A very sad story involving a Colorado state senator whose automobile crossed into the oncoming lane, collided head-on with another car, killing a pregnant woman and leaving her C-sectioned infant in critical condition. Two of the senator's sons are hospitalized as they were ejected from her small SUV (the senator pushed for laws requiring police to pull over those suspected of not wearing seatbelts). The Associated Press reported on the story. Anyone want to guess what little bit of insignificant information they left out...?
The Texas Department of Public Safety says state Sen. Suzanne Williams has been released from the hospital after Sunday night's collision.
Trooper Gabriel Medrano says 30-year-old Brianna Michelle Gomez died in the crash, and her baby boy is in critical condition after being delivered via cesarean section.
While we can only speculate, experience tells us if Williams were a conservative, that may have been included in the headline. While the AP was being "responsible" as her party affiliation had nothing to do with the story, local coverage was much more revealing.
For example, Colorado 9 came right out with it in the first graph:
CHANNING, Tex. - Colorado State Sen. Suzanne Williams (D-Aurora) was injured in a head-on crash Sunday in Texas. The passenger in the other car died.
And later on in their coverage...
Investigators say Williams was wearing a seatbelt. Her son and her oldest grandson were not wearing their seatbelts and were ejected from the car. Williams' other grandson, a 3-year-old, was also not wearing a seatbelt, but was not ejected.
Williams is on the Colorado Senate's Transportation Committee and has pushed for legislation giving police officers authority to pull drivers over for not wearing seatbelts. Right now, not wearing a seatbelt is a secondary offense in Colorado.
All occupants of the other car were wearing seatbelts.
9NEWS asked Williams why her family was not wearing seatbelts during the accident and she said she did not have time to answer the question.
Senator Williams' public statement would have probably (and rightfully) been condemned for its insensitivity, as it should be.
“It’s a tragedy that I now have a personal experience with a highway accident,” Williams told 9NEWS over the phone from Texas. “It’s been very traumatic.”
It may be a meaningless observation from someone who wasn’t there, but I think it was more traumatic for Brianna Michelle Gomez and her baby.
This is a tragic story on many levels, but we again know how these things are covered when the shoe is on the other foot.
