Another Cyclist Hit

[OakLeaf]

TWO riders have been killed in my town in the last three days.

Both riders had some degree of responsibility for what happened - but in the first case, even though it was on a road where I would NEVER ride (and the people I ride with are of the same opinion), still it was a rear-end collision, and there's been no mention that the driver has gotten so much as a ticket for assured clear distance

[Blueberry]

D@mn. The rider didn't make it How sad. They haven't yet upgraded the charges, but I'm sure they will.

CA

[bmccasland]

D@mn. The rider didn't make it How sad. They haven't yet upgraded the charges, but I'm sure they will.

CA

Stupid driver needs to have a picture of the rider, in her full cycling glory, in his jail cell. So every day he gets to wake up and see the life he took. Maybe eventually he'll quit rationalizing and actually feel guilty.

Drunk drivers are one of my pet peeves. Spent a few years scraping up their carnage, working ambulance. I have absolutely no use for them.

[Blueberry]

Currently, he's out on 10k bond.

However, they just upgraded the charges to felony death by vehicle. Max sentence of 30 years in prison and/or (gotta love that or) a fine.

Looks like his dad is going a lot of the rationalizing for him - accident. Nope. I don't think so.

She was apparently a volunteer professor (retired, and then taught at a state school for free).

Just trying to figure out what I can do. Seems there should be something...

So sad.

[tulip]

So sad. I went NCSU for one of my grad school programs. Not as bike friendly as UNC (where I also went) because it's bounded by fast-moving traffic streets. It's just not right.

Yesterday I was up in DC for a meeting (in my car) and I was behind a pickup truck on a quiet side street. He was kindof swerving, and he suddenly swerved into a parallel parking space and hit a parked car and took the whole bumper off it! Could have been me on my bike! I was so mad. I stopped and yelled at him. He was smoking a cigar and mumbling. He seemed drunk. There were police cars across the street at the 7-11 and they took notice.

[abvnx]

that is so sad. that poor woman. i cant imagine what her family must be feeling right now. i hope that idiot driver gets more than just a fine.

[emily_in_nc]

I live in NC (less than an hour from where this horrible accident happened), and the last I heard on the local news, the woman who was killed and her husband were avid cyclists, and she did everything right, like wearing a helmet, riding well to the right. etc. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The local news did an interview with her husband the day after she died, and he was very forgiving of the college student who killed her. He just seemed like a really nice, kind older man, quite calm and reflective. I can't imagine being so calm the day after my spouse was killed by a drunk driver. I'm not nearly as generous-spirited as he obviously is. I'm just plain pissed.

Emily