Richard Germain is in critical condition after his bike was hit by a truck Thursday morning. Mr. Germain was stopped in the middle of the street, possibly to turn left. The truck driver says he did not see Mr. Germain.
These situations trouble me. Should the driver be punished? On the one hand, I think not. Accidents -- I mean genuine accidents -- happen. Accidents may justify civil action, but not criminal punishment. That may be what applies here.
On the other hand, if Mr. Germain was behaving legally (e.g. he was in the proper lane and his bike was equipped with the proper reflectors and lights), how is it not criminal to plow him over at 35 miles per hour? Is it not the driver's responsibility to see and avoid him? Mr. Germain was hit at 13th and D. Both of those streets are relatively major and, in my experience, are lit well enough to see large objects (like a bicycle) in the middle of the street. Heck, it's possible to see objects in the middle of the street in my neighborhood, and we have horrible street lighting. And that's without the benefit of headlights!
I don't want to pick too much on the driver here (which is why I've not posted his name). This accident may truly have been accidental and unavoidable. But even if Mr. Germain was wearing all black while sitting on a black bicycle with no lights or reflectors, he still should have been visible from a vehicle with headlights at 13th and D. Shouldn't he?
Comments
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I ride almost every day. Commute on my single speed to work, back to home for lunch, and then back to work.
I also do a bunch of night riding. I have a helmet mounted halogen light. I use it for riding trails and wilderness at night. I also have 5 of those red blinky lights.
I always read those articles in the paper concerning cyclists. I know many do not view us as traffic, only an annoyance. I do not trust any car. I am always expecting the worse from drivers. I never flip rude motorists off, I wave.
35 MPH holy crap. That is just insane.
A similar situation happened here in Omaha, except that the rider was on the shoulder of the road and got plowed by a decent sized truck (I believe the cyclist was either pronounced DOS or DOA). The driver blamed the accident on sun glare.
I ride the mile to school everyday (unless it’s raining or snowing), and for the MOST part drivers are fine. Yes there are exceptions (i.e. the driver of the Cintas truck who was at a stop sign and then pulled out in front of me. I was close enough that I pounded the side of his truck. He yelled at me saying that I should have stopped at the stop sign—-however there is no such stop sign, and if you can find such stop sign please let me know.
There really is no excuse for not seeing a bicyclist. It was dawn at the time of the accident. Drivers need to be more alert plain and simple.
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