Law & Politics

NASCAR's Stewart Off Hook, Cannabis Confesses, Source: http://mrconservative.com/files/2014/09/2014.09.24-mrconservative-54230b2418683.jpgOn August 9th in Ontario county, NY, NASCAR champ Tony Stewart was partaking in a somewhat off-the-books dirt track race. Also in the race was driver Kevin Ward Jr. At some point in the race, Ward left his vehicle, Stewart struck him with his car and Ward died on scene. Here is how ESPN recounts the event:

Sheriff Philip Povero spent weeks investigating, several times saying investigators did not have evidence to suggest Stewart meant to harm the other driver at the track in tiny Canandaigua. Ward had spun while racing alongside Stewart, and then the 20-year-old climbed out of his car and walked down the track, waving his arms in an apparent attempt to confront the 43-year-old NASCAR veteran.

Authorities said the first car to pass Ward had to swerve to avoid hitting him. The front of Stewart’s car appeared to clear Ward, but Ward was struck by the right rear tire and hurtled through the air. He died of blunt force trauma. His father later told a newspaper there was “no reason” for the death given Stewart’s skills and experience.

Ward’s family, in a statement to ESPN on Wednesday, said: “Our son got out of his car during caution, while the race was suspended. All other vehicles were reducing speed and not accelerating except for Tony Stewart, who intentionally tried to intimidate Kevin by accelerating and sliding his car towards him, causing this tragedy. The focus should be on the actions of Tony Stewart and not Kevin. The matter is not at rest and we will pursue all remedies, in fairness to Kevin.”

The focus should not be on Kevin’s actions, indeed.

In all fairness, I know almost nothing about NASCAR. Tony Stewart is just a name I occasionally see in the sports section. To that end, I have no right to speak about Stewart’s intent or the likelihood of this just being a bad accident. I don’t know enough to open my beak without looking like a jackass. I do know something about physics, however, and when you have that much mass (race car) traveling at such a high speed, it is a recipe for disaster. Indeed, you can find thousands of NASCAR crash videos in seconds on the internet. I will say that, based on what I have read, I don’t think Stewart meant to kill or even hit Ward. But I would readily believe he was trying to intimidate him and it went too far.

What strikes me about this case, beyond the acutely felt sense of humanity evinced by tragedy, was the following paragraph:

“Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo said the victim, Kevin Ward Jr., was under the influence of marijuana the night of the accident “enough to impair judgment.” Tantillo also said two videos examined by investigators showed “no aberrational driving by Tony Stewart.”

Um. What? The way that is phrased for us implies that, because Ward was possibly stoned, Stewart is off the hook. Let me clarify in case you didn’t notice it above: Ward was walking on the track when he got hit. This detail about cannabis would make exponentially more sense if Ward was behind the wheel when he was killed. Or, if Stewart had been found with weed in his blood, it would also fall into the realm of relevance to the story.

NASCAR's Stewart Off Hook, Cannabis Confesses, Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jh8xjG4JfKw/VCM7Mass7KI/AAAAAAAAaEA/1dw0dYF4Mz4/s1600/1407782832000-1a-Kevin-Ward-Jr-11.jpg

Kevin Ward Jr.

While they don’t come right out and say it, it is strongly intoned that Ward, due to being high, is somehow to blame for his own demise. The silly part is, that argument actually does make sense, just not regarding marijuana. Ward is responsible for getting out of his car on an in-use race track, he is responsible for deciding to engage in some sort of scuffle with Stewart, he is responsible for choosing to partake in a dangerous activity to begin with. But that’s not what media is latching onto. That above paragraph about Ward being stoned is the second paragraph of the story, right in your face as if to say, “See? Weed kills.” Consider just how huge alcohol brands sponsor NASCAR and tell me you don’t smell some hypocrisy here.

If a drunk was walking down a city street and a car hit him, we would all look to the driver for culpability. Sure, there are occasions where a driver truly has no chance to respond if someone jumps out in front of them suddenly, or a mechanical failure happens that leads to an out of control vehicle. But that’s not the case here. Ordinarily, the level of intoxication of the victim doesn’t often factor in when considering how to punish the dude that was driving. Apparently, there is a loophole in the American justice system that completely strips perpetrators of responsibility if the victim is or was stoned.

Furthermore, it is very ignorant to conclude that Ward was impaired by cannabis based on a posthumous blood test. All a blood test will show is that he had used weed fairly recently. It says nothing of tolerance, strength of THC, or whether or not Ward was even high when this happened. But none of that should matter. If Stewart accidentally hit a blind person who was walking on the road, does he also get off the hook since the victim was clearly visually impaired? What about a sleepwalker? Yes, I know I’m reaching pretty far on these comparisons, but ridiculousness is often best exposed with further ridiculousness.

Marijuana is, at best, a non-factor in this story. It holds almost no relevance, certainly not enough to be implicated as a reason that Stewart did nothing wrong. Again, I’m not saying Stewart is guilty. He might be; but unless cannabis turned Ward into Magneto and he subconsciously pulled Stewart’s car into himself, he should be getting off the hook as easy as Stewart did.

FYI: Stewart went into hiding for 3 weeks, then returned to pro-circuit racing, albeit a more somber fellow than he was before. He does seem genuinely distraught and sorry for what happened.

Anyone else get the feeling that certain authorities will do whatever they can to blame weed for stuff that it couldn’t possibly cause? Did you know that cannabis caused the Irish Potato Famine? Did you know that a human-sized joint was personally responsible for the demise of the housing market? Shit, I once flushed a baggie because I found it reading a Twilight book. Give me an effin break.