How do you drive 3 miles with a bike under your SUV and not know it???????

[ny biker]

http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/09/green-party-candidate-hospitalized-after-accident-12745.html

Sigh.

[Cataboo]

how do you think you hit a deer and not stop to check on the car?

Maybe if her music was up high, she didn't hear noises of the bike scraping underneath, but you'd think it'd effect steering or driving

[lauraelmore1033]

You think you mowed over a deer and you don't stop? That's awful, just right there:mad:

[XMcShiftersonX]

Just another sign that our cars are WAY too big these days! Even if you "hit a deer" like the lady said she thought she did... Wouldn't most people stop to check out their car? Check out the animal? I don't know, I've never hit a deer before, but I think that would have been my reaction. Something is not right about this lady's story. Was she drunk maybe?

[7rider]

Washcycle posted about it (http://www.thewashcycle.com/2010/09/maryland-senate-candidate-in-critical-condition-after-being-hit-by-an-suv.html)(before the poor woman died).

There's a video embedded there that shows the SUV...it has a flat front tire and major damage to the front end. With that much damage, even if it was "just" a deer - you would think she would have stopped.

Still...Maybe she thought the horrible grinding noise under the front of her car was the deer and she was too freaked out to stop and see what a mangled mess she had made to it. Or...(more likely?) somethings not right with her story.

I hit a deer once - with a Honda Civic. But I saw that it was a deer. I saw it sit on my hood. Smelled the sweat and barn-like odor of it in my car. And I saw it run away.

[Cataboo]

Actually - living in the same area generally as the woman - hitting a deer is kind of normal. There's waaay too many of them in the greater DC area - hunting isn't allowed in the surburban areas of Maryland or Virginia, there's no natural predators. At any given point I can walk out onto the balcony of my bf's house and there's usually about 7 deer sitting in his back yard. Driving down the road to his house at night, most of the lawns have deer in them. I 've had deer run out and cross the highway in front of me.

Deer have a tendancy to panic and run out in the road at you - if you hit them, if they can, they run away. I've hit deer before (where I'm slamming on the brakes, the car hits them but not too hard), they look at you, and they run away. For something like that, I don't usually get out to look at the car. I will definitely pay extra attention to how the car is running or feels.


I'd have to look at the article again, but it sounds like the woman that was driving hit the cyclists around 5 am and was going to her home - was she driving home after working all night?

[smilingcat]

I have no sympathy for the driver as well it was just an accident. I don't buy I just hit a deet so I drove home. And why would you drive home with that much damage to your car?

She may have "accidently" hit the cyclist but what she did after the collision is criminal!!

[kermit]

With the amount of damage to that vehicle (and flat tire) there is no way she could have just driven home and not known there was a problem. Much less probably sparks flying up from the bike scraping the ground or at least the car not driving properly. My guess, out partying late or DUI, really neglectful. She's an idiot and should be charged. If she's not sure what she hit she should have stopped. It might have made the difference between life and death. Leaving the scene of an "accident with injuries".

[arielmoon]

This is mind boggling! I have a hard time believing she didnt get out to look at the damage before going on home!!

I was driving on a very foggy road one morning and saw a deer on the side of the road. I saw it's movement and had time to think "no!!!" before it ran out right in front of my car. It bounced off the windshield and left fur and some blood streaks on the front of my car. I was so shocked it did take me about 300 feet to stop but the deer had bounced up and ran away.

[OakLeaf]

I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but here we are again with the strict liability vs. mens rea.

There's basically no downside if an automobile driver leaves after killing a bicyclist or pedestrian. As shockingly immoral as it is, it's actually the sensible thing to do. The next day - or whenever you hear the cops are hot on the trail of your car - you turn yourself in. You're sober and they can't prove anything about what your mental state was when it happened. So at worst you get a little ticket for failure to control.

[WindingRoad]

I've hit a deer in an old 69 Chevy pickup truck and it seriously screwed up the truck and I was only going 45. There is no waaaaaay you can convince me she didn't know SOMETHING was wrong! I think she was drunk.

That poor girl, it makes me sick thinking about it. :mad:

[warneral]

oh how horrifying :( that poor young woman

[Cataboo]

One article I read said that the woman thought it was a deer & didn't want to stop because of how early in the morning it was - and that she & her husband found the bike underneath - so I guess if you're 4 miles from home and you want your husband to check what's going on, just driving home makes some sense. I also don't know how dangerous or not that section of town is. (Lots of people perceive parts of the DC area to be dangerous)

I'm just glad the bike rider wasn't dragged with the bike for 4 miles.

[Bike Chick]

I keep thinking how awful it must have been for the victim. That poor girl. This is just tragic. I don't want to pass judgment on the woman that hit her without knowing more facts but it leaves me with a lot of suspicion.

[zoom-zoom]

Notice where the bulk of the impact damage is to the front of her vehicle...it's on the driver's side. How would that happen unless she was driving way over on the shoulder or even a bit off the road. Something's rotten in the state of Denmark and I have a feeling that it involves alcohol and/or intentionally striking that young woman. There is no other explanation for that level and pattern of damage to the vehicle. If this woman walks there should be some major outrage and not just from the cycling community. The whole thing makes me sick.

[emily_in_nc]

This is seriously disturbing and very tragic. I am baffled and greatly saddened by this senseless act. I wonder if the full story will ever come out? :(

[badgercat]

An updated story: http://www.wusa9.com/rss/local_article.aspx?storyid=112106

Authorities are now saying that they're finding evidence of reflective gear at and around the scene.

Whether she was riding totally "in the dark" or was lit up like a Christmas tree, this is a terrible, terrible tragedy.

[Zen]

The accident occurred Sunday 5:25 AM

I seriously doubt the driver was on her way to church or work.
I think the driver was driving home. Maybe drunk, maybe sleep deprived.
Extenuating circumstances lean towards drunk.

There was a witness who stayed with Natasha. How hard that must have been for her.

[Selkie]

The world lost a very promising young woman.

Let's hope justice prevails and the truth comes out. It's beyond my comprehension why the driver didn't stop. Thank God that the cyclist didn't end up caught under the car with her bike and that she had someone there with her until help arrived.

[indigoiis]

This exact type of "accident" happened in Rhode Island in a residential / urban area of Providence last year. Very sad.

[XMcShiftersonX]

The accident occurred Sunday 5:25 AM

I seriously doubt the driver was on her way to church or work.
I think the driver was driving home. Maybe drunk, maybe sleep deprived.
Extenuating circumstances lean towards drunk.

If DC is anything like Washington State where 80% of serious injuries and fatalities involving motor vehicles also involve alcohol... Than that would be my guess as well.

[ChillyWilly]

That's messed up. No other words for it.

[Zen]

This doesn't have to be alcohol related ( I've been thinking about this a lot)
Alcohol and cell phone use have the same effect.
My point is, everyone's so quick to pin this on alcohol (yes, even me) while cell phone use is equally destructive.

[Cataboo]

It was 5:23 am on Sunday. She could have either come off a long shift or woken up early to start one (not everyone has the luxury of a 9 to 5 weekday job) She could have just been tired and dosed off or zoned out. Alcohol or cell phones don't have to be involved. Especially as, who do you text message or call at 5:23 am? There's also the chance that the cyclist was in the wrong, didn't stop for a light or stop whatever (I haven't checked if any other details have come out)

The whole not stopping thing is bizarre - but I guess there is a possibility that she knew she hit a cyclist and just plain freaked out and went home as soon as possible especially since she was so close.

[Bike Chick]

I've been thinking about this too. There is no way that you can drive 3 miles with a bike under your SUV and not know it. Heck, just a stick under the car makes a crazy noise and a bicycle under the car is a lot different than an animal carcass. I think she panicked and just kept driving not knowing what to do.

[pll]

This tragedy has been bugging me. I read the reports from links posted in this thread, heard the TV clips linked in a couple of those reports. The driver (Christy Littleford) did stop -- another driver behind her saw the SUV stopped on the side of the road, it's front end smoking. This bugs me even more: front end smoking, flat tire, bike lodged under the SUV -- it had to make noticeable noises when Littleford started driving away. The driver behind her stopped and remained with Pettigrew until help arrived.

That made me think what would I do. I know I'd be shaken and freaking out. I probably would hesitate to get off the car immediately. I think I would look around (depending on where I am), turn the emergency lights on, punch 911 on my cell and then get off the car, ready cell phone in hand, to see what happened. If I had a significant other at home, I would probably call home (perhaps Littleford's husband told her to go home and not get off the SUV?).

It sounds like Pettigrew did not have lights, so it is possible Littleford did not see her. Reflectors/reflective clothing require light in specific angles to be effective. So an accident is possible, but driving away is inexcusable.

[OakLeaf]

Some people could just care less about others. That's a given.

When the law makes it easy for those people, even validates their actions, that's the problem that needs to be corrected. IMHO.

[Cataboo]

I am sure I read something that she had reflective gear - sadly it was a reporter finding reflective gear at the seen of the crime.

I know the articles are reporting that she hit the girl somewhere around 5:30, and that she called police from her home before 6:30 - so she did report it in the first hour. The articles are saying that speed and alcohol don't seem to be an issue (I don't know if that's an answer that the police give stock no matter what happens). The police were still at the scene that was 4 miles away when she called a 6:30 - so it probably would have taken 5 minutes for one to get over there and give her a breathalyzer. If she was just barely over the limit of drinking, an hour might have given her time to get under the limit for drunk driving. But really drunk, an hour wasn't going to do anything. I'd assume she wouldn't sober up that much if she was high.

[pll]

When the law makes it easy for those people, even validates their actions,
that's the problem that needs to be corrected. IMHO.

Absolutely, +1.

[Bike Chick]

When the law makes it easy for those people, even validates their actions, that's the problem that needs to be corrected. IMHO.

So true! Even worse is that we have laws to protect cyclists but they are ignored or never enforced.

[jelee1311]

I live in the Portland area and we had a cyclist hit in the last year when she was going through a intersection. Initially the judge ruled that an inersection wasn't a bike lane so the normal bike lane laws didn't appy ? Its crazy, I know by sheer numbers we have a lot of cyclists around here and I'm sure they don't all follow th laws, but it seems that a cyclist gets hit about once a week around here.

[AllezGirl]

http://environment.change.org/blog/view/mother_replaces_daughter_killed_on_her_bicycle_in_us_senate_bid