FLCC> crushing of local cyclist

[Jack Rueckheim]

John, I guess I have to say that I would not be in favor of such a letter,
at least for now, for various reasons.  First, there is nothing in the
article to say that the accident happened because it WAS an SUV that was
involved-which seems to be part of your reasoning for suggesting this
letter. It probably could have just as well been a TCAT bus.  Second, its
not clear that the Jeep driver did anything wrong.  Third, it doesn't seem
that the victim became a victim as a result of being a cyclist.  He could
just as well have been a pedestrian or bystander.  If the person had been
hurt or killed as a result of a malicious or negligent act toward a cyclist
and was not going to be charged, then I could see the FLCC weighing in (even
if the offending vehicle were NOT an SUV).

 

Jack

 

  _____  

From: flcc-bounces at icycle.org [mailto:flcc-bounces at icycle.org] On Behalf Of
John Dennis
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 10:39 AM
To: flcc at icycle.org
Subject: FLCC> crushing of local cyclist

 

The photos in today's Ithaca Journal
<http://ithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage>  of the two-vehicle crash
that resulted in the crushing of a cyclist and his tricycle under a Fedex
truck document the extraordinary momentum that an SUV can have even when
traveling in an urban neighborhood.  

 

Over the past ten years or so, I have heard SUV owners on the topic of why
they bought an SUV. Somewhere in the explanation was usually the sort of
tongue-in-cheek statement, "Well, if I get into an accident, it will be the
other guy who takes the hit. (chuckle,chuckle)."   Isn't it time to rein in
this Darwinian urge with at least an insistence that such driver's be held
fully culpable for reckless use of their vehicles in part because they chose
a vehicle that is well known to be more hazardous than other cars to other
users of the road?  

 

Of course, SUV owners as a group can probably afford much better lawyers
than can riders of tricycles, so I suspect that the SUV driver in
yesterday's crash either will not be charged at all (the IJ makes no mention
of any charges) and, if charged, will successfully defend herself against
any and all criminal and civil charges. 

 

In any case, I would be in favor of the President of the FLCC writing a
letter of concern to the Tompkins County District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson
and to local newspapers. 

 

Best,   John

 


No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.15.3/1081 - Release Date: 10/19/2007
5:41 PM


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://icycle.org/pipermail/flcc_icycle.org/attachments/20071020/7bcd2e89/attachment.html