Death of Jaahnavi Kandula, 23, from India, ignited outrage after fellow officer was recorded making ‘appalling’ remarks about case
Prosecutors in Washington state said on Wednesday they will not file felony charges against a Seattle police officer who struck and killed a graduate student from India while responding to an overdose call – a case that attracted widespread attention after another officer was recorded making callous remarks about it.
Officer Kevin Dave was driving 74mph (119km/h) on a street with a 25mph (40km/h) speed limit in a police SUV before he hit 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula in a crosswalk on 23 January 2023.
In a memo to the Seattle police department on Wednesday, the King county prosecutor’s office noted that Dave had on his emergency lights, that other pedestrians reported hearing his siren, and that Kandula appeared to try to run across the intersection after seeing his vehicle approaching. She might also have been wearing wireless earbuds that could have diminished her hearing, they noted.
For those reasons, a felony charge of vehicular homicide was not warranted. “There is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Dave was consciously disregarding safety,” the memo said.
Yeah, pretty much. The poor girl probably resembled hamburger meat.
And some people have been quick to jump on the “well why did she run across the street” talking point, but humans are really really bad at judging speed when something is coming directly at us.
Our brains perceive depth by measuring the difference between our two eyes. But when your eyes are only a few inches apart and the object is three hundred yards away, it basically looks stationary until it’s right on top of you. There hasn’t been any evolutionary advantage to being able to accurately gauge speeds from several hundred yards away, because for the vast majority of human history nothing existed that would chase you down that fast. Even when driving, you’re rarely looking directly at oncoming traffic; You’re usually off to the side slightly, so you can more accurately judge the speed of oncoming traffic by comparing it to its surroundings.
If she assumed it was going at a more reasonable speed, and couldn’t tell otherwise because it was heading right for her and depth perception failed her, then she literally wouldn’t realize her mistake until the car was right on top of her.
At the listed 74 MPH, a car would close a 300 yard gap in less than 9 seconds. That’s about how long it’d take someone to see it, go “it’s not going that fast! The speed limit is only 20 MPH and they’re maybe doing 40? I can make it,” and run out in front of it. At an average walking pace, it takes about ten seconds to cross a three lane road, so she’d probably end up riiiiiight in front of a car if it’s traveling way faster than she anticipated.