KD5NRH

I run one because people do plenty of stupid stuff in front of me that doesn't directly affect me, and for sufficiently egregious violations, the local PD enjoys having (and documenting) a "come to Jesus" talk with a dangerous driver. Not sure about the current one, but we used to have a judge who would consider that if they were later in court over a similar offense. It's more of a proactive safety process that way, by giving some of them a harsh reminder that they're neither invisible nor anonymous while they're out screwing around behind the wheel.

northernlights

You intentionally hit a cyclist or pedestrian with your car, that is clearly attempted murder.
I don't care if you are the president of a prestigious college or president of the United States. No one is above the law. Too often the white and the wealthy are allowed to walk away with little more than a slap on the wrist. If the driver was black and poor driving a Hyundai he/she would be doing hard time behind bars.

OTOH, riding a bike on a narrow high-speed road with no shoulder or bike lane is not a low risk activity.
It's pure luck the cyclist had a camera or else there would have been no case.

Crashola

For those who are curious, I checked the docket and trial has been continued until May 29, 2018.

eff-J

Thanks for the update, Crashola. I wondered why I hadn't heard much in the news about this lately.

KD5NRH

Sounds like the guy's hoping to die of natural causes before it's done, and the court is letting him try.

Crashola

It's standard stuff. The court sets a quick trial date to comply with the Speedy Trial Act. The defendant says he needs more time to prepare for trial and waives his speedy trial rights. The trial then gets pushed out.

phoebeisis

Crashola-thanks for the update.
July 5 2017 to May 29 2018-pushing a full year.

Like you say SOP- all the outrage is gone
safe bet he will take some sort of plea-
or maybe he will dig in his heals-hope a jury just sees a solid looking middle aged citizen who "accidentally" hit someone-didn't realize it- and let him completely off the hook
Rider-won't have any injuries to display-and doubt the bruises will look like much in pictures
Jurors will be DRIVERS not riders-they will see that ride as inherently dangerous foolish

I have a bad feeling-he might get off the hook-despite the video(and removing the decals etc)
of course he knew he hit the rider-
and safe bet it was intentional-angry boozer who is so disliked his own son ratted him out-
but it is plausible that it was "accidental"

Keep us posted-hell WE might croak before this is adjudicated
Charlie

FBinNY 

These kinds of things rarely come to trial. So, now the prosecutor and defense attorney for their dance, with the prosecutor holding out the potential sentence if convicted, and the defense holding out the risk o0f acquittal.

It's like any sort of gaming, with each side balancing a sure bet against the consequences of losing. The prosecutor looking for a point where the defense thinks that the risk of trial and a possible stiff sentence isn't justified.

My money's on a fine and some sort of probation and/or suspended sentence, possibly including community service.

On the bright side for those who want a stiff penalty, there are both state and federal charges, so regardless of what the outcomes are, the driver will be paying out serious dough inn legal fees.

In a similar case I was involved in some decades back, the prosecutor warned us that it was difficult to make these cases and he'd have to negotiate something, However, he'd play tough to the end, so the driver wasn't going to get off lightly no matter what.

phoebeisis

FBinNY- yeah that seems about right.
Your guess is probably no jail
In a way it is "too bad" the rider didn't have a serious injury-photos arm/leg in cast-bruised up face.
But the rider lucked out-so did the driver.
Oh well.
Charlie

FBinNY 

While many want jail sentences for stuff like this, the reality is that jail sentences don't serve society well, and impose huge costs on the state. I prefer stiff fines, including if necessary forcing folks to liquidate assets to pay, and/or alternative sentences like weekend jail, long probation, and any other alternatives which send a serious message, yet don't destroy lives or cost the state as much.

If this guy ends up paying a stiff fine, after paying his lawyer $10,000 to stay out of jail, I'd consider that justice has been served.

phoebeisis

Right- $10,000-$25,000 all total
plus the bad publicity
seems about right for "no significant injury" accident

Yeah a JERK TAX-
jail time pointless for someone who probably won't re-offend-and "maybe" it was accidental

KD5NRH

IMO, a lot of the fine-only crimes need both some mandatory community service and an option to pay off the whole thing in community service. That way the guy making $250k/yr still has to suffer through 8-16 hours of mopping the courthouse or scrubbing graffiti in the park, while the guy making $8.50/hour minus child support doesn't have to give up 2+ weeks of his take home pay for the same minor infraction.
I've seen a fair number of low-earners who were actually substantially better off to take personal leave and sit out their ticket in jail than work to pay it off. Some counties credit the jail time at $200+/day, with no taxes coming out of it, so unless you take home $25+/hour, (assuming 40 hour work weeks) it's not hard to end up in that situation. Much better, IMO, to offer them $25/hr credit for community service and not have to pay all the other associated costs of incarceration. Maybe more for harder and/or higher skill jobs.

FBinNY 

I agree that there should be a serious effort to equalize the effects of court imposed sanctions. Some countries do this by basing fines on annual income, so essentially everyone is paying the same number of hours out of their lives. There are plenty of options to improve the current system, but political will to do so is lacking, and judges hands are tied often limiting them to options that don't serve anybody.

shelbyfv

Here is the latest from the Nashville newspaper. Trial scheduled for May. Natchez Trace Parkway bike incident will go to trial in 2018

KD5NRH

Better than a fixed amount, but still not great; if a fine is defined as, say, 1% of your income, that means a $100k salary gets you a $1000 fine and a $20k salary gets you $200. The unfortunate reality, though, is that even a $10k fine is not likely to hurt the $100k earner with significant disposable income as much as $200 hurts the $20k with virtually no disposable income. Then there's going to be the subset with little to no reported income, who may or may not be earning "under the table" and can easily laugh off the $100-200 fine adjusted for their indigent status.

However, the guy with a $20k income likely has a lot of free time, (unless he's got one of those under the table jobs) so why not let him work off the whole fine on evenings and/or weekends. Gets him doing something useful, and may get him to realize that a second job wouldn't be so bad after all. Meanwhile, the $100k earner is going to feel the pinch of having to go do a full day or two of unpaid labor.

Community service is an option for a lot of things, but it's so rarely used except on indigents (and usually for PI or drug possession, at least here) that it has a disproportionate stigma attached. Make it where every speeder, red light runner or jaywalker has to do a day regardless of their income, and people will get used to the idea that, yes, at some point, darn near everybody of every social stratum is going to be seen taking their turn at it, just like sitting through a defensive driving course used to be before the online course was an option. (And I know full well some people will pay $50 for someone else to sit through the videos and answer the test questions. IMO, it should at least require a computer with a webcam attached, and randomly snap pictures to see who's really in front of the computer.)

FBinNY 

We can debate sentencing equity until the cows come home, but this isn't the place for it. This thread is about a specific event, and we should try to stay on topic.

That's doubly true because if this becomes a debate about sentencing equity, it'll get moved to the P&R forum, which would be unfair to those who care about the original subject.

trailangel

So, we've got about one month left until trial.... or was there a payoff?

Oneder

Some people won't believe this can happen to them til it happens to them, like it did to me.

Is this GoPro camera hi fidelity enough to capture someone's license plate number? If so then I may need to get a little accessory upgrade.

Also hit and run is a felony, fines aren't even in it. If convicted this guy won't work in a university again (or anywhere else worth a damn), and will hopefully get some unleasant prison time as well.

Hahaha. not a surprise in the least to me, I grew up surrounded by these people and there's a shocking amount of scumbags in the ivy league crowd.

Ryan Olivas

This is the reason why camera is a must for everyone during travel. Anyways, I'm glad that the driver was caught, It was all clear in the video what the driver did.

Ballenxj

WOW! Just WOW! These type of incidents are scary. I hate to say this, but I think there was a lack of common sense on the parts of both sides. Going up a long hill riding two abreast with a double yellow line is not being very considerate to people that have to be somewhere in a timely manner. I'm most definitely not condoning what the vehicle driver did either. This should not be a war of us against them, and this is what it looks like it's turning into.
I'm glad the guy got caught.

Oneder

That means they have something in their hands, like a cell phone.

trailangel

This is a National Parkway, designated bikeway/recreational road, managed by the National Park Service. If you need to get somewhere in a timely manor, take a different route.
Read closely, the driver lied about hitting the biker and tried to cover the damage to his vehicle.
If you are guilty of riding two abreast it's not a reason to be run down. The vehicle behind must yield to slower moving vehicles, not run over/into them!

Ballenxj

Of course not, and I don't believe I said anything remotely like that. I was also unaware that this is a designated bike recreational road.

benjdm

What would be different if they were going up a long hill riding single file with a double yellow line? If it's a narrow road, it's still unsafe to pass until you can see far enough ahead. Single file means a passing driver needs more time to pass.

Ballenxj

What ever happened to common courtesy? If I am driving or riding a slower vehicle, bicycle, class A motorhome, etc, if I notice I am slowing somebody else down, I will generally pull over at the first safe opportunity and allow them to pass. I have done that many, many times on my bicycle, as well as motorhome. The law where I live states that a bicycle may occupy the full lane on certain marked roadways. I will still pull far enough off to the side to allow faster traffic room to pass. Just because the law says I can do something does not mean it's always wise.