# Truck runs over cyclists, no charges filed **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 30, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149 "2007-01-30T19:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/41 "2007-01-31T20:02:01Z")
Generally, I think that Criminal charges should be filed against a driver who causes a death only if: The driver is _clearly_ negligent _or_ Booze or drugs are involved. In other words, if it _is_ an “accident”, I don’t think Jail is a right solution. However, just becuase the driver isn’t going to jail, that doesn’t mean he won’t be sued for everything he is worth and then some, or even lose his drivers license. I have no problem at all with that family suing the driver. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/42 "2007-01-31T20:51:33Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] I have no problem at all with that family suing the driver. [/QUOTE] Hmm. We still don’t know all the facts. Here’s a possible scenario as to how this happened: The driver is passing a long line of cyclists. He slows down to well below the speed limit. Due to oncoming traffic, he must maintain his lane the best he can, without hitting the large amount of cyclists to his right. So he drives slow. But he’s towing a trailer… As he passes, at a reasonable speed, the wind shear from the trailer pulls the two on the tandem cycle toward the trailer. It’s a tandem bicycle, so the balance isn’t great. Maybe there’s a hiccup on the road surface which causes the balance to get even more out of line. One falls off the bicycle as it tips to the side, and she tumbles under the right rear wheel of the trailer. There’s the tragedy. There isn’t much the driver could have done. The above is just supposition and guess work, but it provides a possible reason why the driver wasn’t charged and possibly shouldn’t have to defend himself in court against civil charges. It’s my guess that nobody is at fault in this one. Just a guess though. Let’s face one fact. The roads in the U.S. are built for cars and trucks only. I wish they weren’t, but that’s the way it is. I like riding my bike, but I know which roads can accommodate such a slow moving vehicle and which can’t. I’m not convinced, with the information given, that the driver of the pickup deserves punishment in any shape or form. That includes a civil suit. Sometimes shit just happens. And sometimes nobody is to blame. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/43 "2007-02-01T02:55:54Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun] Hmm. We still don’t know all the facts. I’m not convinced, with the information given, that the driver of the pickup deserves punishment in any shape or form. That includes a civil suit. Sometimes shit just happens. And sometimes nobody is to blame. [/QUOTE] I didn’t say “win a big settlement”, I said “sue”. If the facts _are_ such that the _jury_ awards a fat settlement, then I am fine with that. ---
**Author:** ![Chasing\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@Chasing\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chasing_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/44 "2007-02-01T02:56:01Z")
[QUOTE=Count Blucher] _slight hijack_ PS- I seem to remember that years ago you could only ride motorcycles in my state legally from spring to fall. While I know that times/technologies change, I don’t remember bicycles ever being safe to operate on snowy/icy roads. Please fight my ignorance: What has changed? [/QUOTE] Bicycles travel much slower than a motorcycle wood so there is less chance of injury or crashing. You can safely ride a bicycle on snowy/icy roads if you have the right clothing and biking equipment. I would definitely recommend studded tires for a bicycle if it is ridden regularly in winter conditions. If all else fails, the cyclist can hop off the bike and run the sections that are really tough. You don’t want to ride a motorcycle in winter conditions because if you crash with a bicycle, you got hundreds of pounds of metal that will come down on you. A bicycle is much lighter. Also, how many motorcyclists are willing to limit their speed to around 30 km/h at all times? The windchill will get pretty horrendous when you are up around 100 km/h. Maybe you could get studded motorcycle tires but that may not be legal because it will do much more damage to the road than a bicycle tire. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/45 "2007-02-01T03:56:24Z")
[QUOTE=Count Blucher] I_slight hijack_ PS- I seem to remember that years ago you could only ride motorcycles in my state legally from spring to fall. While I know that times/technologies change, I don’t remember bicycles ever being safe to operate on snowy/icy roads. Please fight my ignorance: What has changed? [/QUOTE] [It was never really a big problem.](http://www.icebike.com/) I bike pretty much year round. I use the trains more in winter but I still need to get to the station. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/46 "2007-02-01T04:23:09Z")
Go here: [www.AMADirectlink.com/justice](http://www.AMADirectlink.com/justice) Kill people for less then the fine of a speeding ticket. Hey Jodi! Want a free bicycle/motorcycle? Ignore the transponder under the seat… ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/47 "2007-02-01T15:15:16Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Miskatonic] [It was never really a big problem.](http://www.icebike.com/) I bike pretty much year round. I use the trains more in winter but I still need to get to the station. [/QUOTE] Fair enough. And I did give him plenty of room. FTR- He scared the hell outta me, as I honestly thought his tires were going to slip out from under him any second. I gave him so much room because I wanted to make sure that, if he did wipe out, I could brake in plenty of time. Rolling over a fallen cyclist was never even a fraction of a possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/48 "2007-02-01T15:29:46Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] Hey Jodi! Want a free bicycle/motorcycle? Ignore the transponder under the seat… [/QUOTE] So you feel so strongly about the safety of cyclists that you’d like to run down someone who just isn’t getting it? I’m not sure if that makes you a mere idiotic, or a hypocrite. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/49 "2007-02-01T16:30:22Z")
The trouble with these kinds of threads is that the self-righteous exercise freak bicyclists will almost never admit that their ranks include incompetent drivers as well. In my experience,although there are fewer bad cyclists, it’s only because ther are fewer total cyclists. Both groups’ percentage rates of bad drivers are probably equivalent. But to the self-righteous “I’m gonna live to 150 if one of you jealous fat slobs doesn’t mow me down out of spite” crowd, the decadent motorist is ALWAYS to blame. I’m glad sometimes that bad genes mean I’ll probably be dead of cancer or a heart attack before I reach the rest home. Hell On Earth would be spending one’s dotage hearing conversations centering on self-righteous competition as to who’s got the best LDL, BMI, who can still do the most reps on the exercise machines, etc. The only way I want to spend my 90s with aged Yuppies is with profound and and incorrectable hearing loss. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/50 "2007-02-01T16:56:45Z")
[QUOTE=zenith] The trouble with these kinds of threads is that the self-righteous exercise freak bicyclists will almost never admit that their ranks include incompetent drivers as well. [/QUOTE] You have a good point there. There are incompetent or simply foolishly risky cyclists out there. Several years back I heard of someone who had only been riding for a few months who was out riding in a bicycle rally and got to taking hills waaaay too fast, missed a turn, and died after slamming into a tree. A while back in the local news there was a story about a cyclist who got killed by running head-on into a vehicle. The cyclist was apparently passing another cyclist and went over on the wrong side of the road without bothering to, you know, look up to see if a car was coming. Unlike the previous story this guy was a long time cyclist and apparently quite skilled – he just apparently had a brain fart and it cost him his life. _Those_ stories are tragedies, where you can clearly place blame on the cyclist, although I’m not sure “blame” is the right word. But where a cyclist is riding along the side of the road, obeying the law, and a driver mows him down from behind … calling that a “tragedy” and saying “no one’s to blame” makes me very angry. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/51 "2007-02-02T00:34:51Z")
[QUOTE=zenith] The trouble with these kinds of threads is that the self-righteous exercise freak bicyclists will almost never admit that their ranks include incompetent drivers as well. [/QUOTE] Certainly they exist. Hell, a small but signifigant number of my encounters maybe caused by poor cyclists. The thing you fail to realise, or rather do and rationalize with statements like above, is that it is very, very hard far an incompetent cyclist to damge much beyond himself and may a small dent in a car. A cyclist caused the death of a pedestrian last year and it was such a rare event that it made the CNN scroll. > [@](#): > > In my experience,although there are fewer bad cyclists, it’s only because ther are fewer total cyclists. Both groups’ percentage rates of bad drivers are probably equivalent. Maybe, maybe not. In any case I will major cause of problems with auto drivers is distraction…a rare thing for a cyclist to experience, but often [the cause of many a non-drivers death.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=347787) > [@](#): > > But to the self-righteous “I’m gonna live to 150 if one of you jealous fat slobs doesn’t mow me down out of spite” crowd, the decadent motorist is ALWAYS to blame. As opposed to the reality of our courts and enforcement of laws that ALWAYS assumes the cyclist is to blame.\* \*Unless the driver is drunk. Don’t believe me? OK, find me a few cases were a driver killed a person not in a car, was not drunk (pedestrian, cyclist) was actually tried and convicted > [@](#): > > I’m glad sometimes that bad genes mean I’ll probably be dead of cancer or a heart attack before I reach the rest home. Hell On Earth would be spending one’s dotage hearing conversations centering on self-righteous competition as to who’s got the best LDL, BMI, who can still do the most reps on the exercise machines, etc. The only way I want to spend my 90s with aged Yuppies is with profound and and incorrectable hearing loss. I don’t bike for my health, at least not my physical health (Although I won’t deny its benefits). I bike because I didn’t like myself when I drove everywhere. I see a lot of people having the same problem and extending it with impatient and poor driving. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/52 "2007-02-02T00:40:40Z")
[QUOTE=Count Blucher] Fair enough. And I did give him plenty of room. FTR- He scared the hell outta me, as I honestly thought his tires were going to slip out from under him any second. I gave him so much room because I wanted to make sure that, if he did wipe out, I could brake in plenty of time. Rolling over a fallen cyclist was never even a fraction of a possibility. [/QUOTE] It takes some getting used to, and it is not for every cyclist. You did as much as you could, from what you say. No one could ask for more. Just keep in mind that winter biking is on the increase, especially in the cities (there was a time when I nary saw another cyclist on the road when the temp dropped below 60, now…its downright crowded!). Too many drivers think they don’t have to keep a lookout for bikes in colder weather. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/53 "2007-02-02T01:34:06Z")
[QUOTE=zenith] The trouble with these kinds of threads is that the self-righteous exercise freak bicyclists will almost never admit that their ranks include incompetent drivers as well. In my experience,although there are fewer bad cyclists, it’s only because ther are fewer total cyclists. Both groups’ percentage rates of bad drivers are probably equivalent. . [/QUOTE] Down here we have a lot of urban cyclist’s at nite. Far too many ride with dark clothes, no lights and no reflectors- and you know , if a driver hit’s one, the cyclists are up in arms, proposing silly-assed passing rules and shit. There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever not to have lots of relective material on your bike. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Chasing\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@Chasing\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chasing_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/54 "2007-02-02T06:24:21Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Down here we have a lot of urban cyclist’s at nite. Far too many ride with dark clothes, no lights and no reflectors- and you know , if a driver hit’s one, the cyclists are up in arms, proposing silly-assed passing rules and shit. There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever not to have lots of relective material on your bike. :mad: [/QUOTE] Those are not likely serious cyclists. If they are smart, they will have some sort of LED flasher on the bike. Any cyclist that spends a decent amount of time on the bike will have the common sense to make drivers see them. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/55 "2007-02-03T01:17:50Z")
[QUOTE=RiverRunner] Sure, why not? It happened to me, and it was my own fault. A truck driven by a truck-driving school student passed me, I moved over too close to the edge, caught the edge of the road, overcompensated, and bit the pavement. (Bent my front wheel, too.) The driver stopped to check on me, but I told him it was my fault and not to worry about it. That said, there is _way_ too little consideration given to bicyclists on the roads, which is one reason I no longer ride. RR [/QUOTE] A very similar thing happened to me. I heard a truck approaching from behind and moved over to the side of the road to allow it some room to pass. I didn’t look behind me because that tends to make you veer in the direction you look. If I had, I’d’ve seen that it was a [road train](http://www.ausfuel.com.au/images/Volvo%20cruising.JPG). Unfortunately, although the road had two lanes when he started passing me, it narrowed to a single lane with a traffic island on one side preventing the truck from giving me adequate room, and a curbed footpath on the other preventing me from getting off the road. I got increasingly nervous as each trailer passed and in my effort to stay as far awy from it as I could, I clipped the curbing with my front wheel and went over the handlebars. Luckily I didn’t fall into the truck. Who’s fault was it? Technically the truck probably should’ve slowed right down and waited till past the traffic island before passing me. Self preservation should’ve dictated that I had a look at what I was dealing with and got off the road while I could. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/56 "2007-02-03T01:29:35Z")
[QUOTE=Chasing Dreams] Those are not likely serious cyclists. If they are smart, they will have some sort of LED flasher on the bike. Any cyclist that spends a decent amount of time on the bike will have the common sense to make drivers see them. [/QUOTE] “No True Scotsman” fallacy. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/57 "2007-02-03T03:30:00Z")
[QUOTE=Waverly] So you feel so strongly about the safety of cyclists that you’d like to run down someone who just isn’t getting it? I’m not sure if that makes you a mere idiotic, or a hypocrite. [/QUOTE] 😕 How the did you get that out of my post? Maybe you are the idiot. I’ve always thought so. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149/58 "2007-02-03T05:28:46Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] 😕 How the did you get that out of my post? Maybe you are the idiot. I’ve always thought so. [/QUOTE] Even when I was a little child, just brimming with potential and curiosity?! _sob_ It’s no wonder I turned out to be bad. You know what you said. You can back pedal, play it off as a joke, or grow a pair and be proud of your idiocy. I don’t care. Now get back down there and suck my cock. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truck-runs-over-cyclists-no-charges-filed/390149.md?page=2)