Just FYI, The State’s Adam Beam is reporting over on his Metro Desk blog the following developments since this morning’s story:
1. Tandy Carter has requested an Attorney General’ opinion
2. Councilman Sam Davis was in a car accident in 2008, and the Highway Patrol investigated.
3. The Highway Patrol won’t take the Benjamin investigation
Just all sorts of complications…
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So if not the Highway Patrol, who? SLED?
It seems to me this is getting blown way out of proportion. There is surely a wealth of pretty hard evidence–the headlights on the vehicles, the black box, the video from the Oyster Bar showing a Mercedes vehicle with its lights on, eyewitness accounts….just to name a few. It doesn’t seem as if it will be overly controversial so long as everyone stays rational.
Unlike the Toal Wheat Street smackdown…
Could they possibly get the findings published quickly. People’s imaginations are going wild. Pretty soon, I’m going to hear that Mr. Benjamin had the other car strafed by extra-terrestrial aliens, then rigged the car crash to cover it up. As Kathryn points out, there’s a wealth of info. How much more time does this need to take?
I read that they were waiting until the other driver could be interviewed. How long are they going to wait? What if she can never give a meaningful statement?
and don’t go starting rumors, Karen! 😉
I feel for Mr. Benjamin. It appears that he has shown concern for the poor woman from the beginning and has done the right thing. The rumor mill has been so ridiculous and unfair. And it certainly hasn’t helped that the police hasn’t been swift with it’s investigation. I doubt the woman will be of any help with a statement. It would be a great surprise to me if she will be able to remember a thing. My guess is that she pulled out in front of him and she was at fault. It was just a crummy accident.
The best way to deal with the rumor mill is with facts. I’ve seen some pretty strong stuff posted on fitsnews.com that would seem to be libelous if it wasn’t true.
Basic statements like “I did not have anything to drink after midnight” or “I was not on my cellphone” or “I had slept X hours prior to getting up to go to the TV studio” would be pretty simple stuff to put out there to kill the rumors.
If you got nothing to hide, don’t act like you do.
Doug, It’s already been established that Mr. Benjamin was not inebriated or on the phone. I haven’t seen any specific info about how much sleep he had that nite. How many times does he have to repeat it? It’s like Mr. Obama’s birth certificate. It’s been seen and attested to, but those who don’t want to believe it just plain won’t believe it. Likewise, people who want to believe that Mr. Benjamin was drunk or on his cell phone (talking to the e.t.s?) are going to continue to question, no matter what.
Kathryn–Ya jest caint trust them e.t.s!
Thank you Kathryn Fenner.
Excellent suggestion! I think that SLED should be the ultimate arbiter and authority in this investigation.
For those who’s imaginations are running wild with speculation, I suggest that you slow down.
After all, a key person involved in the accident has been lying in a hospital bed in Richland Memorial for the past two or so weeks. Only recently has Mrs. Rubens been able to say a few words at a time according to her attorney, who is acting as family spokesman. I don’t think anyone from the Columbia Police Department would’ve been able to interview Mrs. Rubens about her view of the accident.
My wife mentioned that Gervais Street, where the accident occurred, at night is lit up like daylight from the street lamps.
Many cars now have daylight sensors to determine whether to turn on the headlights and tail lights automagically. Some cars, trucks, SUVs, etc, also have Daytime Running Lights which are on regardless and cannot be controlled by the driver. My wife told me that the lights along Gervais would automagically turn off the headlights.
I don’t know if Benjamin’s Mercedes SUV had the daylight sensor or not. But I am making a presumption that a luxury brand such as Mercedes has a daylight sensor to turn on and off headlights when needed. This can be overriden; our Chevy and Saturn offer override features for our headlights.
Just this past week because of the heavy fog one day, I turned on the fog lamps on our Chevy; I also switched the headlights on our Chevy from Auto to On. I saw too many stupid idiots driving without low beam headlights that were coming out of dense fog.
It was in light of the Benjamin/Rubens wreck that I turned my cars headlights from Auto to On when driving in the heavy fog this past week.
In the paper, the day of the wreck, somebody from the Mercedes dealership said vehicles of the model like SB’s had automatic headlights.
and Doug– FITSnews dances awfully close to the defamation line frequently. Absence of malice is still the standard, I believe, for public figures, and WF can seem awfully malicious at times….but not up to the libel standards.
You can basically say whatever you want about a public figure if you can show absence of malice (malice is shown by a “reckless disregard for the truth” if I am correct. Bar exam was a while ago)