Bike Forums - Acquaintance is victim of Hit and Run, left on side of road

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Acquaintance is victim of Hit and Run, left on side of road

My sister’s husband’s brother is a cyclist. He is a daily commuter in Winston-Salem, NC and was in a hit and run incident last night. He’s unconscious and in ICU. A super concerned lady saw his bike lights and him lying on the side of the road, stopped, called 911 and stayed with him to the hospital.

Here are links to the story and a video of him talking about riding. He’s what I’d call a pure rider. One of the officers that responded used to ride with him on weekends. I’m hoping traffic cameras will reveal who hit him.

I’ve known Robert for almost 50 years. He is a really tough guy and might just need all that strength to get through this one.

https://www.journalnow.com/news/colu...235d77838.html

https://vimeo.com/278227215

That makes me so angry.

I cannot imagine hitting a person and leaving him or her injured on the side of the road.

That takes a special kind of (fill in the blanks) person.

I hope he burns in Hell.

@jppe, your friend sounds like the kind of guy I would love to ride with.

The Campy Delta brakes look fantastic, even in the dark.

I hope for a full and speedy recovery.

Thank you for sharing the video.

Wow! I just can’t believe some people. Best wishes to y’all’s family and I hope for a full recovery!

That was a great profile video... I feel like I know him too. My wish is for strength and justice to him.

That's terrible. So sorry to hear this. I hope he starts recovery soon.

Great video, I hope he keeps on commuting since he enjoys it so much, but I'd understand if he stops or cuts back out of concern for his family.

Hope all the best for your friend it can be hard commuting on a bike. Had the same thing happen to me about 4 months ago leaving work one night and got hit by a driver doing about 40 miles a hours and just take off left me pretty messed up broken neck with 5 bones and fusion surgery.but as hard as it was to heal back on the bike and still commute to work its a hard thing to give up riding.just pay alot more attention now and mounted some mirrors so I can monitor my rear a little bit now

Sorry to hear this, it’s especially hard with someone you know. Hope he pulls thru.

Had a local killed 2 weeks ago on a road I’ve ridden dozens of times and is used by hundreds of cyclists on the weekends. Didn’t know him, but could have been me in that place and that time.

They need to to throw the book at people who kill others and drive away. The cops and DA’s all too often just don’t go after people as hard as they can. No plea deals, make them do a jury trial.

Praying for his recovery, and comfort for the family during this difficult time.

It’s difficult to imagine what goes through the mind of a driver who leaves someone injured by the roadside. I wonder if that’s ever been studied: the calculation they must make in order to disregard the welfare of another. I hope they catch the person but most of all I hope your friend recovers.

I almost wish I had not watched the video of the guy, he seems like practically a modern-day saint of cycling. Rode a fixed gear too, totally hard core. I know if I were him, all I would be thinking about is recovering and getting back out there on a bike again. I hope he gets his wish. And the driver is brought to justice and punished publicly and to great excess, as an example to others who might be tempted to nearly kill someone and leave them to die on the side of the road. :(

Acquaintance is victim of Hit and Run, left on side of road

Quote:

Originally Posted by jppe (Post 20856707)

My sister’s husband’s brother is a cyclist. He is a daily commuter in Winston-Salem, NC and was in a hit and run incident last night. He’s unconscious and in ICU. A super concerned lady saw his bike lights and him lying on the side of the road, stopped, called 911 and stayed with him to the hospital.

Here are links to the story and a video of him talking about riding. He’s what I’d call a pure rider. One of the officers that responded used to ride with him on weekends. I’m hoping traffic cameras will reveal who hit him.

I’ve known Robert for almost 50 years. He is a really tough guy and might just need all that strength to get through this one

https://www.journalnow.com/news/columnists/scott_sexton/cyclist-fighting-for-life-after-second-hit-and-run-crash/article_18e9b056-413c-53d4-bee5-9a6235d77838.html

https://vimeo.com/278227215

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lemond1985 (Post 20858414)

I almost wish I had not watched the video of the guy, he seems like practically a modern-day saint of cycling. Rode a fixed gear too, totally hard core.

I know if I were him, all I would be thinking about is recovering and getting back out there on a bike again. I hope he gets his wish.

And the driver is brought to justice and punished publicly and to great excess, as an example to others who might be tempted to nearly kill someone and leave them to die on the side of the road. :(

Hi @jppe,

My most sincere dittoes to all the above posts. I couldn't view that video from my current location.

Perhaps you may recall that I sent you a (belated) post after your own cycling accident, with reference to my own hit-and-run encounter and an inspiring tale of recovery (My assailant got jail time.).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 20677397)

...I had intentions of sending you this story after I read of your injury, but you know how it goes :o...especially to find it in the archives.

In any case I'm moved to post it here, as I have done for other subscribers who sustained serious injuries, FYA:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 17939244)

….Here’s a rehab story I learned of, almost as a mystical experience. It's also about trauma, but IMO holds out the hope of healing when things seem bleak.

When I was about two weeks into my hospital stay, I was watching …[follow the link]

This episode gave me a first glimmer of hope that I would be on the bike again.

my cousin's nephew (from her "other" side of the family) that i don't know personally, a middle schooler, was struck by a car & put in a drug induced coma to help with the healing. maybe they can treat your sister’s husband’s brother the same way. best wishes

Hard to even respond when people are this disgusting. Jppe, please let your brother-in-law know his family is in the minds of many concerned and caring people.

Prayers and peace. Doug

Very well spoken and cool guy. I hope he makes it back in fact he will make it back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eja_ bottecchia (Post 20856722)

That makes me so angry.
I cannot imagine hitting a person and leaving him or her injured on the side of the road.
That takes a special kind of (fill in the blanks) person.
I hope he burns in Hell.

The sociopaths of the world, according to my reading on the subject by psychologists, number about 3% of the population. One characteristic of such people is that they care nothing for anyone but themselves. It is not too surprising that such people drive carelessly and then drive off after running someone down, so as not to be inconvenienced.

What a guy! Just the kind of person you want to hang with. I hope he gets better, and soon.

Hit and run drivers belong in jail ... the really is NO excuse, even if they are a "scared kid." And getting away with something like this requires a conspiracy of silence. I hope someone does the right thing and drops a dime on whoever it is, and that they spend significant time in jail for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jppe (Post 20856707)

Hi jppe - very sad and I hope your friend makes a very speedy recovery. Not to be a nit-picker, but noticed in the otherwise very enjoyable video, he does not appear to use a mirror and at about 3:15 min into the video he moves out of the bike lane, without looking behind and giving no hand signal to the vehicle approaching from behind.. Not good practice IMHO.

My sympathies and prayers are with your friend.
I lost a cycling friend Jan 11th this year. Some ****er rear-ended him and killed him on the spot.
Jon

Thank you for posting. This scenario is what scares all of us.

Every injury hit-and-run should carry a stiffer penalty than an injury DUI -- too often the motorist will hide out until he dries out.

I am also very concerned about the rise in motorist distractions -- everything from cell phones to navigation aids to those damnably distracting touch screen controls Tesla and others insist on installing. Give me good old-fashioned tactile buttons, knobs, and switches that I can operate without averting my gaze from the road. Distracted drivers are worse than drunk, drugged, or stoned drivers, because they outnumber them.

For those that followed the thread on Rowan’s head injury know how each head injury situation and recovery is different. Robert is hanging in there but remains unconscious. There are small indicators of improvement but also setbacks. Time will tell.

No one has come forward yet to accept responsibility but I’m betting they’ll determine who did it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jppe (Post 20856707)

<snip> A super concerned lady saw his bike lights and him lying on the side of the road, stopped, called 911 <snip>

My best wishes and prayers for your friend Robert.

The scenario of lying in a ditch unconscious and no one seeing you is a good reason to use the free ROAD ID app, which will send a text to up to five people if you don't move for five minutes (you can override that if you intentionally stop). The text will include your position. https://www.roadid.com/pages/road-id-app A ROAD ID bracelet ain't a bad idea either.

How is he doing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by car knocker (Post 20870596)

Any word on him?

Robert remains unconscious. You might have seen my other post where they now have a suspect, they found the car but are still searching for the driver.