Tragic case of killed cyclist in IL

[SalsaMTB]

I didn't see this posted anywhere...maybe some of the IL girls know more about it. Someone posted this on our local board, thought I would cross post it. In summary, due to IL law, a girl (with a poor driving record) was downloading a ringtone while driving and hit and killed a cyclist. Her sentance...$1000 fine, traffic safety school, and 6 months probation without reporting to office. Just sad.

Here's the article:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2006/11/30/woman_is_sentenced_for_bicyclists_death

Here's a site on the cyclist, family is trying to get the law changed:

http://www.prairienet.org/mattslaw/?About_Matt

[mimitabby]

Terrible. at the bike club meeting i was dragged to last night there was a conversation about this very thing.
The reason why vehicular homicide carries such a light sentence is that it
was originally just a traffic ticket!
Laws are changing unfortunately after people die... in my state too.

The family of the deceased can SUE for big bucks, which will clean out the insurance policy AND any $$ the driver had.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I am absolutely appalled by this story.

The driver killed a cyclist because she was paying attention to something other than driving (her bloody cell phone!), swerved off the road, and hit the cyclist with the driver's side of her car. Let's see, the cyclist was correctly riding on the right side of the road - how do you hit a cyclist on the right side of the road with the left side of your car? And for that murder she was fined $1000? There's definitely something very wrong here.

--- Denise

[SalsaMTB]

yep, definitely something wrong. Sadly, as mimitabby said, things like this happen because of old laws and it takes something like this to change it. Hopefully, good will come from it and the laws will change.

It really irks me that this girl can continue driving after killing someone!!!

Someone on my local board posted this as a punishment recommendation

"Perhaps a fitting sentence would be to revoke her driving privleges, and require her to ride a bike everywhere. And maybe require her to ride that road every day for a year, as it seems it is her route to work."

Brilliant!

[ridethewind]

She should also have to carry the cyclist's photo with her for the next year. It might make her think about what she's done. I would think she would not be able to get insurance after this incident. I understand she had a variety of traffic tickets before this happened. Maybe that might keep her off the roads, as she is a danger to herself, cyclists, pedestrians, and anyone else who dares to use the roadway. There is obviously a loophole in the law that needs to be addressed by the Illinois legislature.

_______________________
Jean

[Tuckervill]

I hope the family hires a good lawyer and they clean out her insurance company. It's so terrible.

I had to buy a new car recently (my Beetle got creamed by a sweet sweeper last month). While I was test driving a Subaru, I asked the salesman if he's ever been scared on a test drive. He said, indeed, he was riding with a 19 year old girl who was going 90 on the interstate and TALKING ON HER CELL PHONE in one of his brand new Subarus. He demanded that she pull over and let him drive, and the whole way back she was on the phone complaining to her daddy, who showed up at the dealership and chewed the salesman out!

I fear these teenage girls on the phone while driving.

Karen

[pll]

This is incredibly sad and I am, too, appalled by the reckless behavior of that teenager and by sentence she received.

[Geonz]

THis accident happened about 3 miles from my house.

The driver already had enough tickets (3 in 19 months) so that her license was *supposed* to be already suspended - but somehow it never got sent through to the right place so it didn't happen. One of the tickets was for going 26-30 mph over the speed limit on a road cyclists ride often; she was going to hit *somebody* and soon. (There's some feelijng that basically, she doesn't quite have the wherewithall to handle the responsibility of driving... and her blog entries - until it was taken down - were mostly about other things, but she definitely seemed to think this accident was something that had happened **to her.** )

Our state's attorney (Julia Rietz) didn't think that she could find this girl guilty of "wilful and wanton" neglect... many people disagree with that since the girl obviously *consciously* decided to download the ringtones but I can't help but think that lawyer-wise it could be true. Lots of people are ready to draw and quarter Julia Rietz - but she is working with Matt's parents (the victim) on "Matt's law" to develop a charge in between a petty offense and a whatever category felony the next step up would be.
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2006/11/30/woman_is_sentenced_for_bicyclists_death
THe other part that galls cyclists here is that statement she made that it was unreasonable for the driver to expect to see a cyclist. Hello??????? That's an appalling legal precedent -we're already the ONLY state in the union where cyclists are considered "permitted but not expected" on the road unless there's signage indicating otherwise (which stinks, because it has made the pwers that be take down share the road signs and refuse to consider bike lanes because of perceived liability).

Off my advocating soapbox now (but if you'd like to add something to Julia Rietz' mailbox, her address is:
Julia Rietz
States Attorney
101 E Main
Urbana, IL 61801