Hit and run bill heads to assembly floor
By Clare Kaley(WBAY) - More than five years after a deadly hit and run in Green Bay, a bill produced partially in the victim’s honor, will be heard by the State Assembly. The bill was introduced years ago by Representative Andre Jacque, after 20-year-old John Kennedy was hit and killed trying to navigate snow-covered sidewalks in his wheelchair.
For years, Jeff and Colleen Kennedy have helped advocate for a bill for stricter hit and run laws in Wisconsin. After being stuck in committees in Madison, it’s finally heading to the assembly for a vote.
“It’s exciting, it’s been a long time coming and there have been obstacles in the way that had to be overcome,” said Colleen Kennedy, John’s mom, “to finally see it, I think now that it’s up there, I don’t know how it wouldn’t pass.”
One this the bill would do is require a driver who hit something, to get out of their vehicle and investigate exactly what they hit. It’s something the Kennedy’s call common sense.
“Why would someone not stop after hitting someone unless they know exactly what they hit,” said Jeff Kennedy, John’s dad, “and they’re in no condition to be caught hitting something.
Their son, John, was killed on Velp Avenue in Green Bay in 2011. The driver telling police, he stopped, then left the scene, thinking he’d hit a garbage can.
“It’s just one of those things that should be,” said Colleen, “other states have had the same laws passed recently, Minnesota passed theirs a year ago or so.”
The Kennedy’s say while this bill may not have saved John’s life, it could have saved lives in other situations, like in Oconto County, when a man was killed by a hit and run driver while walking along the side of a highway.
“If some good can come out of John’s passing,” said Jeff, “that’s what we’re trying to do.”