Monday, June 21, 2004

It's The Festival's Fault

B93, one of the local radio stations, held it’s annual Birthday Bash this past weekend here in West Michigan.  The bash drew about 80,000 people, and from the little I read about it, it was a good time.  Unfortunately, after the bash, there was an accident.  A drunk driving accident, apparently, in which three individuals were killed, including the driver.  Let’s read what is known about the driver.

"The driver of a car that crashed after Saturday’s B-93 Birthday Bash, killing three people including himself, got his license back last month after a half-dozen alcohol-related convictions, records show."

A slow learner, evidently.  But that information isn’t what caught my eye in the article. It was the words uttered by the father of one of the young girls, age 22, who was also killed while riding in the vehicle.

"The father of one of Lawless’ passengers said his daughter—Rebecca Styf, 22, Hudsonville—is not a drinker, but he wants answers about the driver’s blood-alcohol level.

“If it was over the limit, then something should change” with the festival, the father said."

Now, I’m certain that the father of the young lady is devastated by her death, and I sympathize with him, thinking of my young daughters ages 17 and 21, but he is blaming the wrong culprit.  His daughter was riding with a drunk.

What’s really interesting about the above, though, is the fact that Fox Festival, which drew about 40,000 people to the same site a day after the fatal crash, disallowed alcohol.

"They agreed fest organizers made a good decision in keeping alcohol out of the event, a response to a fatal crash after following a concert at the fairgrounds Saturday."

Maybe all festival’s and beer tents should be outlawed, since the blame is no longer placed where it belongs, at an individual’s feet.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/21 at 03:03 PM
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