Or You Might Call it Attempted Homicide

Apparently, we have come to accept the destructiveness and sociopathy of American car culture as so thoroughly normal and mundane that even when a guy intentionally uses his SUV to try to kill five people after a fight, we still call it an "accident." This little gem was found by Starts & Fits in today’s New York Times:

May 18, 2006 Man Strikes 5 With S.U.V. in North Bellmore, N.Y. By JENNIFER 8. LEE A man intentionally ran over five people in North Bellmore, with an S.U.V. after a fight last night, the Nassau County police said. The driver fled the scene of the accident, at 2800 Pacific Ave. But the police later located the vehicle they believed was involved in the accident in Garden City and took the driver in for questioning. The victims were taken to Nassau University Medical Center, the police said. One was in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

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The Weekly Carnage

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Brooklyn: S.U.V. Hits Mother and 3 Children, Killing Boy (NYT) Related: Driver: I Didn’t Know I Killed Boy (Daily News) Related: Mother, in Coma, Clings to Life (NY Post)  Carteret, N.J., Family of 3 Killed in SUV Crash in Pennsylvania (Star-Ledger) Putnam Valley, N.Y.: Girl, 13, Killed in SUV-Truck Crash (Journal News) Queens: 3 Dead in Four-Car Pileup (Daily […]

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The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle violence across the five boroughs and beyond. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage. Fatal Crashes (1 killed this week, 20 this year, 3 drivers charged*) Sheepshead Bay: Devon Burgess, 23, Killed After Car Slams Into […]

Murder-By-Car Now an “Accident”

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How embedded is the term “accident” when it comes to injury and death inflicted by automobile? Early this week, a man in the Tremont section of the Bronx was run down by a driver, who threw him into the path of an oncoming bus. He later died of his injuries. Police believe the driver targeted […]