Immaculee Goldade was hit and killed by a stolen landscape truck, and her friend was also left for dead at the accident site. Immaculee’s parents are sharing that police would have gotten the driver off the road before the accident and saved their daughter’s life if it had not been for the 2021 police pursuit law.
Heart wrenching stories like this one are becoming increasingly more common as I’ve covered in multiple blog entries like this one here. A few weeks ago two children died as a direct result of this law as explained here.
Immaculee’s Mother Amber wrote a letter to the editor of the Lynnwood Times with the tragic details.
In the letter Ms. Goldade explains “My 12-year-old daughter, Immaculee, was walking home one day when she and her friend Kathleen were struck by a stolen landscaping truck. Immaculee died instantly and Kathleen was left for dead but survived. The man who hit them should have been in jail for previous offenses but had been allowed to drive off multiple times in just a span of a few weeks because of this law. The police had him, but they had to let him go.”
She closes her letter with a call to action. “I’m trying to protect others if I can. This isn’t about politics; this is about the lives of Washingtonians. Let’s make sure no other family has to go through what we did. Protect your family and community by calling your legislator today and demanding they restore vehicular pursuit and the original form of SB 5352/1363 that had bi-partisan support. Make your voice heard so we can prevent another family from having to endure a tragedy as mine did.”
Amber Goldade’s complete letter to the editor can be found in the Lynnwood Times here.
The anti-pursuit law is intended to protect marginalized communities from potential harm during high-speed chases. It is effective in promoting both social justice and community safety.
We must also address the root causes of crime and recidivism by investing in education, mental health services, and community support systems. By tackling these underlying issues, we can create a safer environment for everyone and empower marginalized communities.
We must remember that the greater good involves balancing the needs of various groups and individuals, and we must work together to find solutions that reflect this balance. We should not become distracted by individual cases and we certainly shouldn’t use the to score political points. Instead we should seek progress for all communities holistically.
Sadly, marginalized communities have been hurt the most by this law. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) has determined that our state’s BIPOC residents are disproportionately getting killed and injured by the recent spike in auto accidents, including victimization by drunk drivers. Per the WTSC report, of the additional fatalities between 2020 and 2021, the year the pursuit law went into effect, 20 of the additional deaths were White, 14 were Hispanic, 10 were Black, 12 were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 18 were American Indian/Alaska Native. (These numbers include the few lives saved by the pursuit law, but are significantly offset by much greater losses). Note that 2022 fatality rates jumped even higher, but I don’t have the detailed population breakdown yet.
Anarchy on our highways is dangerous for all of us, but it is most dangerous for those that have the longest commutes, the oldest vehicles, and those that have to drive a lot at night. Many times this is the hardest working, vulnerable, economically disadvantaged members of our community that have to live furthest from their job sites. Making highways less safe by keeping reckless drivers on the road does not help these marginalized individuals. At the rate that accidents are increasing in our state, disproportionately to BIPOC residents, hundreds of lives will be needlessly lost, and soon thousands, for a feel-good piece of legislation that was never properly thought out.
You can find more information about this here: https://www.randycorman.com/?p=11024
There you goRandy with your facts and such. Can’t you let them spout nonsense in pease?
More happy fun times from our state legislature who think juveniles should always walk free no matter what they do.
“the accident is the latest in a string of traffic violations the suspect, identified as 21-year-old Antonio Michael Lopez, has committed over the past six years, including another fatal hit-and-run that killed a 21-year-old man in 2017. Lopez was 15 years old when the deadly hit-and-run occurred in 2017, according to court documents. ”
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/interstate-5-crash-hit-and-run-seattle/281-a603ec36-46ee-42bc-bb65-0a18e9d91ed6
Guess what our state rep David Hackney is doing right now…. releasing felons with multiple convictions for violent crime like murder and rape back into public.
I don’t like using right winger new sources, but nobody else is covering it. Sadly, wanting to live life without being raped or murdered is considered too extreme to by people that are giving the crazy left room to operate.
If HB 1189 is passed it will go to show that our elected officials choose the quilty over the safety of the law-abiding citizens.