August 20, 2003

There were 2 posts published on August 20, 2003 (this is page 1 of 1).

Fuel Cells Prove Their Worth

This is cool:

While other buildings that house vital services — hospitals, local government emergency centers, radio and television stations — remained functional during the blackout thanks only to backup power generators, one New York City Police precinct in Manhattan wasn’t even fazed by the sudden electrical disruption.

“We weren’t affected by the blackout at all,” says Dave Giordano, a community affairs officer at the Central Park Precinct in Manhattan. “We were still shining.”

The secret to staying powered up throughout the blackout? For the past four years, the precinct has been generating its own power with a clean-energy fuel cell.

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Sanity Prevails

I read in the News and Observer that a grand jury has refused to indict a teenager involved in the I-540 deaths two years ago. Four teens were killed when the car they were racing spun out of control on I-540.

Chris Peterson, 19, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, largely due to the work of Dee Welch, the mother of one of the crash victims. Through civil lawsuits filed against Peterson, she gained testimony from friends who claimed Peterson was racing the car in which Welch’s daughter was a passenger.

While Peterson has a history of racing, having previously been convicted of it, it doesn’t change the fact that it takes two to tango. Bryan Reaves, the driver of the other car, was under no obligation to race Peterson. Peterson didn’t hold a gun to his head. It was fully Reaves’s choice to race Peterson, a choice that led to his death and those of his passengers.

Welch claims her crusade against Peterson is about “taking responsibility.” The responsibility lies in Reaves for his own driving, and in his passengers for not keeping him from racing. Charging Peterson for their deaths ignores this responsibility.

The pain one must feel in losing one’s child is unimaginable. I can sympathize with Welch’s need for closure: her need to convince herself that her daughter was not at fault. There is no good to be gained by locking up another teenager and blaming him for her daughter’s death. It doesn’t bring her daughter back, it makes her look spiteful, and takes away someone else’s child. I hope Welch can come to terms with her daughter’s death.