Advocacy & Safety - damn:(

http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2009/07/10/local_news/doc4a577f42e39ba357473069.txt

A 31-year-old Cambridge, Mass., bicyclist hit by the driver of a van along Highway 105 near Raymond Wednesday afternoon, died late Thursday night.

Carolyn Girod had suffered massive internal and head injuries in the accident.

Girod was riding with her boyfriend, 34-year-old Nils Sorensen of Warwick, N.Y., when he was struck by a van driven by 50-year-old Gregory Cedell of Montesano two miles north of Raymond on State Route 105.

According to the Washington State Patrol, Cedell was not paying attention and drifted onto the shoulder where the couple was biking.

Sorensen was forced into Girod’s bicycle, and both went down. Sorensen went down an embankment, GIrod went down on the road.

According to Trooper Krista Hedstrom, public information officer with the State Patrol, officers are still investigating the crash and it may take a month or even more to finish. At that time, she said, charges may be filed if they are warranted by the evidence.

Hedstrom said the State Patrol rarely arrests drivers who are merely “inattentive” in their driving, “even if they kill someone” through their inattention. Drivers who have been driving recklessly or under the influence are a different situation, she said.

that's ridiculous. how isn't driving inattentively not driving recklessly...?

^
agreed.

Last time I checked vehicular manslaughter was a serious crime.

apparently in massachusetts if you ever want to kill someone... you know how to do it.

Happened to a friend a few years back. The pickup driver managed to drive between my friend, on the wide shoulder, and the right-hand side concrete barrier, taking my buddy out with the side mirror -- Luckily he survived.

This case is tragic.

apparently in massachusetts if you ever want to kill someone... you know how to do it.

Actually this was in WA state.

that's ridiculous. how isn't driving inattentively not driving recklessly...?

difference between criminal negligence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_negligence) and reckless (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recklessness_(criminal)) regard for other's safety.

driver can still be charged with negligence causing bodily harm and death with the crash scene reconstruction evidence the police can get.

I said this 100 times........

THE PERFECT CRIME is to kill people on bicycles.....

Just act remorseful about the bee that flew in you window and caused you to swerve into some poor cyclist...

State after State allows you to kill cyclists without the least bit of bother

wow, that hits SUPER close to home. ive ridden that route a few times.

Similar to what happened on TOSRV ... 60 days + 1000$ for killing someone ... " Does anyone else, see a problem with that ? "

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wow, that hits SUPER close to home. ive ridden that route a few times.

Ya real close to home for me

R.I.P.

So the guy who stole LA's tt bike at the Tour of California may get 3 months and a guy who kills a cyclist on the road may walk free.

apparently in U.S. if you ever want to kill someone... you know how to do it.

Fixed.

Ya real close to home for me

Yeah, real close for me too. I knew Cary for several years, and just saw her --and met Nils-- last month.

People die. It's part of life. An old friend of mine, 44 years old, a barrister in GB, recently died of a brain hemorrhage. Terrible, shocking, sad; but life goes on. But reading what happened to Cary and Nils is different, somehow; it changes the experience of riding. I am bummed out.

Take these to A&S. If these threads serve any useful purpose it's appropriate in A&S.

And I would argue that the stream of cyclist killed threads mostly serve to distort the risk of cycling.

On BF, you're going to see posted about any fatal accident involving a cyclist anywhere in the US, and largely in the world. These anecdotal reports make it appear that we're dropping like flies.

Statistical analysis of bike safety and advocacy for better bike safety has its place.

Anecdotal reports pretty much just get people worked up and afraid unecessarily.

And all that said, my thoughts and prayers are with her family, in this senseless tragedy.

Geeze. Not again!!!

Portland Velo Club's The Yarmouth Clam Festival Open Women's bike race will be a memorial for Cary. The first lap will be neutral, led by women who were close to Cary.

Also, the Zeppelin Crit's women's race will be the "Cary Girod's Memorial Women's race."

Portland Velo Club's The Yarmouth Clam Festival Open Women's bike race will be a memorial for Cary. The first lap will be neutral, led by women who were close to Cary.

Also, the Zeppelin Crit's women's race will be the "Cary Girod's Memorial Women's race."

Thanks for posting that.



Take these to A&S. If these threads serve any useful purpose it's appropriate in A&S....

Yeah, I agree in general, but in the specific case of knowing the person the idea is repugnant to me. I think the main purpose of shunting threads like this to A&S is to make them easier for the rest of us to ignore. Does every post really need to serve any useful purpose? Cary was a road cyclist, not an A&S cyclist. And she may have taught statistics, but I don't particularly want to think of her as a statistic.

Moving to A&S...