I know that I’ve moved away from the states, and I’ve taken this as a given indication that I don’t have to be reading/hearing the Pittsburgh news every day, or keeping up with what’s happening in yinzer town. However, when I see an armload of friends on Facebook talking about a local getting the living shit kicked out of him by yet another road rager, it gets to me.
Too many people have been the victims in stupid incidents by drunk (or not so drunk, just assholey) people that don’t know how to be responsible when they’re behind the wheel of a 2 ton vehicle. There was a really horrible week in Pittsburgh this past July where almost every single day of the week that someone was hit by a car, and usually the person driving didn’t bother stopping.
And before that in May a man hit someone so hard that his bike was stuck in the grill of the car, and he drove off anyway, leaving the poor guy for dead on the side of the road like a piece of roadkill.
And then in September right before I left Pittsburgh:
Biker’s throat slashed in SouthSide
Now I have to hear about Dave Whaley, the owner of Dave’s Music Mine in South Side, getting assaulted by some moron that felt it appropriate to almost run someone over, and then stop the car and proceed to beat him unconscious before getting back into his car and driving away. See the news story here.
A couple of friends of his have set up a Facebook group attempting to do some fundraising for his medical bills since he doesn’t have health insurance (that’s how we roll in America, folks!) They’ve raised about $6000 so far, but I can tell you first hand that that is not going to be NEARLY enough to cover all the treatments Dave will be needing. I got hit by a truck while riding my bike about a year and a half ago. I was lucky, nothing broken, I didn’t need surgery, my brains weren’t scrambled – but I had some really fun medical bills following me around ($54000 – that’s right fifty-four thousand dollars.)
Moral of the story, unless this guy is caught, Dave’s going to be haunted by the bills that are racking up every day. Any help he can get will be greatly appreciated.
The link to his Facebook group is HERE
and the link to the fundraiser that his friends have set up for him is HERE
Attempting Sweden! 