Terrible for everyone involved:

Ferndale driver sentenced for hitting, killing bicyclist in 2008
PETER JENSEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

A Ferndale man and Western Washington University graduate has been sentenced to almost three years in state prison after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide.

Kyle D. Johnson, 25, was driving north on a dark, unlit stretch of Haxton Way about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19, 2008, when his vehicle struck and killed bicyclist Michael Hohm near the road's intersection with Kwina Road.

A Washington State Patrol trooper performed a blood test on Johnson an hour later, and the results detected marijuana and Valium, according to charging documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court.


Hohm, who lived on the Lummi Reservation, was biking to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in Ferndale when he was struck. He was wearing a reflective safety vest and had reflectors on his bike, according to the documents

Johnson called 911 immediately, but paramedics pronounced Hohm dead shortly after the collision, according to the documents.

Johnson was charged in August 2008 with vehicular homicide while under the influence of intoxicants or drugs, which would put his standard-range sentence between 36 and 48 months in prison if he pleaded guilty.

That charge was reduced Sept. 28 to vehicular homicide by reckless manner, which reduced his standard-range sentence to 26 to 34 months. Whatcom County Superior court Judge Charles Snyder sentenced Johnson to 34 months.

Johnson graduated from WWU in December 2008 with a business degree, according to records and letters filed in Superior Court.

The crash irreparably changed Johnson's life, his father, Earl, wrote to Snyder, and he was undergoing counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression before sentencing.

Because vehicular homicide is classified as a violent felony, federal law will prevent Johnson from working in the health-care field, which was his goal throughout school, according to Earl Johnson's letter.

Hohm's partner, Valerie Shahan, wrote to Snyder that Hohm intended to form a new Narcotics Anonymous meeting, and that people were deprived of his help in coping with addiction because of the crash.

"I had never experienced such grief," Shahan wrote. "I miss him still. I miss him every time I pass the bent fence post along the field on Haxton Way, several times a week."

One life lost, many lives destroyed, all for dope.

The human cost for some folks' weakness/need to escape/inability to cope is just too high.

It IS a rhetorical question, but in this day and age, how can anyone NOT know there are other, better ways?

Driver was charged for the drugs, not the act.

Still hunting season on cyclists. No "bag limit" if you are driving a car.

Can anyone honestly find a case where a motorist was charged for killing a cyclist when no drugs or alcohol or even a cell phone was involved? Seems like there is always a "get out of jail card" for killing cyclists.

Here is a classic case... https://kcbike.info/2008/07/16/johnso...-gaunt-deaths/
just remember the defense:

"A Washington State Patrol trooper performed a blood test on Johnson an hour later, and the results detected marijuana and Valium, according to charging documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court. "

He deserved it.

Sure, it happens all the time. But the fact is that it's hard to prove recklessness in the absence of some factor like intoxicants, cell phones, etc. Otherwise the state has to prove the defendant was not driving like a reasonable person would, and it's tough to prove their rate of speed, exact lane positioning, etc. 1 foot of space can make a lot of difference, and it's not easy to nail down two parties' lane positioning that accurately after the fact.

The Kansas case is rough, but "it's my driving style" wasn't the defense. The defense was insufficient evidence, and it seems like the state did not meet its burden of proof. Without more details on that case it's hard to figure out why they couldn't get a conviction. It sucks, but that's the way the criminal system is set up.

It's tough to make a conviction stick in cases like this; to claim that because of that it's open season on cyclists is just paranoid hyperbole.

[QUOTE=genec;9825598]Driver was charged for the drugs, not the act.

Still hunting season on cyclists. No "bag limit" if you are driving a car.

Can anyone honestly find a case where a motorist was charged for killing a cyclist when no drugs or alcohol or even a cell phone was involved? Seems like there is always a "get out of jail card" for killing cyclists.

Here is a classic case... https://kcbike.info/2008/07/16/johnso...-gaunt-deaths/
just remember the defense: not moving over from the lane "was my normal driving style".[QUOTE]

A letter from the victim's wife pointed out that the court was unable to hear that, 2 weeks before the killing, the driver was caught doing 95 in a 60 zone.

If you read the article, you will see that the testimony supported the defense that the cyclists swerved in front of the vehicle.

I will concede that there is a good chance the testimony was wrong, but were I on the jury I would not convict a man who quite possibly hit two cyclists who swerved in front of him giving him not enough time and space to avoid them.

It is better to let ten guilty men go free than to imprison one innocent man, even if they are cagers.

this story make me think....here in Puerto Rico many young people drink, smoke ganya, coke up, use pills and drive (not all of them at the same time, but probably a combination of 2 like mr johnson)...it is very sad...you can see how people drive differently after some hours of the day on fridays.

thanx for posting, this one is a great story for people that actually drink and drive, its logical that they won't see a cyclist riding along...