Great Cycling Advocate Killed by repeat Drunk Driver

I don't know how many of you who may have come across Ken Kifer's work on
the Internet. We had written each other and I had hoped to get by with my
recumbent so he could ride it. Just another lesson that life is short, live
it up.

His web site is still up. http://kenkifer.com/ It is a wealth of
insightful writings about cycling. It will probably go away soon. Its sad
reading the "contact me" link, knowing he is no longer there. I saved the
site for myself with a shareware program called offline explorer pro.

Below is the story from the Scottsboro, AL Sentinel.

Rodgers charged with murder in cyclist death

By Mazie Aldrich
The Daily Sentinel

Published September 17, 2003

Jimmy D. Rodgers, 29, of Scottsboro has been charged with murder in the
traffic-related death of cyclist Kenneth P. Kifer, 57, of Scottsboro.

According to a report filed in the Circuit Clerk's office by Alabama Trooper
Terry Thomas, Kifer was riding a bicycle in the north bound lane of County
Road 21, three miles north of Scottsboro in the Pikeville area.

He was struck by the 1986 Chevrolet S-10 pick up driven by Rodgers who was
traveling south on the same road. The report states that Rodgers was driving
at a high rate of speed, under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Kifer was taken to Huntsville Hospital where he died a short time later.

Rodgers was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree assault and
driving under the influence. Those charges were upgraded to murder Tuesday
morning.

According to the Scottsboro Police Department Rodgers was released from the
city jail just four hours before the Saturday night accident. He had been
arrested Friday for DUI and violation of the open container law.

Kifer was known in the area and throughout the country as a world class
athlete, cyclist and writer who chose to live the life of a naturalist. A
clerical error in the original report resulted in Kifer being identified as
Ken Kiefer.

PS One opinion I have which gets stronger every day is our efforts to make
our roads "safer" by making them wide and smooth, with large radius turns
(unlike Europe) has come back to haunt us by allowing ever greater levels of
incompetence, neglect, speeding, and incapacitation behind the wheel. If I
were King, I'd have sharp turns installed everywhere, so idiots, blind
octogenarians and drunks would wind up in ditches, not killing innocent
people.

In a certain sad irony he has a great article on bicycle safety.....perhaps
they can introduce it in the defendant's murder trial...



"Robert Haston" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I don't know how many of you who may have come across Ken Kifer's work on
the Internet. We had written each other and I had hoped to get by with my
recumbent so he could ride it. Just another lesson that life is short,
live
it up.

His web site is still up. http://kenkifer.com/ It is a wealth of
insightful writings about cycling. It will probably go away soon. Its sad
reading the "contact me" link, knowing he is no longer there. I saved the
site for myself with a shareware program called offline explorer pro.

Below is the story from the Scottsboro, AL Sentinel.

Rodgers charged with murder in cyclist death

By Mazie Aldrich
The Daily Sentinel

Published September 17, 2003

Jimmy D. Rodgers, 29, of Scottsboro has been charged with murder in the
traffic-related death of cyclist Kenneth P. Kifer, 57, of Scottsboro.

According to a report filed in the Circuit Clerk's office by Alabama
Trooper
Terry Thomas, Kifer was riding a bicycle in the north bound lane of County
Road 21, three miles north of Scottsboro in the Pikeville area.

He was struck by the 1986 Chevrolet S-10 pick up driven by Rodgers who was
traveling south on the same road. The report states that Rodgers was
driving
at a high rate of speed, under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Kifer was taken to Huntsville Hospital where he died a short time later.

Rodgers was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree assault
and
driving under the influence. Those charges were upgraded to murder Tuesday
morning.

According to the Scottsboro Police Department Rodgers was released from
the
city jail just four hours before the Saturday night accident. He had been
arrested Friday for DUI and violation of the open container law.

Kifer was known in the area and throughout the country as a world class
athlete, cyclist and writer who chose to live the life of a naturalist. A
clerical error in the original report resulted in Kifer being identified
as
Ken Kiefer.

PS One opinion I have which gets stronger every day is our efforts to
make
our roads "safer" by making them wide and smooth, with large radius turns
(unlike Europe) has come back to haunt us by allowing ever greater levels
of
incompetence, neglect, speeding, and incapacitation behind the wheel. If
I
were King, I'd have sharp turns installed everywhere, so idiots, blind
octogenarians and drunks would wind up in ditches, not killing innocent
people.

http://kenkifer.com/bikepages/traffic/index.htm for those interested


"mrbubl" wrote in message
ink.net...
In a certain sad irony he has a great article on bicycle
safety.....perhaps
they can introduce it in the defendant's murder trial...



"Robert Haston" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I don't know how many of you who may have come across Ken Kifer's work
on
the Internet. We had written each other and I had hoped to get by with
my
recumbent so he could ride it. Just another lesson that life is short,
live
it up.

His web site is still up. http://kenkifer.com/ It is a wealth of
insightful writings about cycling. It will probably go away soon. Its
sad
reading the "contact me" link, knowing he is no longer there. I saved
the
site for myself with a shareware program called offline explorer pro.

Below is the story from the Scottsboro, AL Sentinel.

Rodgers charged with murder in cyclist death

By Mazie Aldrich
The Daily Sentinel

Published September 17, 2003

Jimmy D. Rodgers, 29, of Scottsboro has been charged with murder in the
traffic-related death of cyclist Kenneth P. Kifer, 57, of Scottsboro.

According to a report filed in the Circuit Clerk's office by Alabama
Trooper
Terry Thomas, Kifer was riding a bicycle in the north bound lane of
County
Road 21, three miles north of Scottsboro in the Pikeville area.

He was struck by the 1986 Chevrolet S-10 pick up driven by Rodgers who
was
traveling south on the same road. The report states that Rodgers was
driving
at a high rate of speed, under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Kifer was taken to Huntsville Hospital where he died a short time later.

Rodgers was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree assault
and
driving under the influence. Those charges were upgraded to murder
Tuesday
morning.

According to the Scottsboro Police Department Rodgers was released from
the
city jail just four hours before the Saturday night accident. He had
been
arrested Friday for DUI and violation of the open container law.

Kifer was known in the area and throughout the country as a world class
athlete, cyclist and writer who chose to live the life of a naturalist.
A
clerical error in the original report resulted in Kifer being identified
as
Ken Kiefer.

PS One opinion I have which gets stronger every day is our efforts to
make
our roads "safer" by making them wide and smooth, with large radius
turns
(unlike Europe) has come back to haunt us by allowing ever greater
levels
of
incompetence, neglect, speeding, and incapacitation behind the wheel.
If
I
were King, I'd have sharp turns installed everywhere, so idiots, blind
octogenarians and drunks would wind up in ditches, not killing innocent
people.

A drunk driver is one of my worst fears in driving (much less cycling), as
there really isn't anything
you can do about it. My granparents were killed by a drunk driver. No matter
how alert, and safe you are, if someone
swerves across the road at you, there isn't much time to react.

I'm sure Ken's safe riding habits saved him many times in his life.

"mrbubl" wrote in message
ink.net...


http://kenkifer.com/bikepages/traffic/index.htm for those interested


"mrbubl" wrote in message
ink.net...
In a certain sad irony he has a great article on bicycle
safety.....perhaps
they can introduce it in the defendant's murder trial...



"Robert Haston" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I don't know how many of you who may have come across Ken Kifer's work
on
the Internet. We had written each other and I had hoped to get by
with
my
recumbent so he could ride it. Just another lesson that life is
short,
live
it up.

His web site is still up. http://kenkifer.com/ It is a wealth of
insightful writings about cycling. It will probably go away soon. Its
sad
reading the "contact me" link, knowing he is no longer there. I saved
the
site for myself with a shareware program called offline explorer pro.

Below is the story from the Scottsboro, AL Sentinel.

Rodgers charged with murder in cyclist death

By Mazie Aldrich
The Daily Sentinel

Published September 17, 2003

Jimmy D. Rodgers, 29, of Scottsboro has been charged with murder in
the
traffic-related death of cyclist Kenneth P. Kifer, 57, of Scottsboro.

According to a report filed in the Circuit Clerk's office by Alabama
Trooper
Terry Thomas, Kifer was riding a bicycle in the north bound lane of
County
Road 21, three miles north of Scottsboro in the Pikeville area.

He was struck by the 1986 Chevrolet S-10 pick up driven by Rodgers who
was
traveling south on the same road. The report states that Rodgers was
driving
at a high rate of speed, under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Kifer was taken to Huntsville Hospital where he died a short time
later.

Rodgers was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree
assault
and
driving under the influence. Those charges were upgraded to murder
Tuesday
morning.

According to the Scottsboro Police Department Rodgers was released
from
the
city jail just four hours before the Saturday night accident. He had
been
arrested Friday for DUI and violation of the open container law.

Kifer was known in the area and throughout the country as a world
class
athlete, cyclist and writer who chose to live the life of a
naturalist.
A
clerical error in the original report resulted in Kifer being
identified
as
Ken Kiefer.

PS One opinion I have which gets stronger every day is our efforts to
make
our roads "safer" by making them wide and smooth, with large radius
turns
(unlike Europe) has come back to haunt us by allowing ever greater
levels
of
incompetence, neglect, speeding, and incapacitation behind the wheel.
If
I
were King, I'd have sharp turns installed everywhere, so idiots, blind
octogenarians and drunks would wind up in ditches, not killing
innocent
people.

iLiad wrote:

A drunk driver is one of my worst fears in driving (much less
cycling), as there really isn't anything you can do about it. My
granparents were killed by a drunk driver. No matter how alert, and
safe you are, if someone swerves across the road at you, there isn't
much time to react.

So if a sober person were to kill you, you'd die happy?

--
Steven O'Neill
www.bridgetolls.org

Kevan Smith /\/\ wrote:

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 01:51:22 +0000 (UTC), (Steven M. O'Neill)
from The process of turning a pinto bean into a kidney wrote:

So if a sober person were to kill you, you'd die happy?

If a sober supermodel were making love to me and I had a sudden stroke ....

.... she wouldn't get paid.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

Yes, but only if I was riding drunk.

Steven M. O'Neill wrote:


So if a sober person were to kill you, you'd die happy?

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:03:54 GMT, Mark Hickey wrote:
Kevan Smith /\/\ wrote:
If a sober supermodel were making love to me and I had a sudden stroke
... she wouldn't get paid.

....and Kevan would spend eternity with blueballs.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame
--
Rick Onanian

And you drew this conclusion how?


"Steven M. O'Neill" wrote in message
...
iLiad wrote:

A drunk driver is one of my worst fears in driving (much less
cycling), as there really isn't anything you can do about it. My
granparents were killed by a drunk driver. No matter how alert, and
safe you are, if someone swerves across the road at you, there isn't
much time to react.

So if a sober person were to kill you, you'd die happy?

--
Steven O'Neill
www.bridgetolls.org

iLiad wrote:
"Steven M. O'Neill" wrote in message
...
iLiad wrote:

A drunk driver is one of my worst fears in driving (much less
cycling), as there really isn't anything you can do about it. My
granparents were killed by a drunk driver. No matter how alert, and
safe you are, if someone swerves across the road at you, there isn't
much time to react.

So if a sober person were to kill you, you'd die happy?

And you drew this conclusion how?

I didn't, really. Just trying to point out that it's silly to
worry most about something that isn't the most common cause.

--
Steven O'Neill
www.bridgetolls.org