When it comes to sharing the road with cyclists, it’s scarily common for car drivers to act as if they live above the law.
The case of Colorado wealth manager Martin Joel Erzinger, 52, proves this to the extreme.
Erzinger was driving his Mercedes on July 3rd when, according to The Vail Daily, he allegedly veered to the side of the road and struck a cyclist from behind.
Did he stop? No. Did he call 911? Did he attempt to help his victim, who survived but suffered severe spinal cord injuries and brain bleeding? No and no. Rather, Erzinger fled the scene and later stopped to call Mercedes auto assistance and report damage to his expensive vehicle.
Now, it looks like he could get off with a minor slap on the wrist: Eagle County District Attorney recently said he would drop the felony charges. And the reason isn’t because Erzinger successfully proved he wasn’t reckless, negligent or at fault for the accident. Nope, Erzinger is getting off because he is rich.
According to The Vail Daily article, the DA is worried that jail time would mean Erzinger can’t keep his job at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s Denver office, where he manages more than $1 billion in assets and, according to Worth.com, is "dedicated to ultra high net worth individuals, their families and foundations.” No, really?
Not only is this raw deal outrageous for the victim, who isn’t so concerned about money (Erzinger says he is more than willing to pay his way out of this sticky situation…big surprise, there), it’s also outrageous for advocates who want to reduce urban congestion and the polluting emissions that result. Because how many people are really going to ditch their car if they think drivers can run them over and get off without a scratch?
As Change.org tech team member Joe Arasin writes in a petition he started over the issue, "Traffic laws exist to motivate all drivers to act in a manner that is safe for other users of the road, including pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers. To those of us who rely on bicycles for transportation and recreation, enforcement of laws that ensure our safety on the road is vital."
Some drivers think bicyclists deserve what they get simply for using the road, and apparently judges often agree. Dropping or downgrading felony charges is a common occurrence for two-wheeled collision victims, and several states lack bicycle homicide laws entirely. In one case, recently, I wrote about the hit-and-run death of U.S. Senate candidate Natasha Pettigrew in Maryland. Ms. Pettigrew lost her life and the SUV driver will likely lose only a few thousand dollars. And that driver wasn’t even super rich!
Around the country, bicycle advocacy groups are campaigning to make sure drivers like Erzinger are held accountable to the full extent of the law. Now, some are planning to boycott a major bike race in Vail in protest of the DA’s decision.
Join them in speaking out by telling DA Mark Hulbert to keep the felony charges.
https://www.change.org/petitions/view/da_mark_hurlbert_dont_drop_felony_charges_against_hit-and-run_wealth_manager
Continue reading “Hitting A Cyclist Might Not Matter Much If You Drive a Mercedes – Petition”
SRAM Partners with National Advocates to Double Federal Funding for Bicycling
from Bikeleague.org Blog by Meghan
The League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking & Walking are pleased to announce a new, three-year campaign to double federal funding for bicycling and walking by 2013. The Advocacy Advance initiative is backed by renewed support from SRAM, an innovative maker of bicycle components.
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Something like a ghost bike for cars
This would be an interesting way to display our crashes every 5 minutes on average. Maybe have the wreck of the week on display at the local shopping center or something. If our wrecks stuck around for a bit, people might be reminded to be just a bit more cautious.
Continue reading “Something like a ghost bike for cars”
Just rename the road
Via Greater Greater Washington
by Erik Weber
Why not Fairfax County Avenue?: A Post story on Fairfax County Parkway laments that bus stops, cross walks, and intersections detract from the “spirit of a parkway.” Instead of spending $70 million to convert it to a highway couldn’t they just rename the road? (Joshua D.)
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Mary Bernsen’s Photo Contest Entry
from EcoVelo by Alan
Why I ride?
The view is different from the handle bars.
When my legs start moving, clarity of thoughts start flowing.
The busy pace of day-to-day is forgotten.
The senses begin to awaken.
The view is different from the handle bars.
I feel the chill of the morning, the heat of the mid-afternoon sun, and the breeze at night.
I smell the sweet scent of the flowers, the newly mowed grass and the wet pavement.
I hear the insects buzzing, the birds chirping, and the air whispering behind my ears.
The view is different from the handle bars.
Strangers become acquaintances and new friendship emerges.
Scenic locations are discovered and unknown paths are explored.
My soul rejoices as the sense of wonder waits in every turn.
The wind gently strokes my face, and a smile begins to form.
The view is truly different from the handle bars.
—Mary Bernsen
Placebo Buttons
from Futility Closet by Greg Ross
In most elevators installed since the early 1990s, the “close door” button has no effect. Otis Elevator engineers confirmed the fact to the Wall Street Journal in 2003.
Similarly, many office thermostats are dummies, designed to give workers the illusion of control. “You just get tired of dealing with them and you screw in a cheap thermostat,” said Illinois HVAC specialist Richard Dawson. “Guess what? They quit calling you.”
In 2004 the New York Times reported that more than 2,500 of the 3,250 “walk” buttons in New York intersections do nothing. “The city deactivated most of the pedestrian buttons long ago with the emergence of computer-controlled traffic signals, even as an unwitting public continued to push on.”
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[B’ Spokes: Unlike here where you HAVE to push the "walk" button (and assuming the button actually still works.) Who again has the lower pedestrian fatality rate? Yep, New York.]
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Boycott Vail
By Richard Masoner ——
Money talks in Eagle County, Colorado, where the district attorney has declined to press felony hit-and-run charges against suspect Martin Erzinger because it could jeopardize his job as a fund manager to millionaires.
Erzinger allegedly hit cyclist Dr. Steven Milo from behind last July, then sped away. The New York physician, who was vacationing in Colorado, was left on the side of the road with severe injuries to his spin, head, shoulders, and legs.
Stage 3 of the 2011 Quizno’s Pro Challenge on August 25 will be a time trial in Vail, Colorado. I’m making my travel plans for a visit to Colorado next August, and I will absolutely avoid the Vail stage. I encourage you to do the same, and to let the Eagle County Attorney’s office, Vail Valley Tourism and the Vail Chamber of Commerce know why you plan to skip a visit to Vail next August. (This is rush job, so if you have links to other appropriate contacts in Eagle County please post in the comments.)
It would be fantastic if the bike race organizers even dropped Vail from the Pro Challenge completely.
This is Amsterdam and this is my bike [video]
The amazing thing to me is the diversity of people that ride.
Alleged hit-and-run driver may not face felony
EAGLE, Colorado — A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.
Martin Joel Erzinger, 52, faces two misdemeanor traffic charges stemming from a July 3 incident when he allegedly hit bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo from behind then sped away, according to court documents.
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Continue reading “Alleged hit-and-run driver may not face felony”
Finally, a Hipster Bicycle Video Game
from Phillyist by Mark Costello
Anyone who’s driven down Spruce or South Streets around 4:45 p.m. on a weekday afternoon knows that hipster bicyclists weaving their ironically out-of-date hipster ways through traffic are a serious headache. These fixie riders are enough to raise some blood pressure and ill-will, but some local programmer gurus are challenging our cynicism.
Presenting: Hipster City Cycle, a pixel art bicycling game whose various stages are set in different Philadelphia neighborhoods. For those who’re interested, this will be available for iPods and iPhones through Apple’s Apps Store relatively soon.
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