darcy allan sheppard case

There’s a saying: Justice is blind. We all know it’s really more of an aspiration. Biases are held by just about every human on the planet. So, here’s an exercise that may prove useful while a cyclist v. car post-tragedy plays out in Toronto. Let’s consider things reversed. How would this horrible case be viewed by authorities and the news-consuming public if?

The driver had been a sober “everyman” behind the wheel of a car with his spouse, no pending warrants, or a run-in with police officers an hour prior
The cyclist had been a former attorney general with alcohol consumed, a hot temper, and an earlier warning from police to stay away from his girlfriend

Think about that for a few seconds. Yes, I know the likelihood of such a scenario (social standings flipped and time of night) is beyond a stretch. But try anyway. Change your perspective? Really be honest. Here’s why: It’s easy for observers to dismiss the dead “bike courier” as a hooligan and troublemaker who provoked and hastened his own death, regardless of what led up to the fatal confrontation and who was “at fault.” It’s much harder to prepare, file and try a criminal legal case based on corrobated eyewitness accounts, surveillance video, physical evidence, and law enforcement’s commitment to finding the truth.

If justice is truly blind, it only sees facts, balances them, and applies the law equally, no matter who you are.

Staying safe I got a nice email from the folks at Yield2Life earlier this month after sharing a tweet about a crash. I promised I would expand on the experience in a few “micro chapters.” The hope: lessons can be learned and used by other cyclists to avoid the same fate. Any...
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