cderalow

the police report is seriously disheartening.

Commodus

you think so? I thought the police were doing an admirable job.

ultraman6970

Pfff..

The problem i see is that from the video there is no way to know that the driver actually hit the guy. Wonder if he hit him and the rider went airborne and hit the pole or something, clearly the truck ran over the bike tho but the question is what happened before. Probably the truck driver did not even know he hit the guy, you can't feel crap in those trucks. Somehow I understand why he was released but anyways... probably this thing wont be solved ever. What loss for their family tho

SteveFromNY

as a driver though, there is no way I would have missed a cyclist coming up from the right side, as that's the side I would look before I made the left turn. And with that said, I would have also given the cyclist more time before turning. The truck was a bit too close to him going in. Of course I'm speculating, but it sucks either way.

TrojanHorse

I think he's referring to the descriptions of the cyclist's broken body because frankly, that's about as far as I made it too.

canam73

Knowing only what I read, I would think the bent directional on the truck and matching tire marks on the body should be enough to indict. But I do not know exactly what the charges were and what evidence was presented to the jury.

At the very least, the driver obviously lied about having seen the rider in his mirror behind and clear of his truck and trailer. So if he did look back he is guilty of fleeing the scene of an accident.

eja_ bottecchia

The GJ is only one way for a prosecutor to commence a prosecution. As I wrote before, the Mass. DA could have filed charges and gone directly to a probable cause hearing (or preliminary hearing). There is no constitutional requirement for a GJ indictment. California did away with GJ for many years, they were brought back a few years ago. The use of GJ is far more prevalent in Mass than in California.

rumrunn6

this is a docile area. large constrction trucks should be banned from these roads.

Commodus

Oh I didn't even read that. I did find the account of the police interview fascinating.

ClydesMoose

Read through that police report... Was the grand jury even paying attention? That driver is a total ******nozzle.

ultraman6970

I'm with you don't take me wrong, but I drove a large truck once and sincerely if you hit something you wont know unless you see it in the rear view mirrors. I even notice the truck moves to the right a little bit so I assume he knew the guy was there... the key moment is missing IMO.

unionmade

Thanks for that clarification, I'm no criminal lawyer. I've not heard of any attempt to charge otherwise.

Jobiensis

If you read the report, there are three things that stick out. The driver lied over and over about the cyclist. The driver has a terrible driving record (which could not be used in the grand jury). The truck/driver is familiar with the area and tried to pass a cyclist moving at a similar speed to him on a narrow lane. It really sounds like a terrible accident and just negligence if you ignore the driving record. Now I wonder how you can have a commercial license with such a horrific record.

ultraman6970

The system doesnt work, thats why the guy got his license. In my country to get a regular d/l takes a full day of testing with real doctors, machines and they ask you all the signs, basic mechanic questions, 1st aid questions and traffic laws (like 300 questions total) then you have to go and drive in the street. After 5 or 6 hours you are able to drive if you did not flunk more than 5%. Renewal is automatic but if you have infractions you have to test again or straight forward they take your d/l for years (everything is interconnected). After 65 y/o you have to take the exam each two years. After 72 sure you cant pass it because you cant win to the machines. CDL is even worse.

Here took me 20 minutes to get the d/l... and i drove in a parking lot for 5 minutes. Done! sorry but thats a joke. Even in those conditions some geniuses can't pass it. So doesn't surprise me that the system did not catch him, but again... based in the video you won't know what happened because the key moment is missing unless somebody saw what happened.

rooftest

In here to say this. Also - no amount of idiocy from Taxachusettes surprises me anymore.

Dancing Skeleton

Although outrageous, this is absolutely no surprise in the POS state. The various DA's are quite incapable of successfully bringing most criminals to justice.
There have been stories in the news lately of people repeatedly arrested for drunk driving, who then get certain lawyers, who in turn appear before certain judges, who have dismissal rates near 100% in drunk driving trials. There are also political appointees on the RMV's drunk driving appeal board, who themselves are convicted drunk drivers.
This A-hole truck driver had his license suspended nineteen times, and only in criminal-friendly, law-abiding, tax-paying citizen hating Massachusetts can this not be used as evidence of a pattern of aggressive & poor driving.
Aggressive drivers know that in this state, there is very little risk of consequences for repeated poor & dangerous driving.

Last year, Bicycling Magazine named Boston as the 14th or 15th most cycling friendly city in the US. That is in no way true or close to reality. Just because there is a bike-share program and a few miles of dual-use bike/traffic lanes, doesn't mean that Boston is bike-friendly.

The real message from this absolute failure by the grand jury & DA is that a driver of any vehicle can do anything that they want to someone on a bicycle, and not worry about repercussions. Letter of the law be damned.

GBIAction

Wait a moment, what the F am I missing? The driver hit someone and "fled the scene" and then he is not charged, with anything? Fogetting for a moment who was at fault for the basic incident of the truck hitting the cyclist, how in the name of decency is leaving the scene not a crime? i am getting a headache thinking about this.

My heart goes out to the cyclist and the family .

wrote4luck

It gets scary out there sometimes. I've been chastised and criticized for this on here before, but I carry a S&W J-Frame .357MAG when I ride. I've had too many close calls, and one guy ran me off the road in 2007 and said he was going to kill me with an axe he pulled out of the bed of his truck. That event made me realize how cheap some people value life. I'm still alive, but had I been carrying then, in hindsight, I would've shot him in self defense the minute he grabbed that weapon.

BillyD

Provocative.