Advocacy & Safety - Family of Dead Teen Cyclist Receives $200K Settlement from Bus Company

http://bikeportland.org/2009/04/08/oregonian-trimet-settles-austin-miller-death-for-200000/

Small win, but Tri-Met should have had to pay out the full 2 million.

Too bad more could not be done about bad Portland police investigations.

In this case it wasn't the Portland police, it was the Beaverton police.

The TriMet drivers are a real problem, a couple of weeks ago my defensive driving instructor had nothing nice to say about them.

After taking part in the original thread about this death over a year ago, it's good to learn what happened.

So much of what we post after something like this is speculation but it's interesting to read what we posted and then see what actually happened.

More than a few had a pretty good idea of what did happen, although nobody was sure at the time.

The thread is here

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=387384&highlight=austin

$200K is the basic insurance payout amount for an avereage adult/teen. A painless amount for the bus company since they pay insurance anyway and likely have lawyers on the payroll. If the driver was at fault for hitting the cyclist in the bike lane. There should have been a larger punative amount.

$200K is the basic insurance payout amount for an avereage adult/teen. A painless amount for the bus company since they pay insurance anyway and likely have lawyers on the payroll. If the driver was at fault for hitting the cyclist in the bike lane. There should have been a larger punative amount.

from personal experience, yes; and some real scumbags, too

:eek:

They should now take this, and sue the Beaverton PD for whatever they can wring out of them.

They are just as culpable, with their part in the coverup......

$200K is the basic insurance payout amount for an avereage adult/teen...l. If the driver was at fault for hitting the cyclist in the bike lane. There should have been a larger punative amount.

According to the investigations, the crash occurred because Austin Miller ran into the bus. He failed to stop his bike prior to entering the bike path in spite of a red light and the oncoming bus. Miller further decreased his awareness to his surroundings by most likely wearing earbuds and listening to music on an MP3 style player in spite this being illegal. With the speeds travelled by both bike and bus, it would have been impossible for the bus or bike to stop in time to avoid the collision. The collision occurred because Miller didn't stop his bike at the intersection.

I know the family disagrees with the report, but how can you blame them for their position? If they have other information that is valid I'd like to see it, but I have a feeling that this far in if they have any it's been considered and it's most likely not valid.

I'd say from what the investigation yielded, they're fortunate to get what they did.

$200K is the basic insurance payout amount for an avereage adult/teen. A painless amount for the bus company since they pay insurance anyway and likely have lawyers on the payroll. If the driver was at fault for hitting the cyclist in the bike lane. There should have been a larger punative amount.

That's why you have insurance. To cover liability. Duh.

To say there should be a larger punative award is assine. The facts are pretty much in evidence. An experienced cyclist failed to properly exercise caution when exiting from a sidewalk/mup onto a roadway. It's immaterial that the part of the roadway was a bikelane, he failed to stop at a signal apparently thinking he could beat the bus. Bikelanes don't grant immunity from common sense and personal responsibility.

I'm sorry he died, it's a terrible price to pay for a momentary lapse. I've been there several times.

I've been there several times.

how many lives you got left?

:rolleyes:

:lol:

how many lives you got left?

:rolleyes:

:lol:

Didn't know the death of my brother would be humorous, but whatever.

sorry, missed that thread, I thought you were talking about yourself/close calls

:o