Stereotyping in the coverage of a tragic crash

There have been several recent items in The Post that deserve their own articles in response. Most glaring of these is the Ashley Halsey piece Saturday about the tragic crash that killed a cyclist and a driver in Fairfax.

Since I often harp on press accounts that, by using passive voice or making the vehicle the subject of the sentence, make it sound as if the driver wasn't controlling the vehicle, it's worth noting that Halsey made the driver the subject of the sentence, specifically to note that he really did "lose control" of his vehicle.

The driver and vehicle crossed a median, hit two cyclists and crashed into a tree. One cyclist died, as did the driver. Saddest of all, this happened on Bike to Work Day, though the cyclist, a 17-year-old high school athlete, was not riding to work.

Unfortunately, the article then veered into a very disappointing and unchallenged argument that stereotypes Latino immigrant cyclists as being responsible for many crashes.

[Continue reading this piece by David Alpert here at Greater Greater Washington.]

David Alpert is founder and editor of Greater Greater Washington. The Local Blog Network is a group of bloggers from around the D.C. region who have agreed to make regular contributions to All Opinions Are Local.