livedarklions

You lose me on "despite", that's pretty neutral as it would seem to be normal to at least ticket someone for a speeding offense when a death has ensued. I agree that the rest of the highlighted language is a bit slanted, but to describe that as "inflammatory" seems a bit..... inflammatory.

I-Like-To-Bike

The difference between very biased headline/text and a biased headline/text. If you care to make the distinction.

IMO, "failed to maintain speed" does not indicate speeding, and a speeding ticket does not normally get written immediately just because a death has occurred. I don't know what ""failed to maintain speed"" is supposed to mean, so I'd be pressed to determine what ticket to immediately issue for that. As far as more serious charges related to the death, I assume that there is a certain amount of investigation required and protocol to follow in order to charge the driver, as has been previously pointed out by noimaginatition.

livedarklions

My main point is that if you're going to pick apart the article on the basis of loaded word use, it's a bit ironic to use a loaded word like "inflammatory" that I think grossly overstates the rhetorical tone of the article. "Despite" just isn't much of a loaded word. I'm not going to quibble further over what is or isn't normal for a traffic violation, but I think if the officer determined that such a violation occurred at a scene of a serious accident, yes it would be somewhat normal to write that up as a ticket.


Generally, the threshold for giving someone a ticket is a hell of a lot lower than charging them with a crime, one typically does not perform an investigation before writing a traffic ticket, get serious.

"Failure to maintain speed" is a violation in Texas which means the driver was operating "a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances then existing.” That's a pretty low bar.

Bulette

Felony charges.

https://www.bikelaw.com/2021/11/felo...jhoQYFdxaaf0nM

Edit: My comment is apparently in regards to the other six cyclists hit in Texas in the past two months.

Paul Barnard

Bravo!!!!!!!!!!

JW Fas

The penalties aren't mentioned in that blog, but each count carries 2-20 years in prison plus up to $10k in fines.

I-Like-To-Bike

Wouldn't this be more relevant if posted in the thread that discussed this incident?
https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-...ck-driver.html

Bulette

Guess there are enough "six hit in Texas" headlines to get them confused.

livedarklions

I think that's what the six flags are for.

mr_bill

Michael Weaver, 66, is charged with criminally negligent homicide, according to Sgt. Erik Burse of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The six cyclists were pedaling along FM 787 near Rye, Texas, around 11 a.m. on Oct. 30 when Weaver steered his Ford Escape into the group. Kent Wosepka, a 51-year-old cycling enthusiast from Massachusetts, was air lifted to a Beaumont hospital, where he died the next day. Two others, including Wosepka's fiancée, were also hospitalized in serious condition. None of the other cyclists were injured.

But please, focus on the so-called "inflammatory" headline. Can’t see the forest....

-mr. bill

JW Fas

All the more reason he shouldn't have been driving in the first place. If by some miracle he isn't convicted, at the very least he should have his license revoked permanently.

CliffordK

I presume this is your data source (or perhaps common data).
https://www.governing.com/archive/mo...tate-data.html

The problem with a statistic like this is that it is "Per Capita". It is extraordinarily hard to estimate the number of cyclists, or number of bicycle miles ridden.

It may well be that there are very few cyclists in Texas.

Here is an estimate of bike commuters by state.
https://thebikeadviser.com/bike-comm...united-states/

Well, the USA certainly isn't setting any world records for bike commuters.

Oregon leads the nation at 1.9%
California hits #7 at 0.86%.
Florida gets #14 at 0.59%.

Texas us way down at #43 at 0.23%.

So, yes, Texas is down a bit at mortality per capita, but Oregon has almost 10x the percentage of cycle commuters.

Perhaps also a good number of recreational and exercise cyclists.

Florida is unique with perhaps a bit more temperate weather, a large number of retirees, and a lot of people, all conspiring to create conflicts between cyclists and vehicles.

CliffordK

Oh, we really need self driving cars!!!

I wonder how a Tesla, or some of the other cars with auto braking would have handled the situation.

JW Fas

This is a good point. Kansas and Missouri are pretty low on that per-capita death list, but cyclists aren't exactly populous here, and I'm in the KC metro where they're more prevalent than the BFE portions of each state.

jack pot 

this happened on a dangerous road... 787 aint a road for pedaling... 787 is about 40 miles of two lane twisties where the crotch rocketeers like to turn and burn ...................... guys come from Houston and around just to play between the log trucks and pick ups ... i aint ever ridden it on a bicycle But I have motoD it many many times

mr_bill

Here are your "twisties." The "twisties" have absolutely nothing to do with the criminally negligent manslaughter of Kent Wosepka.



-mr. bill

jack pot 

well Mr Massachusetts guy Im glad you know my Texas roads so well and since you pointed out what a "safe" road this is, I will make this additional comment. Where these guys got hit is 2 lanes and no shoulder. There are 20 to 40 blind curves between saratoga and cleveland Tx. This 30 mile stretch of road is mainly used by logging trucks and oilfield trucks and backwoods crazies revving their pick up trucks. On the weekends the moto rocketeers are knee dragging in both directions. Any people riding bicycles on 787 aint planned ahead very well and are risking curses and injuries.............Outrage at the DA driver aside, knee jerk defenses of bicycle guys who needlessly expose themselves to harm aint conducive to safer biking and in this case there were a lot of safer east west backroads in the area than 787.

DangerousDanR

[QUOTE=jack pot;22411344 There are 20 to 40 blind curves between saratoga and cleveland Tx[/QUOTE]

From the Houston Chronical: (https://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...y-16710611.php)For what it is worth I used to go to that part of the world for my work. Those Farm to Market roads are NOT "twistie" or even close. I did a "Google Maps tour" of the whole thing and I don't believe I found a single "blind" corner. The driver was blind and he was still driving.

I get it. It is a rural area and there is no easy way to get around for a 66 year old (young fella about my age), so he drives a car. We had an old guy in the small town I grew up in who couldn't see well enough to drive and he drove a tractor on those rural roads.

Oh, by the way, this is a blind corner on a road with log trucks. This stretch of road was very popular with bicyclists. We had miles of this kind of road and we never had a bicycle / motor vehicle collision.


https://www.google.com/maps/@44.4721...2!8i6656?hl=en

livedarklions

And...
Here's why I hate these threads.

Go ahead, the whole road is on google maps, link us up to images of the 20-40 "twisties" you claim are there. I ride roads with that layout a lot. I don't have a close calls on them.

GhostRider62

It is absolutely not a road I would chose to ride. 60 mph. Very, very narrow. No shoulder to speak of.

Everyone is right, the driver is still responsible for the death but the fact still remains

jack pot 

FYI this is what the deceased posted the day before the crash > "Still in Texas," Wosepka posted Friday, one day before the collision. "Worst drivers so far." so it aint like he was some innocent victim of a wrong turn .......... as for as your lack of "close calls" , Im sure it is because your TDF thighs and super swivel neck and 20/15 vision separate you from the usual road fodder .......................... so don't hate the thread just love your luck and keep on riding those back roads where the squids play and the uninsured loggers wreak havoc.

livedarklions

Well, the opposite of "innocent" is "guilty", so you've convicted him of his own demise for riding in Texas.
'
I have nothing to say to that that won't get me infracted.

mr_bill

You know who I know? See if you can connect the dots while you are urinating on his grave.

-mr. bill

jack pot 

sorry for the mislead ... he was not guilty of anything...he just had the unfortunate happen to him... it could have been anyone who rides on 2 wheels ...i said what i did because this thread is A & safety and based on my thousands of east texas moto miles i would never advocate riding 787

sloppy12

I think everyone understands you don't want bikes on the roads you ride moto on..