Keep Watch at Those Stop Signs..

http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/D8CIQME80.html

Ore. Bicyclist Charged With Manslaughter
Sep 12 12:21 PM US/Eastern


CORVALLIS, Ore.


A bicyclist was charged with manslaughter after he ran through a stop
sign and struck and killed a 71-year-old woman, police said Monday.

Jean Calder died at Good Samaritan Hospital after she was struck Friday
night as she crossed a street at an unmarked crosswalk, Corvallis
police Capt. Ron Noble said.

Christopher A. Lightning, 51, was charged with manslaughter and
reckless driving.

"A car and a bicycle are both vehicles and if they are operated in a
way that could be criminal, then charges are filed equally in both
situations," Noble said. "He was going right through a stop sign."

Lightning was being housed in Benton County jail with bail set at
$57,500. He will be given a court-appointed lawyer at his arraignment
in Benton County.

wrote ...

Lightning was being housed in Benton County jail with bail set at
$57,500. He will be given a court-appointed lawyer at his arraignment
in Benton County.

Now if he'd been in a car and the victim was on a bike it would be an
entirely different story.

J "I didn't see him!" F

wrote:

A bicyclist was charged with manslaughter after he ran through a stop
sign and struck and killed a 71-year-old woman, police said Monday.

Here in the Northern Virginia suburbs two cyclists were killed in three
days on the popular W&OD trail. Despite the fact that Virginia law
_clearly_ gives bicycles on mixed-use trails the "same rights and
duties as pedestrians" the Loudon County sheriff's office is trumping
up charges on cyclists for not coming to _complete_ stops before
entering the crosswalks. They are probably trying to protect the county
from responsibility for its failure to properly maintain the
crosswalks, IMO. Unfortunately, it means that motorists not only get to
kill any bicyclist who doesn't completely stop at crosswalks, the
motorists have NO responsibility for avoiding them even after they
stopped because the bicyclist's responsibility to yield to traffic is
absolute (assuming that it can't be proven that it was a case of
assault with a motor vehicle).

(The standard for a pedestrian entering a crosswalk is basically don't
be stupid- yield to the 2-ton hunks of metal. But once you're in the
crosswalk the cars are supposed to stop, and they'd damn well better be
careful as they approach it.)

So we have two dead bicyclists and it's open season on the rest of us.
Unfortunately, there are many children using the path, and they may not
realize, even with the thoughtful assistance of the Loudon County
Deputies giving them tickets, that they can legally be run down now.

On 12 Sep 2005 13:05:27 -0700, wrote:



http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/D8CIQME80.html

Ore. Bicyclist Charged With Manslaughter
Sep 12 12:21 PM US/Eastern


CORVALLIS, Ore.


A bicyclist was charged with manslaughter after he ran through a stop
sign and struck and killed a 71-year-old woman, police said Monday.

Jean Calder died at Good Samaritan Hospital after she was struck Friday
night as she crossed a street at an unmarked crosswalk, Corvallis
police Capt. Ron Noble said.

Christopher A. Lightning, 51, was charged with manslaughter and
reckless driving.

"A car and a bicycle are both vehicles and if they are operated in a
way that could be criminal, then charges are filed equally in both
situations," Noble said. "He was going right through a stop sign."

Lightning was being housed in Benton County jail with bail set at
$57,500. He will be given a court-appointed lawyer at his arraignment
in Benton County.


Did he have V-brakes?
Was he wearing a helmet?
Was she wearing a helmet?

All questions that we should ponder.........

A bicyclist was charged with manslaughter after he ran through a stop
sign and struck and killed a 71-year-old woman, police said Monday.

Cyclists have been getting too reckless for a long time. A pedestrian
here, a month ago, was mowed down by a hit and run bicyclist. Broke the
pedestrians jaw. The victim wants bicycles to have license plates, because
there is no way to track these law breakers down.

"Claudius Vitalis" wrote in message
ink.net...
A bicyclist was charged with manslaughter after he ran through a stop
sign and struck and killed a 71-year-old woman, police said Monday.

Cyclists have been getting too reckless for a long time. A pedestrian
here, a month ago, was mowed down by a hit and run bicyclist. Broke the
pedestrians jaw. The victim wants bicycles to have license plates,
because
there is no way to track these law breakers down.

Like someone's going to be able to read the license plate of a fleeing
cyclist.

Claudius Vitalis wrote:
The victim wants bicycles to have license plates, because
there is no way to track these law breakers down.

Well they'd have to make the plates out of Ti or Carbon and they'd have
to be really small with really small numbers or else they'd just be too
heavy.
Maybe just a decal would work. You could stick it under the BB.

This looks like a case for Bob Mionske.

I don't really get it...Cars kill people every day by running stop
signs or red lights (and don't get charged with Manslaughter).

wrote:
This looks like a case for Bob Mionske.

I don't really get it...Cars kill people every day by running stop
signs or red lights (and don't get charged with Manslaughter).
Your on the same track that I am I think. If I was involved with one
of the cycling advocacy groups out there, I'd be digging hard to see
what the PD's response to cyclists hit and injured/killed by cars and
what charges were briught forward. None of this would be any good in
court, but you sure could make the PD answer some questions, if as I
suspect, the PD there has failed to press, or pressed minimum charges
when the cyclists were the victims.
Unfortunately there seems to be a huge double standard in most places.
I'd be very happy to be wrong, but even here we've had some
interesting experiences with the local PDs.
Bill C

wrote:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/D8CIQME80.html

Ore. Bicyclist Charged With Manslaughter
Sep 12 12:21 PM US/Eastern


CORVALLIS, Ore.


A bicyclist was charged with manslaughter after he ran through a stop
sign and struck and killed a 71-year-old woman, police said Monday.

Jean Calder died at Good Samaritan Hospital after she was struck Friday
night as she crossed a street at an unmarked crosswalk, Corvallis
police Capt. Ron Noble said.

Christopher A. Lightning, 51, was charged with manslaughter and
reckless driving.

"A car and a bicycle are both vehicles and if they are operated in a
way that could be criminal, then charges are filed equally in both
situations," Noble said. "He was going right through a stop sign."

Lightning was being housed in Benton County jail with bail set at
$57,500. He will be given a court-appointed lawyer at his arraignment
in Benton County.


(rec.bicyles.soc added)

There are cyclists and then there are people on bikes.

I usually don't get too upset when I hear about someone getting mowed
down in town, because the majority of bike riders in town are sloppy
thinking types on their way to low-paying jobs, the Sev, or kids who
haven't learned how to ride safely. They (the adults at least) flout the
law and behave like fast pedestrians who own the ****ing road, sidewalk,
crosswalk, driveway AND parking lot.

OTOH, the local training routes are frequented with riders who know and
generally follow the law, inflicting a reasonable minimum of
inconvenience on the cagers and peds around them. Last year, this
community was inflamed by the case of Josie Johnson, who was run down
and killed near Solitude ski resort. Anyone riding a bike up there
(almost certainly) is a serious rider who spends enough time on the road
to know without question how to ride safely. When such riders are hit,
it's almost never their fault to any degree whatsoever, and it is a tragedy.

The driver, the wife of the owner of the resort, is still up on charges.



Oh. This was a reply to a different story. The question is: what kind of
bike rider was this guy? I need to know before I'll lift a finger to
defend him. As a cyclist, I daresay I'm more offended at the antics of a
lazy scofflaw rider than any cager watching.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall

Conservative dictionary:
Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes.