One Cyclist Killed; Another Seriously Injured

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/n...yclist_b1.html

A beautiful Easter morning in the Sonoma Valley turns into this. I live
just a couple of miles from the scene of the crime, and avoid that stretch
of road like the plague--not that even a 20-foot shoulder would have saved
these two from this guy (Note quote: "He had not realized that he struck the
bicyclists")

Take care out there.

--
Peter

Anti-spam =
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"xkred27" wrote in message
news
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/n...yclist_b1.html

A beautiful Easter morning in the Sonoma Valley turns into this. I live
just a couple of miles from the scene of the crime, and avoid that stretch
of road like the plague--not that even a 20-foot shoulder would have saved
these two from this guy (Note quote: "He had not realized that he struck
the
bicyclists")

Take care out there.

--
Peter

Anti-spam =
a) Remove NS_
b) Replace 3 zeroes with alpha O's


They released this murderer on $30,000 bond!!!!! Unbelieveable.
Very sad on so many fronts.

Bob C.

In a just world, the driver would surrender all his assets to the families
of the victems and would then be executed.

A beautiful Easter morning in the Sonoma Valley turns into this. I live
just a couple of miles from the scene of the crime, and avoid that
stretch
of road like the plague--not that even a 20-foot shoulder would have
saved
these two from this guy (Note quote: "He had not realized that he struck
the
bicyclists")

In article , says...

"xkred27" wrote in message
news
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/n...yclist_b1.html

A beautiful Easter morning in the Sonoma Valley turns into this. I live
just a couple of miles from the scene of the crime, and avoid that stretch
of road like the plague--not that even a 20-foot shoulder would have saved
these two from this guy (Note quote: "He had not realized that he struck
the
bicyclists")

Take care out there.

--
Peter

Anti-spam =
a) Remove NS_
b) Replace 3 zeroes with alpha O's


They released this murderer on $30,000 bond!!!!! Unbelieveable.
Very sad on so many fronts.

In most states, the bond has nothing to do with the severity of the
crime; it's based solely on the likelyhood that the person will run and
not show up for their next legal proceeding, and maybe on the
probability that they might commit another crime in the interim.

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"Paul" wrote
In a just world, the driver would surrender all his assets to the
families
of the victems and would then be executed.

Oh yes, that would make the situation *better*.

-Brendon

In a just world, the driver would surrender all his assets to the
families
of the victems and would then be executed.

Oh yes, that would make the situation *better*.
-Brendon

The driver would never do it again...

May brother Alan be in heaven an hour, before the devil knows he is dead.

Apparently, the driver did not know he had hit the cyclists and continued
west for about 700 feet until he was stopped by an off-duty Vallejo police
officer, the spokeswoman said. The officer detained the man until CHP
officers arrived, she said. He is now in custody and charged with driving
under the influence.

I read and hear about things like this and once in a while think that maybe
I shouldn't be taking life for granted. I don't think there's anything I
can take from what happened that might make me safer on the road, nor much I
can see that might be done to ensure that things like this don't happen in
general. The guy was drunk, before noon even. Unless we make alcoholism a
capital offense...

When I was in DC for the Bicycle Summit, we were discussing how best to use
money to make the roads safer for cycling. When we looked at how money is
spent and where most of the danger comes from, it was blindingly clear that
ANYTHING done to reduce drinking drivers being on the road had the most
significant impact on safety. Nothing else was even close. I'm just not
sure how far society is willing to go to handle the problem. Look at all
the hoopla every time they set up sobriety checkpoints! Still, this guy was
operating far outside of the norm, meaning that any additional efforts to
target drunk drivers on the road is best spent when there are more drunk
drivers on the road, specifically in the evenings.

Basic laws regarding serving alcohol in California can be found here-
http://www.bartendergirl.com/gar_state.htm

So I question this- is there a need to be selling alcohol at 6am at a bar
(or anywhere else?)? So I retract my earlier statement that there's nothing
that can be done about accidents like this. I don't know if the guy was
actually drinking in a bar or had a six-pack at home before he took to the
road, but it seems that anything done to encourage early recreational
drinking is a bad thing.

This particular story, these particular cyclists aren't merely an excuse for
an academic exercise. They were both customers of ours.

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Brendon M. Troy" wrote in
message ...
"Paul" wrote
In a just world, the driver would surrender all his assets to the
families
of the victems and would then be executed.

Oh yes, that would make the situation *better*.

Yes ... yes it would. Especially if the victim had young children. It
could make the difference between the children living in poverty, or going
to college.

C.Q.C.

In article ,
says...
Apparently, the driver did not know he had hit the cyclists and continued
west for about 700 feet until he was stopped by an off-duty Vallejo police
officer, the spokeswoman said. The officer detained the man until CHP
officers arrived, she said. He is now in custody and charged with driving
under the influence.

I read and hear about things like this and once in a while think that maybe
I shouldn't be taking life for granted. I don't think there's anything I
can take from what happened that might make me safer on the road, nor much I
can see that might be done to ensure that things like this don't happen in
general. The guy was drunk, before noon even. Unless we make alcoholism a
capital offense...

Alcoholism isn't, but in some countries, drunk driving is...

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

"xkred27" wrote in message ...
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/n...yclist_b1.html

A beautiful Easter morning in the Sonoma Valley turns into this. I live
just a couple of miles from the scene of the crime, and avoid that stretch
of road like the plague--not that even a 20-foot shoulder would have saved
these two from this guy (Note quote: "He had not realized that he struck the
bicyclists")

Take care out there.

Problem is, that is not an easy area for non-locals to navigate except on
Hwy 12. I would suspect that they were out visiting the wineries on
12, anyway, hence the draw to stay along the highway. The only alternative
to get anywhere would be to navigate the roads between 12 and Annadel SP,
and those are a maze and do not show up well on most of the maps that one can
find easily. A bit of a shake-up for me. On Saturday I had given a friend
directions from where I live (Mountain View, same as the deceased victim) to
Santa Rosa, and I had directed them to follow 121 then 12 from Napa over to
SR. Now I need to re-think.

- rick