6 Houston area cyclists injured by pranking truck driver
 

16 y.o. kid was the driver. Trying to accelerate hard and trying to blow diesel exhaust over the group of riders on a training ride. Driver still not arrested as of the article posting. I'm sure a lot of us have been subject to being given a deliberate close shave by motorists and I'm sure this must have been scary. Hope for a fast recovery for those injured.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/houston-b...-waller-county

Updated story with comments from the local DA:
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/16...-area-cyclists

Update 9/30
Updated article with comments from the DA's office: https://www.khou.com/article/news/cr...5-903486be6edd
Link to the Waller County DA's FB page where he comments at length on the case in a couple of posts: https://www.facebook.com/WallerCountyDAEltonMathis

Best wishes to those injured.
I hope this idiot kid gets the book thrown at him.
Then I hope the lawsuits hobble him for life.

16 year old, in a 50,000.00 USD truck, pulling pranks on a high way.

Hard Lessons for sure. Wondering if he was recording it on his cell phone?

Oh... How I miss Road Biking... Hoping for a more than fast recovery for the ones who spilled... Lets Fix Those Bikes!

I wonder if the attorney his father hires will use the "affluenza" approach.

How do the police manage to not arrest the kid?

Another sad and enraging incident.

I'm getting against serious consequences for the idiot. Suspended license and some probation or whatnot.

But the cyclists should pauperize his family with civil suits. Take them for everything they are worth, and more.

What he was *trying* to do should also be a crime.

He was trying to "coal roll" the cyclists, a thing in some parts of the country.

Yeah, article didn't even indicate he'd been detained. Haven't seen an update today yet. I'll have to check.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7d7768a398.jpg
Unfortunately, a lot of jurisdictions see the act of running over a group of cyclists (or one cyclist) as "a mistake", even if that "mistake" was part of an intentional act of intimidation. Sort of like trying to frighten someone by swinging a baseball bat at them, and then 'mistakenly' cracking them in the skull. Whoops, my bad.
"Rolling Coal" is illegal in some areas. I had turned over a video from my GoPro camera on my bike of someone doing just that. The driver was found (the GoPro got a clear picture of the truck tag before the cloud of diesel soot obscured the view) and the driver was given a citation.
As has been stated, there will probably be little done legally to punish this kid. At the worst, he will probably get a fine and possibly a suspension of his license. However, the civil lawsuits will hopefully teach him (and his parents, who most likely bought him the truck, or allowed him to drive it) a long lasting lesson.

What will happen next: This poor young man will get consoling and therapy to him help deal with this tragic unavoidable mistake, meanwhile the criminal cyclists will get a misdemeanor ‘failure to yield’ and community service. (Just as soon as they’re out of the ICU).

Another case in which eight hours or 150 hours of on road bicycle experience should be a requirement to get a drivers licence.

Punishment should include 1) a month of traffic enforcement at the site of his offence; 2) return to classroom driving lessons with specific focus on vulnerable road users.

Other than administrative actions against his license, seems tough to do much to a minor, either criminally or civilly.

scott s.
.

I doubt the cops care. Prosecutor's office will look the other way. COVID, overworked, short-staffed, etc. Prob 25% of drivers laugh when a cyclist gets hit. If you could find his instagram etc. I'll bet he and his friends think it's funny.

I doubt his friends think it's funny. They're probably pissed the cyclist damaged his truck.

i don't know about this jurisdiction, but juveniles get prosecuted as adults all the time.



of course...

Quote:

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In 2012, Black and Latino youth combined made up 58% of the California’s juvenile population aged 10-17

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i wouldn't want to be held forever responsible for dumb **** i did as a 16 year old, but this kid deserves at the very least to lose his license for many, many years, do some heinous community service, and maybe a little time.

I could see suspending his license for 10 years and force him to ride a bicycle to get around Houston for at least 5 of those years.

I don't know Texas criminal code, but in most states it would be criminal assault "an act which causes the victim to apprehend imminent physical harm" and criminal battery "unwanted touching"

The disciplinary challenge here is two-fold. On one hand the 16-year-old needs to be punished for his actions. On the other hand, his parents bear responsibility for not raising him properly.
My solution? Require the kid to pay restitution for the replacement value of the bicycles plus the cyclists' medical bills, BUT don't reinstate his license until restitution has been paid in full. That means the kid will have to work a while to acquire the money, and his parents will be forced to drive him to his job every day. It appropriately punishes all parties for their failures.

F that. It's what we get when social media raises our kids. Take his license away forever and make him ride a bike.

Anyone notice the article said the cyclists had just been coal rolled moments before? Idiot teenager playing copycat.

Who ever thought giving minors a license to kill was a good thing??

They can surely take away the driving privilege.

Also put the kid in detention.

I would think at minimum 2 days in Juvi for every day the victims are in the hospital or rehab, served consecutively for all individuals injured. Plus, of course, full damages for both the cost of the damaged equipment, plus any medical bills, plus lost time at work, plus pain and suffering.

As a juvenile, the parents should also share monetary liability.

Probably they didn't until it hit national news. Bet they care now.

So, if he's charged as a juvenile, that will not be public information. Due to confidentiality laws, I doubt we will know what happened to him as a result of this. Y'all can keep sputtering and assuming, but most likely none of us will ever know anything.

If people want to debate the juvenile justice system, I suggest this is not the correct forum. P&R is.

Here's a link to a story with some updated information: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...n-16490862.php