I am writing because I feel that a story hasn’t been covered adequately. Last Sunday April 8, a Boston College student was killed in a hit-and-run accident. Sure, it made the front page of the paper, but only as a police report with few details. I expected a follow-up, considering that the victim was a college student, like us — but as far as I know, there hasn’t been one.
The boy’s name is Brian Kielt. He was a sophomore in the Carroll School of Management majoring in finance and computer science, and he was my friend. I’ve known him since elementary school. I realize that I’m especially angry because I knew Brian — but I think it’s bizarre that hardly anyone seems to know or even care.
Brian died of multiple trauma when a drunk driver hit him at the corner of Comm. Ave. and Chiswick Road, driving at 60 miles per hour. The alleged drunk driver (I say alleged because the court hasn’t found him guilty yet, though I have my personal opinions on the matter) is 20 years old — the same age as Brian. He is being tried on charges of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of the accident after causing death, and he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. But really, how different is he from the average 20-year-old? The truth is that any of us could have been that driver, and any of us could have been killed — but that night, it happened to be Brian.
Brian excelled at everything he put his mind to. At Ramapo High School in New Jersey, he was backup quarterback to Chris Simms, who is now quarterback at the University of Texas. Brian was a member of the varsity baseball team and National Honor Society. In college, he continued to excel and made Dean’s List. He was just a great guy. Like his best friend Jay said at his funeral, Brian had a bright future ahead of him. It seemed that everything was promised for him.
Apparently nobody cares if a BC student dies. Has the rivalry gone so far that we don’t care about a fellow human being? I overheard some people talking about it a few days ago. One guy was saying, “Oh man. I heard about it. That sucks.” To which his friend said, “BC sucks,” and they laughed and went on to talk about the NCAAs. If you’re not feeling angry or sickened to the point of nausea, I ask you, where is your compassion? Someone just died, and you brush it off like it’s nothing? What the HECK is going on?
Especially on weekend nights, there are tons of us out on Comm. Ave. as we walk home or hail cabs. We see a car speeding down Comm. Ave. like it’s some Formula 1 race, but even after somebody dies as a result of drunk driving, we don’t bat an eye. It goes on the local news and some newspapers and that’s it. It’s forgotten.
I can’t stand to even consider that his death was for nothing. I can’t make sense of it — why did he have to die? That driver could have crashed into a tree, a fence, anything — but Brian’s gone. The driver made the irresponsible decision of getting into his car, and then tried to avoid the consequences of his actions when he took off. I’d like to ask everyone to think about that, and to use your common sense. Don’t put lives at risk — just take a cab. And please, don’t ignore what happened. The tragedy isn’t just for BC — it’s our tragedy too.
Yasuko “Fiasco” Okada CAS ’03
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