Memorial Ride Friday--Northampton, MA

Last week Margaret Sanders, a Hampshire College student and bicycle
commuter, was killed by an armored truck that ran over her while she was
riding in front of Smith College. She was killed instantly when the truck's
front wheels ran over her. The driver was turning right and claims to have
not seen her.

A memorial ride in her memory is scheduled for this Friday starting in
Northampton at Pulaski Park (next to the Academy of Music) and will proceed
to Easthampton on the route that she used to get to her home. The ride will
start at 5:30PM. If you are in the area, it would be great if you could
make this ride.

"The driver was turning right and claims to have not seen her. "

They usually do...

Apparently, the driver wasn't even cited.

On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 11:34:58 GMT, "B. Lafferty" wrote:

Last week Margaret Sanders, a Hampshire College student and bicycle
commuter, was killed by an armored truck that ran over her while she was
riding in front of Smith College. She was killed instantly when the truck's
front wheels ran over her. The driver was turning right and claims to have
not seen her.

A memorial ride in her memory is scheduled for this Friday starting in
Northampton at Pulaski Park (next to the Academy of Music) and will proceed
to Easthampton on the route that she used to get to her home. The ride will
start at 5:30PM. If you are in the area, it would be great if you could
make this ride.

wrote in message
...
Apparently, the driver wasn't even cited.

Probably because he was making a legal right turn onto the Smith College
campus. Looks like big time negligence and a very costly judgement against
the armored car company for wrongful death. In fairness to the driver,
visability from the cabs of armored trucks is not the best, but I doubt
that's going to negate his liability. He should have looked very carefully.

On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 11:34:58 GMT, "B. Lafferty" wrote:

Last week Margaret Sanders, a Hampshire College student and bicycle
commuter, was killed by an armored truck that ran over her while she was
riding in front of Smith College. She was killed instantly when the
truck's
front wheels ran over her. The driver was turning right and claims to
have
not seen her.

A memorial ride in her memory is scheduled for this Friday starting in
Northampton at Pulaski Park (next to the Academy of Music) and will
proceed
to Easthampton on the route that she used to get to her home. The ride
will
start at 5:30PM. If you are in the area, it would be great if you could
make this ride.

I've been lucky enough to walk away from both drivers that hit me, and
I have no sympathy for any driver. The last one who hit me actually
passed 4 times (due to slow traffic) and told two different versions of
her story. And she wasn't cited either. A lot of it comes down to the
interest and knowledge of the officer on the scene. This is a terrible
way to "make money" but I do hope the family gets a very nice
settlement. The irony is that Northhampton seems like a pretty bike
friendly community.

CH

You're right CH.A lot of the small town cops here in Western Mass
couldn't care less about a bike being hit by a car....unless they can
hang a DUI on the driver.They're a big hero with that kind of arrest.But
if the driver is sober and the bike rider is still alive,well,no glory
there.They'll ask you if you're alright,tell the driver to be more
careful and see ya later.As cyclists I think we need to start bringing
lawsuits against these careless sober drivers and disinterested police
that treat us like an inconvenience.Let's go to court and show them what
inconvenience feels like.