Bicycle Austin forum

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,480

Website

How should hit-and-run drivers be remembered?

In June, Agustin Guillen was arrested for killing a motorcyclist in a hit-and-run on Mopac in May. KXAN  The next month, Guillen was apparently and ironically killed by a drunk driver while out on bond. KVUE  (In case you're keeping count, MAY = 1st collision, JUNE = arrest, JULY = 2nd collision=death, AGUSTin = his name).

I found his obituary, and was struck by this (no pun intended) (okay, maybe a little):

From a very young age, Agustín stood out for his gentle spirit and, most of all, his radiant smile. He was always a joyful young man, overflowing with love and kindness. Loving him was simply inevitable....Agustín left a deep mark on all of us who had the blessing of knowing him. His time in this world was brief, but his legacy of love, joy, and kindness will live on forever in our hearts.

If one of my family members did something so ethically egregious as Guillen I'm not sure I'd be able to write something like this for their obituary.    But maybe I'm biased, or an outlier.  What do you all think?

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,480

Website

Re: How should hit-and-run drivers be remembered?

I'm bumping this post, hoping that others will weigh in on this.

dougmc

Administrator

Registered: 2008-06-01

Posts: 639

Re: How should hit-and-run drivers be remembered?

Alas, obituaries are written by friends and family, so they're almost always going to be whitewashed fluff.

I'm with you -- I'd struggle to write something like this if my family member had killed somebody.  I'd probably just say "no" and let somebody else do it.

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" works for me.

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,480

Website

Re: How should hit-and-run drivers be remembered?

Thank you.  I know that friends and family write the obits.  I'm saying that as a family member, I'd have a hard time describing a hit-and-run driver as "overflowing with love and kindness".

It's not that the driver killed someone (if it were truly accidental, that wouldn't call the driver's character into question), it's that he fled the scene.  Once a traffic death involves any of recklessness, DWI, or hit-and-run, then it becomes morally questionable…and that would make it hard for me to describe the driver in saintly terms.