Originally Posted by
azbikelaw
I've heard this before, but I don't think that's a fair statement. I ran down the outcomes of every fatality in Arizona for one year (2009. there were 25 fatalities that year), the breakdown is here:
http://azbikelaw.org/blog/manner-and...-arizona-2009/
According to my tally, there were 3 instances of the motorist being cited for 28-735. There were 6 manslaughters (almost always involving dui).
Keep in mind that when there's some sort of crime alledged (like a hit and run, or a dui) -- for reasons that aren't clear to me -- the driver doesn't get cited for traffic violations.
While you cited stats from 2009 that said 14(56%) of the biking deaths were determined to be the fault of the motorist, and 7(50%) of those motorists were criminally indicted, what the stats do not say, is how many of those motorists actually spent time behind bars. It would not be surprising if the lawyers for all seven of those motorists managed to get charges of
Vehicular Homicide/Vehicular Manslaughter reduced down to something like 'unsafe operation of a vehicle resulting in death' resulting in no jail time and little if any financial penalty.
Just because a person is criminally indicted, doesn't mean that is what they ultimately serve time on. Because defense attorneys' and prosecutors will do a plea agreement that ultimately marginalizes the death of the cyclist.
The story related to this thread:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...s-no-jail-time; shows how a cyclists' death gets marginalized by ALL segments of the legal system.