Pedestrian Dies from Injuries Received in Crash, Nashville, simple citation given…Wait, what???

Shared by the Hillwood Listserve:


'A reminder to be vigilant as a walker in your neighbourhood'.



"I want to inform you of the upcoming Celebration of Life service for longtime Local 257 member, bassist Henry Strzelecki. He passed away on December 30, 2014 during the holidays due to injuries he suffered in a tragic accident near his home on December 22, which left him in a coma. 

Henry was a great bassist and wonderful man who worked with Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, and played on countless classic Nashville recordings, including Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde. He was also a producer and songwriter and wrote the classic tune “Long Tall Texan.”

I first met Henry in the early 80s when I was working with Don Williams and he was a member of the Nashville Superpickers while we were on a European tour together. He was always very gracious and encouraging to me and was a beloved and respected member of our community. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, fans and friends. The service will be held on Saturday January 17, 2015 at the Pennington Bend United Methodist Church, 2745 Pennington Bend Rd. near Opryland at 2 p.m.

January 2, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The police department’s fatal crash team is conducting a follow up investigation into a December 22nd collision that ultimately claimed the life of a 75-year-old pedestrian.

Henry P. Strzelecki died at Skyline Medical Center on the night of December 30th.
Strzelecki was struck near his Waterford Drive home at 5:21 p.m. on December 22nd by a 2007 Nissan Xterra driven by George W. Arnot III, 49, also of Waterford Drive. Arnot was traveling south on Waterford Drive when he sideswiped a mailbox, hit Strzelecki and then hit another mailbox. There was no indication of alcohol involvement.

Arnot was cited on the night of the crash for failure to exercise due care. He was involved in two property damage crashes late last year on November 3rd and December 26th.

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I want to point out an alarming trend in Nashville - a simple citation, after killing a pedestrian:  for failure to exercise due care.  If you follow pedestrian vs vehicular crashes you will note that the last sentance in most reports are essentially 'no charges were filled'.  

Does this sound correct to you??? I have not found a satisfactory explanation for the lack of police or legal interest in prosecuting these cases.  

Is this the kind of enforcement of pedestrian rights Nashvillians want? 

Shouldn't pedestrians be given the highest level of consideration? 

***

I ran into a friend yesterday and we talked about this sad situation and she said this is why Nashville is called Smashville.  Is this the culture we would like our city to be known for?

Link:

http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/01/04/life-late-musician-henry-strzelecki-celebrated/21230779/ 



Contact:  
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