Unhappiness @ 4MR- Out-of-Control Truck Seriously Injures Two Cyclists

[mstone]

I wonder if speed could be a factor. Nice how the article pointed out that the cyclists weren’t on the trail (where they’re supposed to be?).

[Arlingtonrider]

There’s a purported eyewitness account from southarlingtonmom in the arlnow comments:
“October 14th, 2012 6:55 pm
I was right there when it happened and it doesn’t matter whether they were in the road or on the path. Anybody who would deny cyclists and pedestrians their legal right to the road and blame them for somebody else’s deadly carelessness has to be a real winner. Whether the path was there or not, doesn’t matter, this idiot took off, purposely squealing his tires and leaving a plume of black smoke, while i was at the intersection waiting for a large group of cyclists and pedestrians, including several young children, to cross the road. Being as there is a crosswalk from the Carlton condos to the trail only about a hundred feet from where the loser turned – there is no excuse to have picked up any speed at all from the turn he made – since bike path or no, people are crossing the road there all the time to get to the bus stop. I hope this guy is never allowed to drive again as long as he lives and he is lucky somebody on scene didn’t beat the crap out of him before the cops got there.”

[baiskeli]

@mstone 33472 wrote:

I wonder if speed could be a factor. Nice how the article pointed out that the cyclists weren’t on the trail (where they’re supposed to be?).

It’s a legitimate piece of information.

[creadinger]

Who are these scumbag commenters? Geez! It didn’t take more than a few comments before some idiot jumped in about them not being on the trail. Despite reasonable replies about the law and how cyclists are legally allowed to ride on the road the numbnuts continued their completely asinine, flawed reasoning.

I sincerely hope the people recover fully and quickly. Based on the eye-witness account maybe the driver should become a permanent walker/cyclist himself. A driver’s license is a privilege NOT a right.

[mstone]

@baiskeli 33474 wrote:

It’s a legitimate piece of information.

Not if the article already says that the accident happened on the road.

[Arlingtonrider]

I hope they recover too. This breaks my heart. I’m at a loss for words.

[KelOnWheels]

So sad Hope the cyclists recover!

[rcannon100]

Dont ever read comments on ArlNow – its a troll-pit.

This is really just terrible.

[bobco85]

I hope they recover fully and quickly. This is one of those instances where even if you do the right thing, someone else can still make such a bad decision that you cannot prevent an accident from occurring. I’m still shocked that it happened.

[baiskeli]

@mstone 33476 wrote:

Not if the article already says that the accident happened on the road.

That didn’t make it clear though. Until I saw the part about them not being on the trail, I thought the truck went off the road and hit them on the trail.

[dasgeh]

There are places near this intersection where a car/truck could jump the median and just as easy hit someone on the W&OD, and other places where the bikes would have had to be on the road to get hit. Saying they were on the road makes sense.

What doesn’t makes sense is speeding around those curves. FMR is a twisty, small road – to be going fast enough to lose control is insane!

[txgoonie]

To follow up on this story: apparently the couple is not faring too well. He has multiple broken bones; she is in a medically-induced coma with possible brain damage. To top it off, the young man who hit them with his truck was uninsured. This is not going to play out well for them.

In a horrible irony, this info is coming from the lawyer I had to get after I was hit by an uninsured driver.

It’s worth a phone call to your insurance company to see if you have Uninsured Motorist Insurance on your policy. You probably don’t, but it’s often an option.

Be safe and prepared out there! Send good thoughts to the couple for speedy recovery!

[mstone]

Scofflaw motorists! There ought to be some sort of licensing and insurance scheme, that would fix this!

[eminva]

Sorry to hear about your crash and hope you are okay, txgoonie! If I’m reading the code on my insurance card correctly, I do have that coverage, but have no idea of the limits. Probably worth a call to the agent.

I thought I read in the news report that the driver in that crash was 58 years old? That could have been wrong . . . or maybe someone thinks that is still young.

My thoughts continue to go out to this couple — very sad.

Liz

[rcannon100]

I can only say this as a question because I am not sure. You are required to have insurance to drive; there is some sort of uninsured drivers fund through the state/DMV? Somehow I think if you get hit by an uninsured driver, you can make a claim against that fund – in other words – ask to see if any of that is any where near accurate.

[Author]

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