The Chainlink

Not again....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-bicyclist-die...

The Cook County medical examiner's office said the man was in his 50s and was pronounced dead at 10:35 a.m.

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Julie, the State's Atty can review the accident and press further charges but I doubt they will. The ticket does help the family of the victim establish that the Police view this as the drivers fault. When I got creamed no ticket was issued cause the driver lied and I wasn't dead. I told the officer he made it legal to strike a cyclist. I guess killing is still a little illegal.

Anyone planning a memorial ride/gathering?

My heart goes out to the friends and family of the victim.

We do not know all of the details of the crash yet or who was at fault, but here is an informative article that can help us all to hopefully stay a little safer... http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2008/11/30/what-cyclists-need-t...

That's crazy! my prayers go out to his family.

OK, someone with more legal training than me please help me understand this statute. First sentence: If you use a MV to kill someone unintentionally through recklessness, then it is not called involuntary manslaughter, but is instead called reckless homicide. Second sentence: Reckless homicide occurs when a person driving a vehicle goes airborne and through that action, kills someone else.

 

So it's only reckless homicide if a Dukes of Hazzard move is involved in the crash? I must be missing something.


 Julie Hochstadter said:

I feel that at the least this should be reckless homicide or something, not just a ticket, right?  If you kill someone, even if not intentional, you should not just get a ticket.  As we were discussing last night at the bike share public input meeting, in the Netherlands if a car hits a cyclist, the penalties are very steep, much steeper than here. 

From the Illinois General Assembly - (720 ILCS 5/9-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 9-3) 
    Sec. 9-3. Involuntary Manslaughter and Reckless Homicide. 
    (a) A person who unintentionally kills an individual without lawful justification commits involuntary manslaughter if his acts whether lawful or unlawful which cause the death are such as are likely to cause death or great bodily harm to some individual, and he performs them recklessly, except in cases in which the cause of the death consists of the driving of a motor vehicle or operating a snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, or watercraft, in which case the person commits reckless homicide. A person commits reckless homicide if he or she unintentionally kills an individual while driving a vehicle and using an incline in a roadway, such as a railroad crossing, bridge approach, or hill, to cause the vehicle to become airborne.

We have a long way to go people.....

That's how I read it as well Michelle.

Yee Haw, oops. But any other car on bike crime is a-okay.

It was just explained to me by someone with immense legal knowledge that involuntary manslaughter statute and reckless homicide statute require more than just negligence.  

Now its time to try to change that law.  Something to make drivers take an extra second to look. Stricter rules and laws scare people into changing their habits. At the least if someone causes a death have their drivers license taken away for 6 months.

 

 That's not terribly harsh, but it would scare more drivers to remember to look before they turn right. Currently they get a ticket, or at least that's what the news reports.

 I've been driving more recently and I find myself doing something I never did before I started biking - I lean over and make sure there is no cyclist to my right before I turn right.

I started a conversation on my fb account to try to reach out to all my non-bike friends.  Cheryl Zalenski, also a Chainlinker, chimed in with very relevant article about how an accident in Wisconsin got cyclists in our neighboring state to lobby - http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/139938613.html

I'm sickened by two tragic deaths in 3 weeks. 


Michelle Stenzel said:

OK, someone with more legal training than me please help me understand this statute. First sentence: If you use a MV to kill someone unintentionally through recklessness, then it is not called involuntary manslaughter, but is instead called reckless homicide. Second sentence: Reckless homicide occurs when a person driving a vehicle goes airborne and through that action, kills someone else.

 

So it's only reckless homicide if a Dukes of Hazzard move is involved in the crash? I must be missing something.


 Julie Hochstadter said:

I feel that at the least this should be reckless homicide or something, not just a ticket, right?  If you kill someone, even if not intentional, you should not just get a ticket.  As we were discussing last night at the bike share public input meeting, in the Netherlands if a car hits a cyclist, the penalties are very steep, much steeper than here. 

From the Illinois General Assembly - (720 ILCS 5/9-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 9-3) 
    Sec. 9-3. Involuntary Manslaughter and Reckless Homicide. 
    (a) A person who unintentionally kills an individual without lawful justification commits involuntary manslaughter if his acts whether lawful or unlawful which cause the death are such as are likely to cause death or great bodily harm to some individual, and he performs them recklessly, except in cases in which the cause of the death consists of the driving of a motor vehicle or operating a snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, or watercraft, in which case the person commits reckless homicide. A person commits reckless homicide if he or she unintentionally kills an individual while driving a vehicle and using an incline in a roadway, such as a railroad crossing, bridge approach, or hill, to cause the vehicle to become airborne.

We have a long way to go people.....

+1  We need to lobby for this change.  The current situation is a joke.  Getting a slap-on-the-wrist ticket for killing someone is a slap in our collective faces.

Julie Hochstadter said:

It was just explained to me by someone with immense legal knowledge that involuntary manslaughter statute and reckless homicide statute require more than just negligence.  

Now its time to try to change that law.  Something to make drivers take an extra second to look. Stricter rules and laws scare people into changing their habits. At the least if someone causes a death have their drivers license taken away for 6 months.

 

 That's not terribly harsh, but it would scare more drivers to remember to look before they turn right. Currently they get a ticket, or at least that's what the news reports.

 I've been driving more recently and I find myself doing something I never did before I started biking - I lean over and make sure there is no cyclist to my right before I turn right.

I started a conversation on my fb account to try to reach out to all my non-bike friends.  Cheryl Zalenski, also a Chainlinker, chimed in with very relevant article about how an accident in Wisconsin got cyclists in our neighboring state to lobby - http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/139938613.html

I'm sickened by two tragic deaths in 3 weeks. 


Michelle Stenzel said:

OK, someone with more legal training than me please help me understand this statute. First sentence: If you use a MV to kill someone unintentionally through recklessness, then it is not called involuntary manslaughter, but is instead called reckless homicide. Second sentence: Reckless homicide occurs when a person driving a vehicle goes airborne and through that action, kills someone else.

 

So it's only reckless homicide if a Dukes of Hazzard move is involved in the crash? I must be missing something.


 Julie Hochstadter said:

I feel that at the least this should be reckless homicide or something, not just a ticket, right?  If you kill someone, even if not intentional, you should not just get a ticket.  As we were discussing last night at the bike share public input meeting, in the Netherlands if a car hits a cyclist, the penalties are very steep, much steeper than here. 

From the Illinois General Assembly - (720 ILCS 5/9-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 9-3) 
    Sec. 9-3. Involuntary Manslaughter and Reckless Homicide. 
    (a) A person who unintentionally kills an individual without lawful justification commits involuntary manslaughter if his acts whether lawful or unlawful which cause the death are such as are likely to cause death or great bodily harm to some individual, and he performs them recklessly, except in cases in which the cause of the death consists of the driving of a motor vehicle or operating a snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, or watercraft, in which case the person commits reckless homicide. A person commits reckless homicide if he or she unintentionally kills an individual while driving a vehicle and using an incline in a roadway, such as a railroad crossing, bridge approach, or hill, to cause the vehicle to become airborne.

We have a long way to go people.....

I wish to be a devil's advocate, so please don't shoot me.

Do you want to lobby to change the penalty for a traffic law violation that contributes to any vehicle crash that results in someone's death regardless of whether the person who dies is a cyclist?  If not, why not?

Yes.  Not just cyclists: pedestrians, other motorists and passengers.  If you kill someone due to negligence while driving, you deserve more than a moving violation ticket.  And if more stringent penalties will deter bad driving, all the better. 

Lisa Curcio said:

I wish to be a devil's advocate, so please don't shoot me.

Do you want to lobby to change the penalty for a traffic law violation that contributes to any vehicle crash that results in someone's death regardless of whether the person who dies is a cyclist?  If not, why not?

Wait a minute. What about the law about not passing a cyclist within 3 feet? It is a state law, and if someone does it and it results in serious injury, it is a felony. This truck sounds like he did just that and killed someone. How is he not arrested? WTF?

I agree.  6 month driving suspension seems fair.  Not getting thrown in jail, but you can't drive for 6 months.  Would make people think.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be on the drivers side, and you would have to live with what happened (which is punishment alone), but seems an acceptable sentence.  

It may change their livelihood or change how they get around for 6 months. 

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