Cyclist killed during charity ride.

[FlyingScot]

This is the ride I was doing. Cannot tell you how it has devastated all of us.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/08/22/truck-misses-signal-kills-cyclist.html?sid=101

[OakLeaf]

Oh FS I'm so glad it wasn't you.

Saw that, cross-posted. I'm so filled with sadness and rage. :(:mad::(:mad:

[PamNY]

That is tragic. I am so sorry.

[Miranda]

So sorry for all involved. :(

I couldn't read the full story due to starting to cry. The lady training for her event, and how excited she was, hit too close to home. It makes me think here shortyly will be one year since my crash (dog tho, not vehicle) that has left me with some pernament damage to my body.

My injuries have bothered me that I have not been able to ride all of this season. The only thing that has kept me saine is the thought of something like your post. I wonder if the dog had not stopped my ride, could there have been worse down the route for me. So, it was just not meant to be.

Unfortunately none of know when "our number is up". I hope the lady is riding her heart out on heaven's smooth streets paved with gold that are surely in cycling heaven idiot driver and stray dog free.

Miranda

[buffybike]

Damn, that is so tragic. I kinow stories like this probably make cyclists not want to ride the streets, but it's my personal opinion that we must continue to put ourselves out there if only so that vehicles will have to learn to adapt to our presence. If the numbers are there, perhaps govt will take more steps to protect us. When I got hit by a car, a lot of (non-riding)friends and family thought I should re-think my "hobby". But it just made me want to take to the road more--if they don't get used to seeing me on the road, they'll never learn to share it.

[OakLeaf]

I can't imagine what other steps government could have taken to protect these riders. These are rural roads, so closing them entirely wasn't an option.

As I said in the other thread, there have to be consequences. It can't depend on some jury's interpretation of what the driver might have been thinking at the time.

[smilingcat]

The driver was negligent in his driving and failing to stop per highway troopers instruction. How is this different than the person who was negligently runover by a driver distracted in his vehicle? (re: Spaniard who became paralyzed from waist down while riding RAAM was it?) The one who ran over the Spaniard was not charged with a crime.

And did the driver who failed to follow the troopers instruction aim his truck at the woman and then claim that he swerved to avoid her?

So tragic... Our culture and many others need to get away from the car-centric/me first view of society. More the reason why gas/diesel prices should be $10/gallon for personal cars.

----------------
this brings up an interesting question.

What is law?

Ans: It is just a codified set of acceptable behavior at that particular point in time.

It has nothing to say about what is just or unjust. A good example is a black person was counted 3/5 of a white person over 200 years ago. It was also acceptable to have indentured servants and own slaves.

Realizing what law is, if it is acceptable not to punish a car driver for negligent driving and killing person because it is considered acceptable behavior by the majority, only thing we can do is to change the perception that it is not alright.

[FlyingScot]

No answers so far as to if or what charges will be leveled against the pickup driver. No report either on the "brakes failed" theory which pretty much none of us believe.
Any cyclists in the Columbus, Ohio area. Michelle's funeral is Saturday. The family is asking for cyclists to meet at the church and ride in procession from the church to the cemetery(app. 5 miles). We are trying to get the word out to everyone. I am also working to get as many riders from OSU medical center who rode the Pelotonia to wear our jerseys on the ride to show our unity.
I think this will be a huge comfort to her family as well as a way for us to debrief for lack of a better word.I hope there is a huge turnout!

[Bike Chick]

What a wonderful tribute.

[badgercat]

Any cyclists in the Columbus, Ohio area. Michelle's funeral is Saturday. The family is asking for cyclists to meet at the church and ride in procession from the church to the cemetery(app. 5 miles). We are trying to get the word out to everyone. I am also working to get as many riders from OSU medical center who rode the Pelotonia to wear our jerseys on the ride to show our unity.
I think this will be a huge comfort to her family as well as a way for us to debrief for lack of a better word.I hope there is a huge turnout!

Beautiful idea. Just reading about it ahead of time has me getting misty eyed.

[invsblwmn]

Each day living and riding is a blessing. I never take that for granted anymore. Breathe, rejoice, experience each day...

[OakLeaf]

That sounds beautiful. I won't be able to attend the memorial, but here are details (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=michelle-ann-kazlausky&pid=144890338&fhid=8658) if anyone else wants to go.


Her funeral will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 1051 S. Waggoner Road, Reynoldsburg. Interment to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, 11539 National Road SW, Pataskala, OH. Cyclists are invited to meet at the church and ride to Holy Cross Cemetery in honor of Shelli. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Pelotonia; www.Pelotonia.org (search Kazlausky; Rider ID #62483), or 351 Nationwide Blvd., Columbus, Ohio 43215. Messages may be sent to her family by visiting www.cotnerfuneralhome.com

[gabriellesca]

Each day living and riding is a blessing. I never take that for granted anymore. Breathe, rejoice, experience each day...


AMEN - such a tragic and horrible story! Every single time I finish a ride, even a small one, I thank God I'm alive and okay! (paranoid, yes - but this makes me all that more aware.)

[FlyingScot]

Update.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/08/25/Pelotonia-death.html?sid=101

[FlyingScot]

So I heard today that they are expecting upwards of 1,000 cyclists leading the processional from the church to the cemetery. They are staging us at a different place now to accommodate everyone. In addition to the normal police escort for funerals there is also going to be a police escort for us BACK to the staging area. How cool is that?!

[tctrek]

Tragic loss. We all take this risk every time we get on the bike. All you can do is ride as safe as possible.

[OakLeaf]

Update:

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/09/13/Driver-charged-in-bicyclistxs-death.html?sid=101

The driver is being charged with vehicular manslaughter. It appears the brakes did fail, but that he worked on them himself and should have known they were faulty.

[TrekTheKaty]

At least there is some justice, but 90 days is not enough for taking a life. Even on accident. $750? No enough. A slap on the wrist.

[Roadtrip]

Anytime a life is taken, it is tragic, but this time it hits a little closer to home because it was a cyclist and one of our own TE members was present on the ride. The "punishment" could never replace the life taken and the hardships on the family and friends who lost a dear soul.

If we are looking for justice I don't think it will be found as mistakes happen, either by car, plane, or train, or even bike. To error is to be human and is essentially "human" and part of what makes the human condition so unique. Sadly, our legal system does place a value on such "infractions" and it seems like an additional slap in the face to the victims, tho no fine at all would have been an equal slap in the face. There simply is no winner. We shouldn't look for one.

In the end those that take a life due to there own actions have to resolve that for themselves and live with that knowledge. It is up to the close friends and family to gather and provide what support and love we can to help them recover from such great loss.

Shannon

[OakLeaf]

What I keep saying ... to charge him with a higher offense, they would have had to prove that he acted recklessly.

Or that he was intoxicated. If he was intoxicated (I don't say drunk, because legally too intoxicated to drive is far from being "drunk" by most people's standards), STRICT LIABILITY. Felony. No proof of mental state required.

It's like the old joke about domestic violence. "The only way you would go to jail for beating your wife, is if you did it while driving drunk." Now, things have got a bit better in the DV arena, and the reason for that is a 20+ year coordinated program of pressure and lawsuits.

Otherwise (unless he had priors or no license, which aren't the case here), to even get a first degree misdemeanor (six months, $1,000), a prosecutor would have to prove to a finder of fact that the automobile driver acted recklessly, i.e., "with heedless indifference to the consequences, he perversely disregards a known risk that his conduct is likely to cause a certain result or is likely to be of a certain nature."

IMO the "lesser" mental states of negligence and recklessness are even more problematic than intent and purpose, simply because of the subjectivity of the "reasonable person" standard. A jury - composed of individuals who themselves take no responsibility for operating motor vehicles - superimposes themselves onto the defendant, decides that "of course" a reasonable person shouldn't be bothered to pay attention while behind the wheel - or actually spend money to have their brakes repaired by someone who knows what they're doing - , and bingo, "just an accident," not guilty.



Now, all that said, there's such a culture of incarceration in the USA that I think most of us who haven't been in prison or jail underestimate the seriousness of a shorter sentence. Ninety days without being allowed to work, seeing the sunshine for only an hour a day, constant surveillance, limited contact with family and probably none with friends (and never mind the things that shouldn't happen but do, such as substandard medical care if you should get sick or hurt, and a high probability of getting raped and/or otherwise assaulted). Even Lynne Stewart, who should have known better, found out early that she could not do prison "standing on [her] head."

But it becomes a vicious cycle. We on the outside become so inured to hearing about such long prison sentences, that when someone gets years for growing pot in their basement, of course it seems like a slap on the wrist to give someone 90 days for killing another human being. And so the terms get longer, the list of jailable offenses grows, the jails and prisons get more overcrowded, the private prison industry makes money hand over fist.

And automobile drivers STILL don't go to jail for killing ANYBODY (other automobile drivers included), because the culture of irresponsibility says that it's "just an accident," and the standard of proof is so much higher for killing someone than it is for speeding.

:o Sorry, did someone get me started?