Advocacy & Safety - Police refuse to issue citation in vehicular accident with cyclist

http://www.themountaineer.com/cms/display/Top_Stories/pageDisplay.php?page2display=1237528800*20-Feeling%20accident%20proneHead%20to%20Clyde.php

I just don't understand this line of thinking. Writing a ticket on this guy will only add to the chance he gets taken off the road. :wtf:

Oh, there's probably something else going on, like the driver being good friends with the police chief.

This one is unbelievable! FYI this is in North Carolina.


Welch’s driving history includes a long list of infractions that have prompted the state, and in one case a judge, to place restrictions on his license. Pursuant to those restrictions, Welch must wear corrective eye lenses while driving, is not to drive outside of a 10-mile radius of his home and is restricted from driving at night or on a road with a posted speed limit over 45 miles per hour.

Sounds like a small town. It seemed unclear to me but I got the impression that the cyclist was from out of town.

This is my favorite part:

“He was injured because he fell to the ground,” said Dendy. (the police chief)

As if being struck by a motor vehicle had nothing to do with it.


Although the officer does say multiple times they didn't write a ticket because the driver accepted full responsibility and even told his insurance company, as they are paying full damages. I do think it looks like small town politics, though.

Hey I got hit last summer and the guy took off a hit and run !!!! He turned himelf in 2 days later BECAUSE I got his license # . And NO ticket for leaving the scene NADA was issued . No he wasn't from that city and as far as I could tell no one knew him ! Just so everyone knows it was Wyandotte Michigan .

I showed it and told a judge friend a mine from another city and he was amazed ! We seem to be second class citizens if you ride a bike !!!

look up: Perskie, Wallach, Fendt, & Holtz, PC (609-344-2330)

Ken Wallack helped me out in NJ bicycle/automobile "event"

call them for ties to personal injury lawyers down your way. i have no ties to ken wallach except he helped me through tough times with bike/car incident 12/99...

good luck and quick healing!!

t

What the...?

The quotes from the officer just make him sound like more of an idiot.
Just handing over money for damages is NOT taking full responsibility for your actions. The whole idea for things like citations and jail time is so rich people have just as much consequences.

The logic of that cop is amazingly backwards.

I have seen third graders with better logic skills than that cop.

Small town cops are idiots, otherwise they would find something more useful to do with their lives. I live in a small town. I know whereof I speak.

It's my opinion that any at-fault party should be cited for a traffic crash regardless of who it is or what type of vehicle they're operating, however I don't think it's uncommon to find that it's not always required. Chicago, for one, does not require that a citation other than a compliance citation (valid driver's license, vehicle insurance, etc.) be written for a traffic crash since fault can be attributed within the crash report itself. A violation citation is more or less optional punishment. Not citing the at-fault party on a serious injury accident that's bound to end up in civil court seems foolish to me though.

It is a small town. I live about 30 mins away. What really strikes home for me is how the right to drive is so protected in this Country. This guy just shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car yet the State allows limited use. How does that make other people any safer if they happen to be where he drives? His right to drive is more important than our (the general population not just cyclists) need for safe roads. Individual rights are greater than those of society. It's the American way.

"Clyde Police Chief Derek Dendy, who investigated the collision, said Welch isn’t being cited "because that’s not something we would normally do ... unless (the at-fault driver) is impaired or there’s a problem with the accident. We do not issue citations. It’s just not how we do things here."

Apparently, in Clyde County/Town/City/InbredBackwoodsarea, "failure to yield" does not indicate that there is a "problem with the accident" (!!!). Is it against the law to fail to yield in Clyde? Is it against the law to clatter into a cyclist and cause him serious injury (and permanent in the case of hearing loss in one ear)?

"It’s officer discretion whether we write a ticket or not," said Dendy. "I told (Hinson) I’m handling this situation like I do all accidents. If there’s not something wrong, we don’t ever write a citation because accidents do happen."

Is this man the product of a long line of close brother/sister relationships? I've read of some pretty gormless decisions in the UK, but I don't think that I've ever heard anything as deranged as Police Chief Braindeath's "reasoning".

Does this pillock not realise that there was something wrong? Does he not realise that accidents don't "happen", they are caused - and, in this case, by a driver, who is clearly an idiot, breaking the law?

As for the claim being dealt with by his insurance company, does not P.C'f Braindeath not realise that this doesn't leave him out of pocket, whereas having to deal with any fine would be a direct punishment.

And as for the bizarre area limitation on his driving, I'm gobsmacked at the sheer gormlessness of the reasoning. Did they not realise that an accident can occur outside your front door as easily as 100 miles down the road? As it did, more or less.

Aaaarrrggghhh.

Update Clyde Police Press Release: Police Chief Dendy recently passed third grade with flying colours. In fact, his performance was said to be up there with that of a brain-damaged mollusc, a necessary qualification for further promotion in the Clyde force.

It is a small town. I live about 30 mins away. What really strikes home for me is how the right to drive is so protected in this Country. This guy just shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car yet the State allows limited use. How does that make other people any safer if they happen to be where he drives? His right to drive is more important than our (the general population not just cyclists) need for safe roads. Individual rights are greater than those of society. It's the American way.

The real problem is there is NO "right to drive." In this country, the PRIVILIDGE to drive is granted after testing, and it is taken as a right.

There is no reason that anybody with the apparent "limited abilities" as this driver, should be permitted to drive... that is akin to saying "if you are only half drunk, it is OK to drive..." and no reasonable judge would allow that.

The real problem is there is NO "right to drive." In this country, the PRIVILIDGE to drive is granted after testing, and it is taken as a right.

There is no reason that anybody with the apparent "limited abilities" as this driver, should be permitted to drive... that is akin to saying "if you are only half drunk, it is OK to drive..." and no reasonable judge would allow that.


I remember someone saying that one of the Carolinas didn't have a test to get a driver's license. This might be the one.

More disturbing is the lack off BF folks from NC stepping up to the plate on this issue here. One would think any way...how about it NC...anybody out there ?

I remember someone saying that one of the Carolinas didn't have a test to get a driver's license. This might be the one.

What, you just walk in and slap down a few dollars and they hand you a license??? :eek:

In NC, there certainly are both written and driving tests to obtain a license. The problem is, once you get that license at age 17 you never need to pass another skills test behind the wheel. So a 90yo can still drive. My wife, as a physician, cannot report a person to DMV that she deems physically unfit to drive. That is against confidentiality laws. It is so frustrating because I see many of these drivers on the road.

I was born and raised in NC. It doesn't surprise me, but not all the cities/towns there are like the one in the OP.

NC here:innocent: Yes the traffic laws and enforcement in NC SUCK!:notamused: DUI's get a slap on the wrist, 6 months is the average for a death by motor vehicle, even with multiple DUI's. In NC a hit and run carries a lower penalty than DUI so guess what a lot of them do?

As pointed out...you take ~36 hours of drivers' "education" get your license and never get tested again for the next 80 years:eek: if you don't crash or get too many points on your license.

Aaron:)