bicyclist's death is worth $1K fine and driving school

Z · **Joined:** Sat Oct 23, 2004 1:38 pm **Posts:** 7979

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/courts ... ists_death

i don't understand how veering off the road and killing a bicyclist doesn't warrant a stiffer penalty. i'm baffled. maybe some of the lawyers or law students here can help out. i'd think that'd fall under reckless driving, but apparently not in downstate illinois. i'm glad i live in a city where the mayor is a bicyclist and people who hurt bicyclists with cars don't get off as easy.

Elvis Fu · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:33 pm

This was pretty fucked up. She veered so far (while downloading ringtones) that she hit him on the driver's side.

shiv · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:39 pm

Elvis Fu Wrote:

This was pretty fucked up. She veered so far (while downloading ringtones) that she hit him on the driver's side.

jesus christ. she should lose her license for life.

rogneeb · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:07 pm **Posts:** 12618

not sure but next you file a tort suit and get some cash.

Natural Mike · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:40 pm

Z Wrote:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/courts_crime_fire/2006/11/30/woman_is_sentenced_for_bicyclists_death

i don't understand how veering off the road and killing a bicyclist doesn't warrant a penalty stiffer. i'm baffled. maybe some of the lawyers or law students here can help out. i'd think that'd fall under reckless driving, but apparently not in downstate illinois. i'm glad i live in a city where the mayor is a bicyclist and people who hurt bicyclists with cars don't get off as easy.

I too would have expected a much harsher penalty, especially in a bike-friendly area like Champaign. I was actually hit by a car when I was heading home from the U of I undergraduate library one night, but luckily I wasn't hurt.

red · **Joined:** Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:34 am **Posts:** 5009

Pretty disgusting.

According to Gapers Block, here's her myspace page

O Stihl · **Joined:** Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:49 pm **Posts:** 42

Perhaps Haq and Fest will recall a time, not so long from this time, when our father hit a biker, and then claimed she hit him.

But srsly thats uber gay. I'm too lazy to read the article, but was she a student driver at the time (I'm basing this off the fact that "driver school" was in the title)?

Z · **Joined:** Sat Oct 23, 2004 1:38 pm **Posts:** 7979

O Stihl Wrote:

But srsly thats uber gay. I'm too lazy to read the article, but was she a student driver at the time (I'm basing this off the fact that "driver school" was in the title)?

no, she's 19. she's had 3 prior offenses. because of her record, she's being sent to driving school.

fancypants · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:55 pm

Of course, if she was drunk, she'd be locked up for life.

Hegel · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:56 pm

red Wrote:

Pretty disgusting.

According to Gapers Block, here's her myspace page

freakin' protestants.

I am not really shocked by much of anything in the legal sense anymore.

There was that 85 year old man that lost control and killed like 7 people on the sidewalks and he got only 5 years probation because basically he is old.

After he finally came to a stop he yelled at a couple people around, "how come you didnt get out of my way?"

rogneeb · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:07 pm **Posts:** 12618

there's a little thing called intent

12XU · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:29 pm

as i posted here a few months ago - the laws for this sort of thing are never in your favor if you're a cyclist. i got ran over in a bike lane last summer, and while the woman was charged while reckless driving, she got off with something called "safety on a right turn" and a $90 fine. had i been killed i doubt she would've gotten much more than the girl in the article.

FT · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:32 pm

The lesson here is get a car, you two-wheeled hippies.

O Stihl · **Joined:** Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:49 pm **Posts:** 42

FT Wrote:

The lesson here is get a car, you two-wheeled hippies.

Second'd.

Prince of Darkness · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:41 am **Posts:** 11048

FT Wrote:

The lesson here is get a car, you two-wheeled hippies.

I'm not a hippie, i'm a gentleman who doesn't want his girl taking the bus. The bus is infested with crazies and THEM. Course, i feel sorry for anyone who fucks with my veteran.

rogneeb · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:07 pm **Posts:** 12618

Prince of Darkness Wrote:

FT Wrote:

The lesson here is get a car, you two-wheeled hippies.

I'm not a hippie, i'm a gentleman who doesn't want his girl taking the bus. The bus is infested with crazies and THEM. Course, i feel sorry for anyone who fucks with my veteran.

them?

red · **Joined:** Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:34 am **Posts:** 5009

FT Wrote:

The lesson here is get a car, you two-wheeled hippies.

I know you're joking, but how about drivers paying attention? This argument is old and just goes round and round, but if drivers paid attention and bicyclists followed the rules, there'd be a lot less of these awful accidents.

FT · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:21 pm

Yes, I am definitely joking. I'm just bitter that Thornton Melon doesn't manufacture a line of bikes for fat asses like me.

red · **Joined:** Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:34 am **Posts:** 5009

I got my bike when I was waaaaaaaaaay fatter than I am now. And I've seen much bigger on bikes. You can get a hybrid with an XL frame (that would probably suit your height pretty well). Go on AIM. we can talk bikes.

Hegel · **Posted:** Sat Dec 02, 2006 2:21 am

rparis74 Wrote:

there's a little thing called intent

I understand the issue of intent, at least on a basic level. However, a kid I worked with was drunk and got into a wreck and killed someone. Although it is illegal to drink and drive, his intent was not to kill someone in a car accident. However, he got charged with involuntary manslaughter and at age 17 spent the next 4 years of his life in CYA.

Cotton · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 6:12 pm **Posts:** 17155

Kiev Wrote:

I blame the parents too. They allowed her to drive with 3 offenses? Fucking A, if I got a single ticket at that age I wouldn't have been allowed behind the wheel of a car unti I was 21.

I hope there is a huge civil suit. They should lose their home.

her parents? she's 19 dude. How are they responsible for this?

no guru · **Posted:** Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:02 am

rparis74 Wrote:

Prince of Darkness Wrote:

FT Wrote:

The lesson here is get a car, you two-wheeled hippies.

I'm not a hippie, i'm a gentleman who doesn't want his girl taking the bus. The bus is infested with crazies and THEM. Course, i feel sorry for anyone who fucks with my veteran.

them?

THEM = any unsettling person who isn't you

Promethium · **Posted:** Sat Dec 02, 2006 3:42 pm

Chappy Wrote:

rparis74 Wrote:

there's a little thing called intent

I understand the issue of intent, at least on a basic level. However, a kid I worked with was drunk and got into a wreck and killed someone. Although it is illegal to drink and drive, his intent was not to kill someone in a car accident. However, he got charged with involuntary manslaughter and at age 17 spent the next 4 years of his life in CYA.

Yeah, I think the gross negligence involved in this case would have superseded intent. It's one thing if both parties involved broke some sort of traffic law, like the case here in Nebraska involving a Judge who failed to yield and drove into motorcyclist who was making an illegal turn of some sort, but when she hit this guy with the driver's side of her car she essentially showed a willful disregard for motor vehicle safety and gross negligence.

bicyclist's death is worth $1K fine and driving school

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