US diplomat kills man in car crash, leaves Kenya

Yahoo News (AP) ^ | 8/2/2013 | JASON STRAZIUSO

[South40]

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An American diplomat who police say was speeding crossed the center line in his SUV and rammed into a full mini-bus, killing a father of three whose widow is six months pregnant, officials said Friday.

U.S. Embassy officials in Nairobi rushed the American and his family out of Kenya the next day, leaving the crash victims with no financial assistance to pay for a funeral and for hospital bills for the eight or so others who were seriously injured.

[Menehune56]

[Irenic]

Running and not taking responsibility for his actions.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

I seem to recall when something similar happened with a Romanian (?) diplomat killed someone driving recklessly in the US, the US Govt succesfully applied pressure on Romania to revoke his diplomatic immunity so he could be prosecuted.

[WayneS]

You were close enough...

[katana]

The US State Department under Obama, making so many friends around the globe. Kenya's a British style left-hand-side-of-the-road system and someone inexperienced with that and/or not paying close attention in third world traffic is a crash waiting to happen. I will drive myself in places like Britain or Australia but will always hire a driver in a s***hole like Kenya.

Evacuating this guy was the right thing to do but if the accident occurred as it is described condolences need to be well publicized and compensation should be handled through whatever insurance the driver and car were covered by.

[DeaconBenjamin]

odumbo will apologize on the six o’clock news ...

Don't be ridiculous. He has never apologized for anything that he or his administration has done.

[Gay State Conservative]

Although I've never been to Kenya I *have* been to Tanzania,Kenya's southern neighbor and a country *very* similar to Kenya in just about every way.Given what I've seen while being driven long distances there I would never,never,*ever* drive an automobile in that country.Any Westerner who does so is,IMO,out of his/her friggin mind.

[rmh47]

Jeeze Louise. You make all the Kenyan birth records for two years on either side of August 1961 disappear, and this is the thanks you get for it.

[kabar]

Are you doubting that is the case?

I can tell you from personal experience that in many of these countries, you are putting your own life on the line if you stick around and try to help.

When I was stationed in Indonesia, a motorcyclist was hit by a car in front of my house. I ran out in the street to help the injured person. The driver of the car had fled. Immediately a crowd gathered around me and they assumed that I was the one driving the car. Fortunately, I was able to speak Indonesian and explain what had happened. If I hadn't been able to do that, I believe I would have had some street justice at the hands of the crowd.

I also knew a fellow US diplomat who was killed in a car crash in Nairobi. Although it was in the middle of the day, a number of bystanders proceeded to loot his car and take his wallet and other valuables in front of his horrified wife.

The bottom line is that in certain countries you don't stick around waiting for the police or try to help the victim. Kenya is one of those countries.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Call it reciprocity.

Anyone who has lived in DC can tell you the biggest risk you run there is being hit on the Beltway by a foreign diplomat with diplomatic immunity. And no insurance.

[Irenic]

U.S. Embassy officials in Nairobi rushed the American and his family out of Kenya the next day, leaving the crash victims with no financial assistance to pay for a funeral and for hospital bills for the eight or so others who were seriously injured.

I based my opinion on what I read. They took him out of the country and the family doesn't financial assistance for burial or medical expenses. If that changes, then so does my opinion.

[null and void]

I’m never going to live this down, am I?

[Haiku Guy]

Lower level embassy employees do not have diplomatic immunity. However, often, the host country will decline to arrest an ex-pat embassy employee, after consulting with the embassy. If a low level embassy employee does something outrageous and illegal, he is usually just declared persona non grata, and expelled from the country.

[Haiku Guy]

. Kenya's a British style left-hand-side-of-the-road system and someone inexperienced with that and/or not paying close attention in third world traffic is a crash waiting to happen

I lived in Kenya for a while, and drove all over the place. I drove a Peugeot 504 with the wheel on the left and a Renault 4 with the wheel on the right. When I was driving the Peugeot, I constantly had to be on guard that I did not drive into the wrong lane. But with the wheel on the other side, it was perfectly natural to drive on the left.

The funny thing is, when I imagine driving those streets all these years later, in my minds eye, I am always driving on the right side, going around the roundabouts counter-clockwise.

[katana]

My first experience, other than a "do you want to try it?" straight open highway on the North Island of NZ, was driving for several days straight in downtown Sydney and the suburbs. Later on during the same trip a customer in Melbourne told me "Bloody Hell, I don't drive in Sydney!" It takes about one day to acclimatize and with the wheel on the right it does feel natural to drive on the left. But I have to think about every move during that first 24 hours. After that it feels quite natural.

I have also driven, left hand and right, in 3rd world traffic. But the unpredictability of everyone around you, kids jumping out in the road straight in front of you, and the possibility of being strung up by the tender parts by angry villagers because I ran over their toddler or their favorite goat always made it a nerve wracking exercise. Hitting a bus loaded with locals and killing one of them (my bet is it was the bus that swerved but good luck proving it) is one scenario I had not imagined.

[F.J. Mitchell]

One Kenyan screwing America. One American screwing a Kenyan family? It’s a start.

[kabar]

The accident happened on July 11. The case is still under investigation by the police so they can determine responsibility. If the US diplomat is deemed responsible, there will be compensation paid to the family either from his insurance or personally. To expect compensation to be paid within three weeks of an accident is unreasonable.

[katana]

A favorite line from Boondock Saints when one of the local cops mistakenly says "Fag man" instead of "Fat man", flamingly queer FBI agent Smecker (Willem Dafoe) says "Well whaddya know, Freud was right".

[kabar]

Lower level embassy employees do not have diplomatic immunity.

If they have a diplomatic passport, they have diplomatic immunity.

[afraidfortherepublic]

You’ll be remembered forever as the brilliant FR punster!