A good friend and co-worker of mine was murdered in Oak Grove on October 5th. He stopped at a red light on his motorcycle, waiting to turn left. Her name was Kelly Linder, and yes, she was wearing a helmet, which was of course a detail left out of the news. Kelly was a very careful driver. I rode with him a few times at bike races and here and there.

The woman who hit him from behind reportedly admitted she was talking on her cell phone, but later changed her story and told the officer the sun was in her eyes and she didn’t see Kelly.

Since this accident occurred at noon, the sun was directly overhead. He also stated that his speedometer was broken so he had no idea how fast he was going.

Apparently this woman got a ticket two months ago for talking on the phone while driving. He was allowed to go home with his father, who came to the scene after the accident.

He’s just a retired police officer.

My question is; Why was he allowed to go home? Shouldn’t he have gone to jail?

I’m pretty sure that if I were the driver, I’d be in jail right now. This woman’s driver’s license should be revoked because it is against public safety. He must serve about 10 years in prison. He also had to pay Kelly’s family at least the money he would earn for the rest of his working life!

If a drunk driver goes to jail because he might kill someone, doesn’t it make sense that this woman who was driving irresponsibly and distracted because she was on her phone and killed an innocent man should go to jail?

This woman had to go home after the accident; Kelly, on the other hand, needs to go to the morgue.

Rod Anderson
albertlea