A motor vehicle operator drives the vehicle off the right-hand side of a straight, dry piece of highway, in daylight and clear weather, causes grievous injury to a pedestrian and law enforcement lets the operator walk away.

A motor vehicle operator crashes into two other vehicles in reverse, shifts into forward, breaks through the front wall of a restaurant, stops only after striking the back wall of the dining room, shifts into reverse and stops again after striking a third wall. Twenty-seven people are injured, of which 12 went to the hospital and law enforcement lets the operator walk away.

The operator of a defective vehicle loses the left front wheel. The wheel crosses the opposing traffic lane, damages property in a front yard, and bounces through a window, scattering glass fragments throughout a living room. A resident of the house had only seconds before moving away from a desk beside the window. Law enforcement lets the operator walk away.

These events include elements of one or more of the following serious offenses: attempted motor vehicle manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon, depraved indifference to human life, committing mayhem, destruction of property, operating a defective vehicle, reckless operation and driving to endanger. No charges — what’s going on? Robert B. Virtue Orono