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Jun 19, 2014 at 8:55 am
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800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
Did you also know that you can leave the stove on, incinerate your apartment building along with several of your neighbors, and not even get a $175 ticket?
It's possible that some of your apartment dwelling neighbors are cyclists, and therefore worthy of our concern.
In his theoretical, I think he was insinuating that the explosion would take out several neighbors as well. Not sure how that impacts the comparison. On some level, I understand not being able to pursue vehicular homicide charges, though it seems there could be some lesser charge between that which was levied and VH, assuming at least some negligence on the part of the driver was involved.
If death results from anything you have done, you die.
@11: Not in Seattle. I don't know about Kenmore.
#13
Yes, I was hopeful for the passage of the Vulnerable User Law and did a bit of local politicking while a member of the Kent Bicycle Advisory Board to promote it to my representatives in Olympia. But I have never seen a report of it ever being used in a case!
In addition, most motorists do not seem to know the laws about crosswalks.
For example, in a four lane road, if a pedestrian is crossing, you are not allowed to drive through unless there is more than two lanes of space between you and the pedestrian. Drivers will floor it to race through a crosswalk, or make a right turn into one, narrowly missing many people when they should be waiting until the pedestrian finishes his journey across the street.
And, for the pedestrian, the law states that while you have a right of way, you cannot race into the crosswalk expecting a speeding motorist to stop for you. It's like in baseketball where you have to have both feet planted before you can establish a block.
bikesnobnyc writes about this on a regular basis. For the interested, go check out his blog.
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2013/11/…
RCW 46.61.235
Crosswalks.
(1) The operator of an approaching vehicle shall stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian or bicycle to cross the roadway within an unmarked or marked crosswalk when the pedestrian or bicycle is upon or within one lane of the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning. For purposes of this section "half of the roadway" means all traffic lanes carrying traffic in one direction of travel, and includes the entire width of a one-way roadway.
(2) No pedestrian or bicycle shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk, run, or otherwise move into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to stop.
I called his company and did my best to get him fired.
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2014/06/19…
On the open season on cyclists and other non-motorists: rather than incarcerating people for accidents, particularly doing activities they don't expect to be lethal (as opposed to playing with a gun while drunk), how's about we re-focus all this rage on pushing for real licensing requirements - you know, actually refusing to let people drive until they prove a reasonable degree of competence behind the wheel. This happens nowhere in this country, unlike say, Europe.
I sent a tweet to WaPo re: George Will. His writing is atrocious, his thinking is nostalgic for a time that didn't really exist and he should not have a platform for arguing against victims of sexual assualt.
There are hundreds of ways to accidentally kill other people. Do we really want to add them to the long list of reasons for packing more people into our prison industrial complex?
They have these things called smoke detectors. You may want to invest in some.
Well, since every driver is supposed to stop whenever there are people in the crosswalk, I'd definitely say that speed contributed to this death. He obviously was driving faster than zero. What kind of morons work in this prosecutor's office?
"A person is guilty of manslaughter in the first degree when:
(a) He or she recklessly causes the death of another person; or
(b) He or she intentionally and unlawfully kills an unborn quick child by inflicting any injury upon the mother of such child." (RCW 9A.32.060)
"A person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when, with criminal negligence, he or she causes the death of another person." (RCW 9A.32.070)
@14, 17: JBITSMFOTP
Not that the car wasn't a dumb asshole who should have been watching for the crosswalk and now has blood on his hands.
"Uh, you're still supposed to dismount your bike and walk it through crosswalks, aren't you?"
No. Riding a bicycle on a crosswalk is legally equivalent to using the crosswalk as a pedestrian. RCW 46.61.755. You and @32 and could have typed "bicycle crosswalk washington" into google and landed right on the relevant RCWs.
@30, technically you would be correct to charge manslaughter, but no jury of 12 random people would convict -- imagine twelve slog commenters agreeing in this thread. It's the whole culture, not just the prosecutor's office. The UK had to invent a new reduced charge of "causing death by driving" because they couldn't get convictions on manslaughter. This is also the problem the Vulnerable Users law is trying to shore up.
6. Crosswalks
Seattleâs SMC 11.44.100 gives bikers using crosswalks âall the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstancesâ, meaning that motor vehicles must yield to bikes.
Bicyclists shouldnât be too bold with this law, however. SMC 11.44.100 also requires bikers to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and says âNo person operating a bicycle shall suddenly enter a crosswalk into the path of a vehicle which is so close that the driver cannot yield safely.â
What part of "Two cars stopped for him to cross, but a third truck didnât" makes you think that your hobbyhorse even remotely applies to this situation? Evidence is that cars were able to yield safely, because more than one of them did.
On Fire Phone, Amazon Steals Its Own Fea…
"The victim was crossing eastbound after a vehicle in the left northbound lane stopped for him. However, the person driving the pickup in the right northbound lane did not stop and hit him."
I imagine that the stopped vehicle obscured the unfortunate driver's view of Caleb, and having no other reason to stop or slow without the person in the crosswalk the driver could not see, as per the write-up on "multiple threat" at the end of the article.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a quick or cheap way to solve this problem, and I doubt punishing the driver will help much of anything.