Advocacy & Safety - Homeless bicyclist hit by car - charged with crime.

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=54658

(Columbia) -- Columbia police say a homeless man riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the road near the intersection of Assembly and Pendleton Streets was struck by a car Tuesday morning.

The bicyclist was charged with operating bicycle on wrong side of the road, and the driver of the vehicle was not charged.

Police say the homeless man was taken to Palmetto Richland with non-life-threatening injuries.

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=54658

(Columbia) -- Columbia police say a homeless man riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the road near the intersection of Assembly and Pendleton Streets was struck by a car Tuesday morning.

The bicyclist was charged with operating bicycle on wrong side of the road, and the driver of the vehicle was not charged.

Police say the homeless man was taken to Palmetto Richland with non-life-threatening injuries.

holee....:o:eek:

May have been the best thing... homeless guy, riding the wrong way... OK so the LEOs take him into the hospital for observation, perhaps a meal, and maybe a warm bed for the night.

I donno, perhaps it was the best thing altogether.

That's why we ride on the proper side of the road. I see homeless guys doing this all the time on the street my office building is on, and if I weren't specifically looking for them every time I drive, I would have hit quite a few of them already. There's a lot of things a person has to keep in mind while driving, and unfortunately people going down the wrong side of the road at speed sometimes doesn't come to mind.

If the guy had been driving a car down the wrong side of the road there would be no sympathy whatsoever. If bikes have the rights of motor vehicles, the operators must be subject to the same rules as everyone else.

In unrelated news, someone fall down - go boom.

Unless traffic violations are criminal charges in South Carolina, I think it's more accurate to say that he was charged with a traffic violation. And if he was the vehicle operator at fault, that would be appropriate

And who wants to bet that if he hadn't been "homeless" nothing would have come of it?

If he was hit by a car, he probably did some damage to the car. Any guesses about his ability to pay for his negligence? Negligible, I'd say. If he's at fault, it's appropriate to charge him.

And who wants to bet that if he hadn't been "homeless" nothing would have come of it?

I concur. I've also noticed when a homeless person gets killed riding a bicycle, there is no outrage from organized bicyclist but if a popular roadie gets killed, it gets much more notice.

And who wants to bet that if he hadn't been "homeless" nothing would have come of it?I concur. I've also noticed when a homeless person gets killed riding a bicycle, there is no outrage from organized bicyclist but if a popular roadie gets killed, it gets much more notice.
Because there's obviously so much in revenue for the city to gain from prosecuting homeless people.

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=54658

(Columbia) -- Columbia police say a homeless man riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the road near the intersection of Assembly and Pendleton Streets was struck by a car Tuesday morning.

The bicyclist was charged with operating bicycle on wrong side of the road, and the driver of the vehicle was not charged.

Police say the homeless man was taken to Palmetto Richland with non-life-threatening injuries.


What is your point? The homeless part is irrelevant. The fact that he was negligently operating his bicycle on the road and caused an accident (and consequently injury to himself) is. The police acted properly. You later statement that if it was a roadie misses the point, as most roadies obey the traffic laws, at least with respect to riding the wrong way on a street.

I live in a large urban area. I am sick and tired of all the bike riders I see riding on the sidewalk, hopping curbs, crossing busy intersections against lights, riding the wrong way on one way or against traffic, weaving in and out of traffic against it. I don't give a flying f*** if they are homeless or not.

And who wants to bet that if he hadn't been "homeless" nothing would have come of it?

Quite the opposite, in fact. Chances are he is judgment proof, and the courts can do nothing to him. The only reason he was cited, and properly so, is to prevent him from potentially collecting on a claim against the non-negligent driver (or his/her auto insurance).

If he's riding on the wrong side of the road, then he should be charged. Just like stop sign running cyclist should be charged after getting creamed by a car while running the sign.

Quite the opposite, in fact. Chances are he is judgment proof, and the courts can do nothing to him. The only reason he was cited, and properly so, is to prevent him from potentially collecting on a claim against the non-negligent driver (or his/her auto insurance).

Be that as it may, this gives the cops a reason to take him to a hospital on the other side of town so when he gets out he's no longer in their precinct and will be considered someone else's problem, which, to them, is more important than who's at fault.

Be that as it may, this gives the cops a reason to take him to a hospital on the other side of town so when he gets out he's no longer in their precinct and will be considered someone else's problem, which, to them, is more important than who's at fault.

And just how many police departments do you think are in Columbia, South Carolina?

Marrock

You may have met some insensitive clods who happened to be cops, but we're not all cut from the same pattern. We - in my jurisdiction - are required to issue a citation in a traffic accident if we can determine a violation of the traffic law. If we don't issue a citation, we are required to explain on the accident report why we were unable to determine which vehicle violated the law.

Kindly don't make assumptions about a person - and yea, cops are people - you've never met. Ever hear the military definition of the word 'assume'? To assume makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'.

There are insensitive clods in every job - not just police work.

^^^^^ Sorry, but most of the cops I know, fall on the get him out of here side, rather than the uphold the law side.

Marrock

You may have met some insensitive clods who happened to be cops, but we're not all cut from the same pattern. We - in my jurisdiction - are required to issue a citation in a traffic accident if we can determine a violation of the traffic law. If we don't issue a citation, we are required to explain on the accident report why we were unable to determine which vehicle violated the law.

Kindly don't make assumptions about a person - and yea, cops are people - you've never met. Ever hear the military definition of the word 'assume'? To assume makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'.

There are insensitive clods in every job - not just police work.

You have to admit however, that a job that offers the power that the police department offers to its patrolmen acts as a magnet to the type of person that would abuse that power. I know you guys go through some pretty scrutentized testing to weed those folks out, but it's easy to get through that if a person were to try hard enough.
No, not all cops are power hungry asses, but most power hungry asses would likely want to become cops.

Cops are people, that's true, but they did make the concience choice to become something more, and should be held accountable when they break that trust. It's like the drug addicted sports star who whines "I didn't take this job to be a role model" when asked how he felt about what he was teaching children. Well you know what pal, that's why you get paid such a high salary to play a damned game, because you ARE a role model!

Personally, I've had more run-ins with the power hungry variety. But I know that not all cops are of that type. And sometimes I feel bad for you guys.... they give you what, 5 months of training before they cut you loose? That's dangerous on all ends.

Be safe.

So no one but me thinks the cops did the guy a favor?

No one but me thinks that putting the guy in the hospital for the night might be the best thing the guy has had happen for a while?

Interesting.

^^^^^ Sorry, but most of the cops I know, fall on the get him out of here side, rather than the uphold the law side.

That's funny, because I am on the other side of the fence, and I totally disagree with this. Almost all police uphold the law (almost to a fault, some of them), it is just that you hear about the very few who don't.

So no one but me thinks the cops did the guy a favor?

No one but me thinks that putting the guy in the hospital for the night might be the best thing the guy has had happen for a while?

Interesting.
My lack of disagreement is my way of somewhat agreeing with you (to an extent).
I'm not sure what injuries he sustained, so I can't say it was "a good thing". But:
His treatment will likely be covered for him and the hospital will likely (as far as I am aware) run further tests that might diagnose some other disorder that he may not be aware of.
It's common knowledge that homeless people do things in order to get themselves put into the hospital and/or jail during certain times... but who knows about this guy.

So it is possible that this is something that this guy actually "wanted", but I find it hard to fully say it was "the best thing" that could happen to him, considering he just got hit by a car.

So it is possible that this is something that this guy actually "wanted", but I find it hard to fully say it was "the best thing" that could happen to him, considering he just got hit by a car.

LOL The fact that he was just hit by a car I would think would be a darn good reason to go to a hospital.

The ticket was probably over the top... but perhaps it was a way to "charge" the guy to city care.

I can't help but wonder if he purposely caused the incident. It has been known to happen.

You have to admit however, that a job that offers the power that the police department offers to its patrolmen acts as a magnet to the type of person that would abuse that power. I know you guys go through some pretty scrutentized testing to weed those folks out, but it's easy to get through that if a person were to try hard enough.
No, not all cops are power hungry asses, but most power hungry asses would likely want to become cops.

Cops are people, that's true, but they did make the concience choice to become something more, and should be held accountable when they break that trust. It's like the drug addicted sports star who whines "I didn't take this job to be a role model" when asked how he felt about what he was teaching children. Well you know what pal, that's why you get paid such a high salary to play a damned game, because you ARE a role model!

Personally, I've had more run-ins with the power hungry variety. But I know that not all cops are of that type. And sometimes I feel bad for you guys.... they give you what, 5 months of training before they cut you loose? That's dangerous on all ends.

Be safe.

To bad stupidity isn't a crime.