FBinNY 

Offered without comment.

Cyclist draws 1 year jail sentence for fatally knocking over a grandmother in Hereford, UK.

nesteel 

Cool. Cyclist gets more jail time for causing the death of a pedestrian than a driver does for causing the death of a cyclist. Seems perfectly legit

howsteepisit

How about if the unknown driver you refer to was driving on the sidewalk with no brakes and had been warned explicitly not to drive there?

Dchiefransom

I don't think the sentence had much to do with how he was getting around. Too much negligence involved.

CB HI

He should have gotten 12 years rather than 12 months, especially with 11 prior convictions.

mc9000

Only 21, but with 11 previous convictions and had already been warned -- he got lucky only getting a year.

Chris0516

Having lived in London in later part of the 1970's. Back then, it was commonplace to see cars parked either half, or totally on the sidewalk.

But I don't recall, a street becoming a veritable 'farmers market'. Of course it is 40yrs. since I first got there(I only lived there three years). So, Regulations may have changed since then.

KonAaron Snake 

I definitely think that we should compare the legal systems and trial results of two different countries, with two different risk/balancing act profiles, as though they are the same thing. I know that I feel qualified to comment on a foreign legal system that I know just enough about to know that it's very different from ours.

I just hope that I can find an amnesty international letter writing campaign.

CliffordK

I thought I'd look up a highly publicized collision where Jason W. Marshall killed Jill Tarlov in Central Park, now a couple of years ago.

Cyclist Jason Marshall who killed Jill Tarlov spotted going through red lights | Daily Mail Online

Apparently no charges were filed.

And, Marshall has been spotted running lights after the accident.

So, it is much better to go on cycling rampage in the USA than in the UK.

KonAaron Snake 

And what one individual prosecutor chose to do in one location in one state is definitely an adequate basis for forming an opinion about our justice system.

PS - not sure about where you're from, but in urban areas on the east coast just saying someone ran a light is hardly indicative of irresponsible cycling.

CB HI

Post a hatchet piece for proof of your claims? Really!

Even the head line is a flat out lie. The son is in a designed child carrier. Yeah the mention that in the story text hoping reading glance over it after reading the headline lie.

I saw the video of his so called running of a red light. From what I recall of the video, I think it was a CBS guy following him hoping to get a bad deed on video. Seemed the cyclist entered the intersection on a yellow that turned red after he entered. Hardly blowing through a red.

There were no signs he was racing with anyone. It did not even look like he was going 15 mph.

As to the prosecution of the death, NYPD was not able to establish the cyclist speed. The cyclist was in the bike lane but had to swerve out of it to avoid pedestrians who stepped in front of him. The swerve took the cyclist into the CBS executives wife (no wonder is on the cyclist ass and following him around) who had just stepped off the curb. The cyclist yelled a warning, but the woman seemed not to hear and the cyclist was unable to stop before hitting her. The cyclist sent out an apology the day after the woman died.

CliffordK likes to make excuses for motorist and always finds fault with whatever the cyclist did, so why is he not trying to blame the pedestrian here?

Don't get me wrong, there may have been things the cyclist could have done better to avoid a collision. But the pedestrians who stepped in front of the cyclist were the proximate cause of this death. This death has little to nothing to do with the OP story.

jefnvk

Why should it be any different if the vehicle you are operating in a reckless manner is a car or a bike? It is your responsibility to operate it in a safe manner. Taking a stance that since it is a cyclist, the punishment shouldn't occur because you are a cyclist is no different than taking the attitude that a motorist shouldn't be punished because you don't think bikes should be on the road.

A lot of European cities have streets that become pedestrian zones at certain times, for things such as markets or in areas where there is a lot of nightlife and a lot of folks milling around. Many will even have retractable bollards in the streets that pop up to stop traffic from entering, but generally bikes are as unwelcome as cars. It is actually quite nice, I wish we'd do more of it here.

mconlonx

In 2009, a driver in Hereford got off without serving time for killing a cyclist, but since then, there have been drivers in the UK who have done jail time for killing cyclists.

CB HI

At least the police stopped this cyclist from doing the evil deed.

At least this cyclist knows what he is doing, unlike the OP cyclist.

phoebeisis

What ever happened to the cyclist in San Fran-2 -3 years ago
who hit and I think-killed an older pedestrian
The cyclist was "doing" some sort of application where the participants TIME all their routes
post times-and try to beat one another I guess?
It was reported that the cyclist "was speeding" and "ran" a red light.
The accident happened at the bottom of a hill- at a red-light.
It caused a lot of ill will at the time.
Charlie

PS LOOKED IT UP- apparently he didn't go to jail-despite the serious charge-but people usually don't go to jail for traffic accidents-if they aren't drunk

The Marin County bicyclist who fatally struck a pedestrian crossing the street in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service.

About a dozen family members of the victim, 71-year-old Sutchi Hui, were present. Terry Hui, son of the victim, read a statement in court.

“Please don’t squander the second chance you have to become a good and compassionate person,” Hui said to Chris Bucchere in the statement. He called Bucchere’s notorious blog post about the incident, where the cyclist wrote about crashing into a pedestrian but lamented the loss of his bike helmet, “narcissistic and insensitive.”

Terry Hui asked that Bucchere’s community service involve working with the elderly, building housing with groups such as Habitat for Humanity, and working with groups that help victims of head trauma recover.

Judge James Collins said he would give his “strong recommendation to the probation department that they follow” the request of the victim’s son.

mconlonx

Woah, wait, you mean he wasn't locked up for MURDER!?!? Or told he could never ride a bike again?!? Oh, the injustice of it all...

Rollfast

It would be MANSLAUGHTER if that was to be how it was prosecuted.


MURDER is premeditated. Killing somebody by accident is not a thought out act, unless it is the consequence of another planned act that became a fatality.


If you decide to torture a person and they die, that's murder, to present a simplistic example.


Murder is not the same as killing in the same way a square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not necessarily a square, or however that goes.


Vehicle involved fatalities are generally potential manslaughters, even drunk driving.


correct that however you wish but it wasn't murder. It wasn't very smart or the cyclist either.


If it can be proven that a person intended to kill someone with a vehicle that would probably be a murder. It's not the death, it's criminal intent.

CB HI

The cyclist defense attorney showed a video of the cyclist entering the intersection while the light was yellow. Plus there was indications the pedestrian stepped off the curb without looking and before he had a walk signal.

The only reason the cyclist likely got anything was because of the blog post. The blog post was insensitive, but was likely made while the cyclist was still suffering from the concussion that put him unconscious.

Considering everything, seems the sentence was the harshest reasonable judgement and seems fair.

phoebeisis

sober people rarely go to jail for traffic accidents-even fatal ones-like roll fast says-he didn't intend to kill someone

the castro street rider didn't go to jail-despite being unsympathetic because of his online postings
community service- plus probation sounds about right

Just because the light is yellow when you enter the intersection-
doesn't give you a free pass to hit pedestrians
you are supposed to maintain control of your vehicle-and ride with the conditions in mind
conditions being an intersection with lots of pedestrians


he was treated fairly-

phoebeisis

The Brit was jailed because
he was riding in a no riding area(time restricted)
and he had been warned-by cops-to not ride there
and the bike had no brakes
and he had "11 previous convictions" didn't say what they were-guessing it they were significant felonies they would have mentioned that

Jean3n16

after 11 times, i think he has more than a few second chances

CB HI

All points that I and others here made during the original story as the facts came out. Sadly too many were ready to hang him, especially the SF police who claimed he ran a red and treated him much harsher than motorist in SF who collide with pedestrians resulting in death.

scott967

I think Murder typically requires a mental state of "malice", with different "degrees" depending on premeditation. Though some jurisdictions have the crime of Felony Murder when a homicide occurs during the commission of some other felony, regardless of mental state.

scott s.
.

Rollfast

Thank you for clarifying this.

salcedo

The authorities would conclude that the pedestrian was not paying attention while walking and therefore was at fault. The driver would get a fine for careless driving and a few points on his/her license. We have seen this sort of incidents before.