Winston-Salem Police fail to cite driver who hit biker

G

gerhardt

100 mW
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
38
Location
North Carolina
Bruce Hermann owns a bicycle shop in North Carolina that specializes in recumbents and E-bikes. Bruce was hit from behind at 35 mph by a motorist who failed to slow down. Bruce was not at fault and had lights and the required safety equipment on his bike. Bruce was in a coma for 3 weeks and was not expected to live. Bruce is recovering and can now walk. He is building an E-trike so he can ride again. The accident report number is 0909138. The report can be viewed at http://www.wspd.org. Bruce was hit by Kathryn Compton residing at 129 Westmont Dr., Winston Salem, NC 27104. She did $800.00 worth of damage to her vehicle.

Bicyclists were shocked when the Winston Salem Journal published an article today that the police will not issue a traffic citation to the driver who hit Bruce. I recommend that our members send an E-mail to the W-S Chief of Police, Scott Cunningham, chief@wspd.org and ask that drivers who break the law and hit cyclists receive traffic violation citations. I have written a letter to the editor at the Winston-Salem Journal.

Don Gerhardt
 
From the city of Winston Salem Police Department site:

Scott Cunningham
Chief of Police

"It is an honor and privilege to serve as the Chief of the WSPD. Nearly 700 dedicated personnel deliver high quality services, with the goal of making Winston-Salem as safe as possible. We, at the WSPD, work with the community to create a high quality of life for every citizen."

Seems that cyclists are not covered by the above.
 
deardancer3 said:
From the city of Winston Salem Police Department site:

Scott Cunningham
Chief of Police

"It is an honor and privilege to serve as the Chief of the WSPD. Nearly 700 dedicated personnel deliver high quality services, with the goal of making Winston-Salem as safe as possible. We, at the WSPD, work with the community to create a high quality of life for every citizen."

Seems that cyclists are not covered by the above.
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Dogs are better protected and served.

Get used to it.
 
Miles said:
Zoot Katz said:
Get used to it.
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Never get used to it, Zoot.....
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Unfortunately, it's far too common an occurrence to make much more than a blip on the public psyche.

Lacking other evidence, the magic words, "He swerved in front of me", usually gets drivers off scott free.

Distracted, drugged or micro-sleeping scud jockeys are more numerous than it is comfortable for me to contemplate.
Police blotters are filled with cold cases of hit-and-run.
. . . but I suck it up and keep riding.
 
Kudos to Bruce Hermann.
Despite the injustice, his determination to ride again seems a character trait cyclists must develop early in life.

Whatcha gonnado? Crawl into a coffin?

I found it easier to pedal after a major injury than it was to walk.

"Put me back on my bike"
- Tom Simpson's dying words on Mt. Ventoux - 1967 TdF.
 
The only solution is to be very aware of every single car that approaches from behind, never trust a singe one of them, and travel at a speed you can ride into the ditch or lay it down over the curb at. Every single one of em in cars is absolutely and positively out to kill you. Got used to that in 1970, and never got hit by a car yet, though I have been hit by plenty of shit thrown from them. :evil: 1970 was the year that cops here started to kick kids on bikes off the sidewalks and into the street to get hit by cars.

My sympathy to the bike rider, though, and I wish him a full recovery.
 
The report says the car driver "...failed to reduce speed...", so if that is not some sort of a violation does this case now set a precedent for all future situations where a driver "fails to reduce speed"? Also, would this police department act any differently if the cyclist had been a police officer?
tks
Lock
 
Ya, I'm interested in the legal aspects. Can the cyclist at least sue for actual damages?
 
I'd be starting at the govoner of the state, and sue my way down to the town dogcatcher. Sue the carmaker, the car seller, the guy that taught her to drive,the engineering firm that designed the street, etc etc. Ask Erin Brokovich which lawyer to hire. This is a classic case where civil court is the way to go, since the cops failed to punish the stupid driver. Sick way to do it, but they leave the victim little other choice. Once the shit hits the fan, and the case goes national news, stuff will start to get happening.
 
I'd be curious to read a response by the police department as to why they decided to to cite the vehicle operator before I passed my own personal judgment. The possibility exists that further investigation of the accident resulted in the opinion that the cyclist's actions may have contributed to the accident. The accident report is typically completed on scene and may be incomplete or not reflect the outcome of a more thorough investigation.

If indeed the cyclist believes the vehicle operator did indeed violate the law and his own actions did not contribute to the accident, he should pursue the issue with the State Attorney's office.
 
I don't really care what the reasoning was....

ANY TIME you hit someone from behind, its your fault.... unless they're doing in reverse.... which isn't gonna happen on a bike. The fact that it caused bodily injury is even worse.

There's really no excuse.... but this could turn out to be a very long civil suit.....
 
I'd take her to a civil court. That may be the only way to make someone "pay" in situations like these. Sad but true, a law suit may be the only recourse.
 
Owch!! I hope he recovers fully. I has a minor crash in May and I was limping for a month.

According to Massbike.org (http://www.massbike.org/info/statistics.htm) overtaking/passing crashes between cars and bikes account for only 8.6% of all cycling/car crashes. What happened to the victim of this crash (hell, CRIME) is a low percentage of total crashes based on the data. One benefit of the slightly higher speed of an ebike is that the differential speed between bike and car is reduced, allowing greater response time for the car driver.

The majority of my close calls riding around metro-Boston are cars pulling out from the side of the road in front of me. You gotta be 110% alert and look at EVERY car you pass on the side of the road to see if it is occupied.

Anyways I hope he gets well soon and back on the road.

Bill
 
v_tach said:
frodus said:
I don't really care what the reasoning was....
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So lets lynch the driver without all the facts...
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I don't care.... if the driver hits something in front of them, barring someone from pulling out in front of them, I hold the car driver fully responsible for the accident.
 
frodus said:
I don't care.... if the driver hits something in front of them, barring someone from pulling out in front of them..
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oh, now you have exceptions.

I'd still like all the facts.
 
Travis,
I do not know if the driver's insurance paid for medical costs and damage to the bike. I will ask Bruce the next time I see him. I should see Bruce within 30 days.
Don Gerhardt
 
yeah keep us updated.... and get some more details, it could help others on this forum..... i know there have been more than a couple accidents.
 
Zoot Katz said:
Unfortunately, it's far too common an occurrence to make much more than a blip on the public psyche.
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It can be put on the public mind if cyclists make enough ruckus about it. Writing the police as Gerhardt suggested is a good idea. A real letter as opposed to email might be better. (Most authorities have to read, index and store letters, while I suspect they don;t have to do anything about emails.)

Best is to try to get it in front of the public directly. Have journalist friends in NC? Talk to them and maybe they will put more about the case on TV, radio or in papers. Alternatively, write letters to the editor in a convincing way (but keep language civil; otherwise they will not publish it).

Every small steps will have a small effect, but incrementally they will add up. Eventually public opinion can change and then it will be in the self interest of politicians, police and other authorities to look out for cyclists rights.
 
Where is the media in all this? If the facts about the accident are as straightforward as have been presented, the local media in my area would have a field day with it and I don't consider my local bicycle friendly whatsoever.

edit: After a little Google research, it seems the Police didn't issue a citation because the accident occurred at night.
 
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