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Cyclist runs into pedestrian in NYC Central Park - now she's brain dead

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Cyclist runs into pedestrian in NYC Central Park - now she's brain dead

Old 09-19-14, 06:01 PM
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Looks like the aero-bars rather than the bike were brakeless.
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Old 09-19-14, 06:01 PM
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike
The victim is partly to blame. She stepped off of a curb into a roadway without looking both ways. This is not criminal but it is potentially deadly. Does not matter one hoot who is right or wrong. The result is the same. Paying attention to her surroundings ABSOLUTELY would have saved her. If you pay attention I won't have to feel sorry for you since only meteorites, falling airplanes, and hit men are likely to kill you. The cyclist was THERE and visible to any human being. This particular human being did not look. She likely trusted some stupid light that said "Walk". She is legally right, and almost legally dead. If she could have a do-over I think she would pay closer attention while crossing that road.

You are sleeping in your bed and a dump truck loses control and crashes through the wall of your bedroom and kills you - THEN you are an innocent victim.

We must make an attempt to NOT be a victim when out of out beds or we are partly to blame for the results.
Where did you did you get your J.D.? Hollywood Upstairs School of Law? If I were you, I'd ask for my tuition to be refunded. If it can be proven that he saw this woman, and had time to take evasive action, AND REFUSED TO TAKE EVASIVE, action because he had the 'right of way', he's going to held liable for her death.
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Old 09-19-14, 06:22 PM
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Brakes on both sets of bars:


...and there's already a thread on this.
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Old 09-19-14, 06:34 PM
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Originally Posted by dynaryder
Brakes on both sets of bars:


...and there's already a thread on this.
Interrupter levers, I have those on one of my bikes. If he saw this woman, had the time and ability to take evasive action, and refused to do so, he's screwed.
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Old 09-19-14, 06:46 PM
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Originally Posted by spare_wheel
Bah. I'm going to link to cyclosaurus' comment above:

https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-s...l#post17145591





what motivation is there to exercise reasonable care when this society shrugs it's shoulders at pedestrian fatalities.
Sometimes Darwin does work...and those who exercise reasonable care when crossing streets avoid becoming headlines.
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Old 09-19-14, 06:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Fissile
Where did you did you get your J.D.? Hollywood Upstairs School of Law? If I were you, I'd ask for my tuition to be refunded. If it can be proven that he saw this woman, and had time to take evasive action, AND REFUSED TO TAKE EVASIVE, action because he had the 'right of way', he's going to held liable for her death.
Refused to take evasive action? Where is this coming from? How do you garner this leap of logic from what you have read?
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Old 09-19-14, 06:57 PM
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Originally Posted by jeichelberg87
Refused to take evasive action? Where is this coming from? How do you garner this leap of logic from what you have read?
There are witnesses who claim they heard him shouting, "Get out of the way." That proves that he saw her, it could also indicate that he had time to take evasive action. If he saw her, had time and the means to take evasive action, but chose not to because, "I have the right of way, so f*** you", he's screwed.
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Old 09-19-14, 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by dougmc
Given how avid of a Strava user he is, he was probably recording his ride at the time of the crash, so unless he deleted that data, the police probably have exact data on how fast he was going. And if he did delete it, doing so is probably a crime if they can prove it.
What "crime" would that be? Failure to preserve possibly self incriminating evidence in case some prosecutor might like to use it against him at as some future date?
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Old 09-19-14, 07:15 PM
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
What "crime" would that be? Failure to preserve possibly self incriminating evidence in case some prosecutor might like to use it against him at as some future date?
You don't have a grasp of what the 5th amendment really means. Yup, destroying evidence is a crime.
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Old 09-19-14, 07:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Fissile
You don't have a grasp of what the 5th amendment really means. Yup, destroying evidence is a crime.
What is "evidence" in your law book, anything and everything that somebody on the Internet thinks it is? Is anybody allowed to delete any files on their computer, cell phone, their personal diary? How about throwing out the trash, is that allowed? After all there might be some alleged evidence of a crime in there somewhere that somebody might like to see at some future date.
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Old 09-19-14, 07:37 PM
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
What is "evidence" in your law book, anything and everything that somebody on the Internet thinks it is? Is anybody allowed to delete any files on their computer, cell phone, their personal diary? How about throwing out the trash, is that allowed? After all there might be some alleged evidence of a crime in there somewhere that somebody might like to see at some future date.
If the trash includes bloody clothing and empty shell casings from the murder you just committed, yup, it's evidence, and you've just committed another crime.
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Old 09-19-14, 07:39 PM
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In NY Tampering With Physical Evidence is a crime. I don't know if there is any legal precedent related to destruction of electronic evidence, which finds it is legally considered physical evidence. I tend to doubt it and the courts and District Attorney aren't going to go outside the bounds of how the statutes are written.

Another possible charge would be Obstruction of Government Administration.

It's probably a moot point. If he deletes his ride information, it's probably still in existence somewhere on a Strava server and could be obtained with a subpoena.

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Old 09-19-14, 07:57 PM
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
What "crime" would that be? Failure to preserve possibly self incriminating evidence in case some prosecutor might like to use it against him at as some future date?
Obstruction of justice.
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Old 09-19-14, 09:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Coal Buster
Obstruction of justice.
Baloney! Since when does everything/anything have to be preserved by anybody in the absence of a subpoena or court order, forever just in case somebody/somewhere might at some time in the future would like to subpoena or get a court order to take a peek?
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Old 09-19-14, 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Fissile
If he saw her, had time and the means to take evasive action...
Proves nothing. Ever walk down a grocery store isle and have someone coming the other way "dance" with you as you try to avoid each other? Now imagine that one of you doing 20 mph.
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Old 09-19-14, 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Fissile
Yup, even if you have the right of way, the law requires you take evasive action if possible. "Right of way" doesn't mean you can escalate a bad situation. It's no different than if a cyclist is obstructing the right of way of a motorist. The motorist must take evasive action if possible "Right of way" does not give anyone a right to run you down.
People often don't understand that right-of-way isn't a possession, its an obligation.

Our "rights" are predicated on meeting our obligations first.
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Old 09-19-14, 11:24 PM
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike
Proves nothing. Ever walk down a grocery store isle and have someone coming the other way "dance" with you as you try to avoid each other? Now imagine that one of you doing 20 mph.
That's a very poor analogy, as two people in a grocery store have no predetermined obligations or expectations.

While it's not an excuse for carelessness, or relieve them of their obligations, a pedestrian has the reasonable expectation that they may cross a street in a lawful manner and that opposing vehicles will yield as obligated.

No matter how you spin it, the cyclist failed to meet several obligations, so what really matters is if it was done with malice such as intentionally running the crosswalk, a failed attempt to shoot a gap, or if it was simply human error.

There is no reasonable expectation that one can ignore the law without consequence.

Last edited by kickstart; 09-19-14 at 11:29 PM.
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Old 09-20-14, 12:52 AM
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According to NY Daily News, the bicyclist was originally in the bike lane, but swerved into vehicle lane only to avoid hitting some other pedestrians:

Police say Marshall, 31, was riding in the bike lane when he swerved to avoid colliding with a group of pedestrians and wound up striking Tarlov, police said.

“He was in the far left bike lane,” a police official said Friday. “When he approached the crosswalk, he swerved out of the bike lane to avoid other pedestrians and he crossed over went into the traffic lane and hit her.”

That part of the loop being the latter part of a stretch of downhill, most bikes are faster than usual, most probably coast. One of the pictures at Daily News shows the road quite clearly, where you can see some slope.
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Old 09-20-14, 05:03 AM
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I'm very sorry for the mom and her family.

Central Park (and especially that section downhill) is rife with tourists and all sorts of collision dangers. People walking in the bike lane, pedicabs guys hawking/harassing tourists for business, folks crossing the entire width of the roadway, kids crossing over from the zoo and the occasional squirrel/rat make it a place where riding a bike at speed is not advisable. I tend to go 12-20 mph in this section. I ride the faster speed when I can ascertain it is all clear...and it rarely is. Central Park my least preferred area to ride a road bike. As mentioned in a NY Post article - it is the "Wild West."

As per evidence - I am sure the biker has been contacted and advised by the lawyers. Correspondence (previous/present) , metrics and other info. related to the crash aren't to be tampered with. Right now - its got to be pure hell for the family and the cyclist.

Last edited by Essex; 09-20-14 at 05:11 AM.
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Old 09-20-14, 05:40 AM
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
Baloney! Since when does everything/anything have to be preserved by anybody in the absence of a subpoena or court order, forever just in case somebody/somewhere might at some time in the future would like to subpoena or get a court order to take a peek?
Forever, no; during an active investigation, yes; when a crime's been committed, yes.

There's a reason large law and accounting firms have shredders going constantly. They're destroying documents that could be subject to subpoena at a later date in an ancillary investigation ...and that's totally legal. Do it during an investigation and it's a crime. Do it to conceal a crime that's not been discovered yet and that's also a crime...also applies to electronic documents.
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Old 09-20-14, 06:38 AM
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Originally Posted by Essex
I'm very sorry for the mom and her family.

Central Park (and especially that section downhill) is rife with tourists and all sorts of collision dangers. People walking in the bike lane, pedicabs guys hawking/harassing tourists for business, folks crossing the entire width of the roadway, kids crossing over from the zoo and the occasional squirrel/rat make it a place where riding a bike at speed is not advisable. I tend to go 12-20 mph in this section. I ride the faster speed when I can ascertain it is all clear...and it rarely is. Central Park my least preferred area to ride a road bike. As mentioned in a NY Post article - it is the "Wild West."

As per evidence - I am sure the biker has been contacted and advised by the lawyers. Correspondence (previous/present) , metrics and other info. related to the crash aren't to be tampered with. Right now - its got to be pure hell for the family and the cyclist.
The walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge is even worse. Lots of tourists doing tourist things....photos, selfies. stepping out of the pedestrian lane into the bike lane. Then I see the Lance Wannabes trying to bomb their way through that. It's only a matter of time. I've been cycling for decades, but too many of the carbon fiber, Tour de France dreamers are out of control. There is no place in Manhattan for this kind of BS. If you're in NYC and you want to ride fast, head over the GWB and ride up 9W.
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Old 09-20-14, 07:41 AM
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Given the prominence associated with the woman being struck, and by a cyclist as well, I doubt if the news media would have given this story much traction. As an example, a woman that was killed by a bus in NYC a week earlier, and in contrast, barely received an honorable mention by the news media.

Pedestrian struck, killed by city bus in Queens - ObserverToday.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Dunkirk | The Observer
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Old 09-20-14, 07:55 AM
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Originally Posted by dynodonn
Given the prominence associated with the woman being struck, and by a cyclist as well, I doubt if the news media would have given this story much traction. .....
Trying to infer your intent, don't you mean "If not for the prominence..." or "I'm not surprised the news media..." (but not both)?

If so, I agree with you.
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Old 09-20-14, 08:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Essex
Central Park (and especially that section downhill) is rife with tourists and all sorts of collision dangers. People walking in the bike lane, pedicabs guys hawking/harassing tourists for business, folks crossing the entire width of the roadway, kids crossing over from the zoo and the occasional squirrel/rat make it a place where riding a bike at speed is not advisable.
Also groups of more than 2 people (pedestrians or newbie bicyclists who got off their bikes) standing still in the middle of the lane talking.

Originally Posted by dynodonn
Given the prominence associated with the woman being struck, and by a cyclist as well, I doubt if the news media would have given this story much traction. As an example, a woman that was killed by a bus in NYC a week earlier, and in contrast, barely received an honorable mention by the news media.

Pedestrian struck, killed by city bus in Queens - ObserverToday.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Dunkirk | The Observer
Yes, I wondered what if the victim was not wife of a CBS executive. What if the roles were exchanged: bicyclist were a CBS executive, and victim were a East Harlem resident.
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Old 09-20-14, 08:07 AM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
Trying to infer your intent, don't you mean "If not for the prominence..." or "I'm not surprised the news media..." (but not both)?

If so, I agree with you.
Logged into the memory banks, and excuse my poor grammar since I'm still in the process of learning the English language.
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