I waited to post about this until the driver was found.
#1
Cop Magnet
Thread Starter
I waited to post about this until the driver was found.
Long story short, a local cyclist and father of 10 was hit and killed on 27AUG. He was in the bike lane on a road I frequently ride myself. It didn't take police long to find the offending vehicle (which had been abandoned), but it was only until today that we received word the driver was found and charged. Her actions were a trifecta of heinousness: 1) high on Percocet, 2) texting and looking down when she hit Charles, and 3) she tried to cover up what she did.
https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/wisc...d-father-of-10
Charles' family lives only a few streets away from me. If there is any silver lining, a GoFundMe was established for his wife and children, and so far it's raised over $200k.
https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/wisc...d-father-of-10
Charles' family lives only a few streets away from me. If there is any silver lining, a GoFundMe was established for his wife and children, and so far it's raised over $200k.
Likes For JW Fas:
Likes For JoeyBike:
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3,947
Bikes: Trek 1100 road bike, Roadmaster gravel/commuter/beater mountain bike
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2281 Post(s)
Liked 1,710 Times
in
936 Posts
The sad thing is that you don't have to be high on Percocet to run over someone on a bike because you were texting. But I'm sure that contributed to her poor decision making. Hope they throw the book at her.
#6
Flying and Riding
I live in WI and am frequently amazed and infuriated to read news articles about someone getting arrested for their (wait for it).. 12, 13, or 14th OWI (operating while intoxicated). And they STILL get a comparative slap on the hand, usually a year in jail and their license stays suspended/revoked. Why you ask? Because the Wisconsin Tavern League pays an obscene amount of money into legislative election campaigns. I wish I could be surprised that the driver is from Wisconsin but sadly I'm not.
Likes For sam21fire:
#7
Senior Member
I see this as a trend that the driver is normally not charged if he stays at the scene and victims are either pedestrians or cyclists.
The only time drivers are charged are
1) hit-and-run;
2) DUI or suspended or no licence;
3) already wanted by the police;
4) the victim is in a car or motor vehicle.
In the case of this story, it's hit-and-run, DUI and no licence.
The only time drivers are charged are
1) hit-and-run;
2) DUI or suspended or no licence;
3) already wanted by the police;
4) the victim is in a car or motor vehicle.
In the case of this story, it's hit-and-run, DUI and no licence.
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 1,680
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 806 Post(s)
Liked 1,612 Times
in
764 Posts
It's a good idea, and if it could somehow be technologically feasible for the phone to detect (a) it's location in the car, and (b) if it was not being used in a hands free manner, then such a law would be great.
#11
Senior Member
I wouldn't doubt that it's already possible for cell phones to already be able to detect who the driver is. I also would not doubt that the hesitancy is political.
Any politician who invokes this law would lose the next election.
Also, as long as this solution is not implemented, all the onus is on the driver who becomes involved in a collision. But if this solution were in place, then cell phone manufactures would have to take some responsibility if a collision were to occur because the detection failed to stop the driver from using the cell phone.
Any politician who invokes this law would lose the next election.
Also, as long as this solution is not implemented, all the onus is on the driver who becomes involved in a collision. But if this solution were in place, then cell phone manufactures would have to take some responsibility if a collision were to occur because the detection failed to stop the driver from using the cell phone.
Likes For JoeyBike:
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: New Rochelle, NY
Posts: 38,546
Bikes: too many bikes from 1967 10s (5x2)Frejus to a Sumitomo Ti/Chorus aluminum 10s (10x2), plus one non-susp mtn bike I use as my commuter
Mentioned: 139 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5703 Post(s)
Liked 2,433 Times
in
1,346 Posts
\I'm not sure that doubling the fine is enough. Maybe the fine should be something like $0.50 per pound of the car (per the registration docs). Also, suspending driver's licenses doesn't seem to work much. Possibly judges taking away the offending cell phone for a period might hurt more.
__________________
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,970
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2475 Post(s)
Liked 722 Times
in
513 Posts
OMG. FB lives! As far back as 8 or 10 years ago I once had a GPS that had voice control. Voice Command mode didn't work all that well so I would be tempted to just try and use it conventionally. Nothing doing. If you were even in stop and go traffic it wouldn't take any input from the screen. Most phones know that you are driving and throw up a defeatable 'driving mode'. That is more than enough. If you defeat the 'driving mode' feature of your smartphone and are then implicated in a fatal accident, that should be that! It would only take a few permanent license suspensions to get the word out that texting and driving are fatal to your operators privileges. As I understand it, being a cyclist in Western Europe is much safer than in the U.S. mainly because there is zero tolerance there for killing a cyclist. Even if the cyclist were somehow at fault, you don't get to blame them and go on with your life like nothing happened. They don't jail you forever but you won't ever (legally) drive again. Makes the drivers pay double the usual amount of attention when they spot a cyclist.
#15
Cop Magnet
Thread Starter
Today there was a memorial ride held for Charlie. Donations were collected to further assist his family. Approximately 500 cyclists showed up to the event.
Recap of the ride:
Recap of the ride:
Likes For JW Fas:
#16
genec
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: West Coast
Posts: 27,079
Bikes: custom built, sannino, beachbike, giant trance x2
Mentioned: 86 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 13658 Post(s)
Liked 4,532 Times
in
3,158 Posts
I see this as a trend that the driver is normally not charged if he stays at the scene and victims are either pedestrians or cyclists.
The only time drivers are charged are
1) hit-and-run;
2) DUI or suspended or no licence;
3) already wanted by the police;
4) the victim is in a car or motor vehicle.
In the case of this story, it's hit-and-run, DUI and no licence.
The only time drivers are charged are
1) hit-and-run;
2) DUI or suspended or no licence;
3) already wanted by the police;
4) the victim is in a car or motor vehicle.
In the case of this story, it's hit-and-run, DUI and no licence.
#17
genec
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: West Coast
Posts: 27,079
Bikes: custom built, sannino, beachbike, giant trance x2
Mentioned: 86 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 13658 Post(s)
Liked 4,532 Times
in
3,158 Posts
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,059
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18320 Post(s)
Liked 15,299 Times
in
7,231 Posts
I see this as a trend that the driver is normally not charged if he stays at the scene and victims are either pedestrians or cyclists.
The only time drivers are charged are
1) hit-and-run;
2) DUI or suspended or no licence;
3) already wanted by the police;
4) the victim is in a car or motor vehicle.
In the case of this story, it's hit-and-run, DUI and no licence.
The only time drivers are charged are
1) hit-and-run;
2) DUI or suspended or no licence;
3) already wanted by the police;
4) the victim is in a car or motor vehicle.
In the case of this story, it's hit-and-run, DUI and no licence.
#20
Newbie
Join Date: Sep 2022
Location: Honam
Posts: 36
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 24 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 15 Times
in
9 Posts
Exactly. You *can* be, but there's no guarantee. You can provide video evidence and have witnesses, but if no one died and you (the victim) did not have your car damaged, the police may just tell you pound sand. I've heard about too many stories to trust that committing a crime leads to arrest. If you commit a crime, the police may arrest you, or not. If it's very cloudy, then it may rain, or not.
#21
Grupetto Bob
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Seattle-ish
Posts: 6,067
Bikes: Bikey McBike Face
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2512 Post(s)
Liked 5,430 Times
in
2,827 Posts
Likes For rsbob:
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Toronto, CANADA
Posts: 6,198
Bikes: ...a few.
Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2009 Post(s)
Liked 405 Times
in
231 Posts
So tragic, and happens far too often where the driver flees the scene thinking she can get away with killing someone. What despicable person, after hitting someone with a car, would leave them there to die? Distracted driving is going to be the death of all cyclists.
While riding home the other day I happen to glance over a passing vehicle along a winding road. The woman driver had one hand on the wheel and the other holding a phone. I yelled at her to get the f**k off her phone. She started to slow down to pull over, but thought better of it. Can't tell you what I might have said or done if she had stopped, but I'm sure it would have ruined both our days. I reported to incident in our Road Watch program.
While riding home the other day I happen to glance over a passing vehicle along a winding road. The woman driver had one hand on the wheel and the other holding a phone. I yelled at her to get the f**k off her phone. She started to slow down to pull over, but thought better of it. Can't tell you what I might have said or done if she had stopped, but I'm sure it would have ruined both our days. I reported to incident in our Road Watch program.
Likes For mcours2006:
#23
Senior Member
So tragic, and happens far too often where the driver flees the scene thinking she can get away with killing someone. What despicable person, after hitting someone with a car, would leave them there to die? Distracted driving is going to be the death of all cyclists.
While riding home the other day I happen to glance over a passing vehicle along a winding road. The woman driver had one hand on the wheel and the other holding a phone. I yelled at her to get the f**k off her phone. She started to slow down to pull over, but thought better of it. Can't tell you what I might have said or done if she had stopped, but I'm sure it would have ruined both our days. I reported to incident in our Road Watch program.
While riding home the other day I happen to glance over a passing vehicle along a winding road. The woman driver had one hand on the wheel and the other holding a phone. I yelled at her to get the f**k off her phone. She started to slow down to pull over, but thought better of it. Can't tell you what I might have said or done if she had stopped, but I'm sure it would have ruined both our days. I reported to incident in our Road Watch program.
#24
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Toronto, CANADA
Posts: 6,198
Bikes: ...a few.
Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2009 Post(s)
Liked 405 Times
in
231 Posts
I've offered video clips and pics as well, but they've never contacted me for them.