My Aug. 11 column about the death of Charles Stoecker on a country road just south of the Pennsylvania line - and the devastation it caused his family - brought some interesting reaction.
Luke Jackson, 17, who for three years was a hockey teammate of the young man whose driving error led to Stoecker's death in November, weighed in with an especially thoughtful response. There's a thin line between praise and patronizing when a middle-aged man compliments a teenager, but let's just say I couldn't have expressed myself nearly as well at Luke's age. Brandon Boehmer, whose vehicle crossed the double-yellow line and slammed into Stoecker's car, has a good friend.
Luke, a rising senior at Bel Air High, writes:
To begin, I know that part of the reason you wrote this article was to make a point how we can improve the existing driving system, and I was pleased in the way you defended my friend. But, I was disappointed that an article like "Death on a quiet road" would be written and published for a variety of reasons.
First off, the article comes off as if Weida Stoecker, the wife of the victim, wants Brandon - who I know to be a very good person - to be dead. Whether or not she does or not, the article comes off as if she does (I mean, it's not as if Brandon woke up that morning and said to himself, "Whose life am I going to take today?")
Secondly, you fail to mention a serious fact involving this story: since there are still civil lawsuits pending, Brandon may very well not be able to say anything due to his lawyer's advice (I know this because my father is a lawyer who deals with these types of cases on a daily basis.)
My third and final reason why I'm disappointed in this article is that Brandon already feels bad enough. I've been the guilty party of a relatively minor accident due to my inexperience behind the wheel. I know how terrible one feels when he or she gets into an accident, one that doesn't even cause anybody harm. Luckily, my accident didn't harm anyone - Brandon wasn't so lucky. There won't be a day that passes by without Brandon thinking about the accident he had, so is there any reason why an article - with his name in it, no less - has to be published for the entire world to see?
Luke, I thought long and hard about using your friend's name. My decision came down to the principle that if you're old enough to get behind the wheel of a vehicle, you're old enough to deal with the consequences of your actions.
