http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/252387_husband16.html

Police look for Lexus that hit bicyclist

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF

BELLEVUE -- As Lisa Schmidt drove home from Seattle on Tuesday evening, she was stunned to notice that an injured bicyclist surrounded by good Samaritans was her husband, Edward, 54. A driver had hit him and fled.

Judging from the passenger-side mirror at the scene that was torn from the suspect vehicle, Bellevue police say they are seeking and asking body shops to be alert for a dark green 1998 to 2000 Lexus, either a model GS 300 or GS 400, with damage to the front right bumper, fender and turn signal. The accident occurred at 5:12 p.m.

Schmidt was at home Thursday recovering from a broken arm, concussion and many bruises. Police said a helmet saved his life.

Schmidt was riding home from work in Seattle, wearing reflective clothing and had a bright flashing red taillight and white headlight on his bike. The car struck him in the 5400 block of the eastbound bike lane of Forest Drive Southeast.

Witnesses saw the suspect speed east on Forest Drive toward Lakemont Boulevard Southeast. Bellevue police are taking information at 425-452-4596. Crimestoppers of Puget Sound is offering a reward for information at 1-800-CRIME13.
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We seem to be having a wave of hit and runs in this area. Not just hitting bikes, but also pedestrians. I like the fact that the media picked up on the fact he was riding legally, had lights and wearing reflective clothing. I hope they throw the book at this clown when they find him/her

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/252387_husband16.html

Police look for Lexus that hit bicyclist

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF

BELLEVUE -- As Lisa Schmidt drove home from Seattle on Tuesday evening, she was stunned to notice that an injured bicyclist surrounded by good Samaritans was her husband, Edward, 54. A driver had hit him and fled.

Judging from the passenger-side mirror at the scene that was torn from the suspect vehicle, Bellevue police say they are seeking and asking body shops to be alert for a dark green 1998 to 2000 Lexus, either a model GS 300 or GS 400, with damage to the front right bumper, fender and turn signal. The accident occurred at 5:12 p.m.

Schmidt was at home Thursday recovering from a broken arm, concussion and many bruises. Police said a helmet saved his life.

Schmidt was riding home from work in Seattle, wearing reflective clothing and had a bright flashing red taillight and white headlight on his bike. The car struck him in the 5400 block of the eastbound bike lane of Forest Drive Southeast.

Witnesses saw the suspect speed east on Forest Drive toward Lakemont Boulevard Southeast. Bellevue police are taking information at 425-452-4596. Crimestoppers of Puget Sound is offering a reward for information at 1-800-CRIME13.
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We seem to be having a wave of hit and runs in this area. Not just hitting bikes, but also pedestrians. I like the fact that the media picked up on the fact he was riding legally, had lights and wearing reflective clothing. I hope they throw the book at this clown when they find him/her :( :mad: :( :mad: :( :mad:

Yeah, the media did a good job on emphasizing that the cyclist had been holding up his end of the deal. I'll lay really good odds they find the car and its owner. Any people in that area who can comment on what the roadway is like there?

I'll lay odds that if this happened in another city and was reported by that city's newspaper the reporting would not have been so evenhanded. Northwestern cities have become slightly more acculturated to cycling than others, far as I can tell.

Judging from the passenger-side mirror at the scene that was torn from the suspect vehicle. . . .
It was nice of the thug to leave a calling card.

Although it's been some time since I've ridden this road, it has a good bike lane and good visibility. In the eastbound direction, it's a long climb with a few gentle curves. He probably wasn't going fast, but equipped as he was with lights there is NO WAY a motorist who was paying even a modicum of attention couldn't have seen and avoided him. Some of the roads east of Seattle have been icy due to cold weather, but sounds like this wasn't a factor.

This is disturbing, I often ride roads in that area and have often told myself that my bright lights and a wide shoulder or bike lane provide a margin of safety... not always true.

Bob Norris

A lexus, eh?

Well I certainly hope they find the *******, and that Mr. Schmidt finds a good civil lawyer.

I'll lay odds that if this happened in another city and was reported by that city's newspaper the reporting would not have been so evenhanded. Northwestern cities have become slightly more acculturated to cycling than others, far as I can tell.

I don't know about that. On this site when things were reported in pretty much the same manner except that it said that the biker had no light or reflector it was considered biased by many.

By and large the papers are getting something like this out in time for the next edition and they go with whatever they can get quickly. There was one case here where it wasn't until followup pieces that people online here were able to work out that an accident happened before dawn.

It's a relief to see that he's going to be ok, at any rate. It sounds like it could've been deadly.

This is the second or third report where the cyclist reports just riding along and the next thing they know they are on the ground being helped.

Guess the bottom line is you won't know when they hit you.

A Lexus, huh? How much you wanna bet the driver was on the phone?

Don't worry, he(or she) will probably be only charged with reckless driving, plead not guilty, get it knocked down to a careless and court fees and her insurance company will refuse to pay anything to the biker. Justice is served.

thats too bad

This is the second or third report where the cyclist reports just riding along and the next thing they know they are on the ground being helped.

Guess the bottom line is you won't know when they hit you.

Well, you won't remember it anyway. In almost all cases where the victim loses consciousness, their last few minutes of memory gets wiped. It seems like it takes several minutes for short term memory to get moved to long term storage. My brother's a paramedic and says this is the normal case; most unconscious victims of any kind of incident won't remember what happened.

The driver was probably drunk, which is probably the best explanation for why he hit the cyclist in the first place, and then drove off.

But just because the cyclist was properly outfitted (lights, reflectors) does not mean there was nothing else he could have done to avoid this collision. Not enough information to know one way or the other.