sydney

Hello this is Kimberlee, Jim Price's daugther. I wanted to give the board an update on what happened this afternoon.

Today was the final hearing and sentencing in the case. It went fast as the teen took responsiblity and faced the charges against him without trying to make excuses or plead down, he really seemed ready to take whatever sentence would be handed down. He was charged with and pleaded guilty to careless driving resulting in death. The terms of his sentence are as follows: 48 months of supervised probation, he needs to comply with the terms and conditions of probabtion...No driving until the court determines otherwise (his parents actually took him down to the DMV the Monday after the incident and had his license revoked). No possesion of a cell phone for any reason. 300 hours of communitity service, with the first 100 hours to be done prior to May 25, 2005 (his graduation day), must provide monthy updates and the judge suggested he go to schools, driver ed classes, cycling clubs and such to speak about what he did) Write a letter to every State Legislator regarding his experience. 98 days in home detention to be beserved prior to jail and after jail sentence, 46 days prior to jail and 52 days after jail sentence. Serve 9 days in jail.

I know some people will not think this was a just sentence, but we are satisfied with it. The judge was creative with the sentencing and I believe these are things that can make a difference and keep this incident in people's minds so that hopefully they will be more attentive while behind the wheel. The tragedy of my dad's death would only be compounded if the life of this young man were to be utterly ruined by a harsher punishment.

There will be a link to the news story at www.9news.com for anyone who is interested.

Thanks for your thought and support

Kimberlee
txstevens@cox.net

Old Hammer Boy

Thank you so much for the update. I think you can see that many on this forum care a great deal. Again, thanks. OHB

Ostuni

Kimberlee, you are your father's daughter! Thank you so much for the news, and all the best to you and your family.

tvphobic

Kimberlee, just in case you check back in on this thread, thank you very much for detailing the sentence. Regarding the perpetrator of your father's tragic end, there was a groundswell of hunger for Old Testament justice; I would be lying if I said I did not feel it myself. I consider the sentence very lenient. The way you explain the sentence takes tremendous wisdom and maturity. Very few of us could look at such an issue with your perspective, and I tip my hat.
I haven't added to the conversation before about your father, but he was a very special guy; he had me in stitches often. His contributions to this and other forums live on; hopefully we can try to keep up his no-nonsense, efficient, helpful approach, and even serve it up with some attitude from time to time. Very Best Wishes,


Chad

Polonswim

Kimberlee, thank you for the update. I am glad you are satisfied. For some reason, I think that is important. As it has been said here before, best to you and your family.

sydney

I do have to admit I am rather upset with the way the law is written. That being said we decided as a family after much discussion that part of his sentence should include going out sharing his story with others. I believe that would have a far great impact on him and hopefully others as well, rather than him sitting in a detension center for x amount of time. He has to get up in front of the public and tell them what he, that he took someone elses life due to a decision he made. I know for myself I needed to get to a point where what happened to my dad did not consume me with anger and hateful feelings, it would not do me any good and my kids need a mom who can function. What helped with that was seeing that this kids was not a punk without remorse, if his attitude about this had been different I would have sought for a much harder sentence; however the judge had the final say.

Kimberlee

spunkyruss

I was too new to this forum to fully appreciate sydney while he was contributing to this forum. I understood that his death was a tragedy, but I was unable to understand the depth of the loss.

I frequently enounter sydney's posts as I seek information in the archives of this forum. Reading his posts has helped me realize what a wise man he was. He wasn't just full of knowledge -he was full of wisdom.

His wisdom lives on in the archives of this forums. I suspect that it lives on in every life he touched. It obviously lives on in Kimberlee. He would be proud.

Matt Gaunt

Yeah, thanks Kimberlee. Although nothing seems just right now, I think you're very honourable in accepting the sentence given so well. I simply do not know how I would cope.

Thank you again.

FarHorizon

Thanks for the update. I still miss your father, and probably will for a long, long time. Your family is in my prayers.

Stubacca

Thanks for the update, Kimberlee. Certainly a creative sentence, and hopefully one that will keep this incident in the mind of the driver, his family, and the community for a while to come.

cyclezen

thanks for taking the time to give us the update.

There's no reconciling any unneccesary death, and certainly not Jim's.
The kid got off lightly, but given the extent of the 'sentence', some good things can come out of it.

again, my condolences to your family

jyossarian

Kimberlee, I'm glad you can take solace in the sentence handed out. As for the kid, he'll have to admit in public on numerous occasions that a careless act while driving cost a family the life of their father. The impact of his thoughtless actions will hopefully cause him to mature into a wiser adult and have a positive impact on other drivers who drive while distracted.

alanbikehouston

Thank you for letting us know. Your father's voice is missed in the Forum. I often read a post and think "What would Sydney have said about that?"

I hope that time will help to ease the pain of your family's loss, and leave behind only your best memories of your father.

jsharr

Wow, what can I say? After reading your initial report and your follow up explaining your thought process, let me congratulate you on your incredible maturity. I know that I would not be able to deal with this loss in my family with half the grace that you have. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Thank you for taking the time to keep all of here at Bike Forums abreast updated.

UCSDbikeAnarchy

No sentence could bring sydney (and his encylopiedic knowledge of bikes) back, but I think this sentence is very good. Having the kid sitting in jail for too long would have acomplished nothing. Being forced to write letters and speak about his experinces will make sure he never forgets about it, and hopefully make other people think twice before picking up their phone well driving.

roadfix

Kimberlee.....Thank You.

cuda2k

Kimberlee, I too extend my thanks for the update on the case. The fact that the driver stood up and took responsability for his actions do speak a great deal that he is a good person at heart who made a gravely bad decision. I too believe the best outcome is for him to speak out about what happened to as many people as possible. I applaud you, your family, and the judge for your actions in this hard time. As always my thoughts go out to those Jim left behind and know that he is sorely missed and fondly remembered here on BikeForums. I have seen, more times than I care to count people responding to a question with "This is the type of question only sydney could answer." While we try to fill the void the best we can, there will always be places where his wisdom will be needed, and thus missed.

R900

Thank you, I pray for you and your family.

John

willtsmith_nwi

If you're going to kill someone you should do it with a car. Because honestly, society does not take this nearly as serious enough.

Drivers are NOT held responsible for their behavior. We are far too fast to mix the terms "accident" and "criminal recklessness resulting in death". To me, this is murder 3.

alancw3

kimberlee, thank you for the update. i wish you and your family well and again my sincere condolence.

Blue Order

Sounds just to me.

Thanks for the update, and my condolences to you and your family for your loss.

Guest

Thanks for the update... and the petition is still going on, so please Kimberlee- if you're upset with how the laws are written, let everyone know that with petitions, we can get the laws changed.

Koffee

DieselDan

That'll make the boy think. He should have to post an apology here and every other online cycling board sydney was a member of. I hope the judge and the board of probation and parole makes sure he completes everything he was ordered to do.

catatonic

Great to hear that he finally got his punishment. Although I wish it was tougher, it does sound reasonable.

Yeah, we all miss him, one of the few truly great people out there.

Pedal Wench

Thank you for the updates. Keeping this issue in front of all audiences is very important.

Isn't it ironic. With his license revoked, the kid is probably going to become a cyclist.