from Dirt Rag Mag https://www.dirtragmag.com/node/84172
On January 12 of this year, in a courtroom in Hagerstown, Maryland, 21-year-old Meghann Weaver stood before a Washington County circuit judge to face sentencing for hitting a bicyclist, eight-year-old David Greeley, in August of 2009.
The outcome: a fine of $140 for the collision, which fractured the cyclist’s skull and damaged his left leg to the point that it necessitated amputation at mid-shin.
Looking at that case in relation to some similar cases, her penalty was harsh-but nothing when viewed in the context of how her operation of a two-ton box of steel with horsepower to spare altered the life of the boy and his family.
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These cases and others are infuriating cyclists all over the U.S., causing many to question the integrity of a system that appears to dismiss the value of lives extinguished or crippled on roads that traffic signs and PR campaigns remind us are meant to be shared.
The reality is that, unlike in Europe, such leniency has been part of the American way of justice for decades, as state after state changed its respective laws to process car-bicycle collision injuries as compensation matters handled in civil courts-and the result was less punishment for the offender and greater emphasis on compensation for the injured cyclist.
"I can understand the reaction," says Steve Kessell, the Maryland State’s Attorney who prosecuted Weaver. "But it’s based on a perception of the law that is not really accurate."
In the ’70s, with cycling’s surge in popularity, America’s criminal courts began to be so overwhelmed with cases that, as part of a state-by-state court reform, car-bike collisions were downgraded as criminal matters and turned over to civil courts for the purpose of meting out compensation to victims. Thus, in most states, anything less than cases of wanton disregard for human life, malicious intent or gross misconduct with a motor vehicle will merit little more than a ticket-and sometimes not even a ticket.
"Until then, motor vehicle offenses were criminal," explains David Hiller, advocacy director for the Cascade Bicycle Club in Washington State. "Then, in exchange for waiving the right to due process, and to unclog the courts, the trade-off was those cases would be handled in civil court."
As civil cases, says Portland, Oregon lawyer Ray Thomas, they do little or nothing to advance real justice. "You could have a carrot for a lawyer," he says, "and you (the injured) will get the limit [of monetary compensation]."
"It’s extra work for the police officer to go to court," says Thomas, who specializes in pedestrian- and bicycle-related cases. "Everyone just says, ‘Let the insurance companies work it out.’"
"The lowest of the low" is how bike-vehicle collisions rank in the eyes of police, Thomas says. "They say, ‘Our job is to get criminals off the streets.’" Period.
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"Few families would seek to send to prison the soccer dad whose moment of inattention caused the death of a child attempting to walk to school. But when responding police officers merely issue a minor traffic violation or no ticket at all, victims’ families are justifiably frustrated and angry that so little is done to provide some public accountability for the horrific mistake and to reduce the likelihood the driver will kill again.
"While sending every driver who makes a fatal error of judgment to prison is not a realistic solution, the time has come to recognize that driving is a dangerous privilege and serious consequences should follow anytime a needless death occurs because a driver failed to drive carefully."
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"Sixty-three percent of the public drives," says Hiller. "They make up the majority of the voting public."
And they have clout-applied and implied. "Some lawmakers don’t see cyclists as equally entitled to the roads," says Bruce Drees, advocacy director for the Tidewater Bicycle Association in southeastern Virginia, where Daniel Hersh was killed. Not only that, Hiller believes that instead of doing something to discourage careless and inattentive driving and protecting people from becoming victims, legislators are inclined to put themselves "in the position of the perpetrator, not the victim. They say, ‘That could have been me’" who hit the cyclist, Hiller says. "The carnage we accept in this country."
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Therein stands the question that boggles the minds of those who take "Share the Road" literally: Shouldn’t the fragility of life be enough motivation to make drivers extremely watchful and mindful that they have the capacity to kill people?
"You would think so," says Clarke. "But it doesn’t."
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https://www.dirtragmag.com/node/84172oldId.20120314134052358
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