Car Culture

Daily News: Is There a Person in Your Parking Spot? Kill Them.

Checkmate.

By Brad Aaron

12:16 PM EDT on October 22, 2009

Ke Hai Du. Photo: Daily News

Checkmate.

In the unofficial battle for the most irresponsible, over-the-top media endorsement of motorist entitlement, the Daily News took the trophy this morning, declaring that drivers are within their rights to run down human beings who stand between their vehicles and on-street parking.

Under an arguably racist headline, News editors claim that sushi chef Ke Hai Du got what he deserved when motorist Paul Todd hit him with his car during a dispute over a Lower Manhattan parking spot on October 9. According to reports, as Du stood in a space to hold it for his boss, Todd nudged his Lincoln into Du’s knees, then ran over his foot, breaking it.

To many people accustomed to the norms of civilized society, this would seem a clear case of assault, if not something more serious. But to the News it’s a game, which the victim rightfully lost when he challenged the “finders keepers” rule — or, as News editors put it, “a basic and inviolable tenet of the universe.”

What Du did is right up there with
stealing a taxi from the person who hailed it, or bringing 15 items to
the “10 items or less” register, or stopping at the top of a subway
stairway to read e-mail, or backing up in an E-ZPass lane.
The lesson is clear: Park your carcass in a parking space, and you may end up as road kill.

Somehow Todd — who at the scene reportedly said he “would do it again” — escaped charges, though Du is suing him for $5 million. “I guess vehicular assaults are okay these days,” Du’s attorney told the News.

Indeed they are. And as for the rest of us, the next time someone annoys you with a social faux pas — exiting a bus from the front door, say, or letting their dog’s leash stretch across the sidewalk in front of you — express your outrage through the use of deadly force. The Daily News will have your back.

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

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