants stiffer penalties for St. Louis drivers who run over people | Law and order | stltoday.com

MoBikeFed comment: This is a very important issue--we fully agree with Trailnet on this.

http://mobikefed.org/visionzero