December 14, 2009

Hit and Run Bicyclist Survives to Tell His Story

A bicyclist has been in the hospital and recovering for the last six weeks after a hit-and-run driver nearly killed him while riding on his bicycle.

He was on his bike on McCormick Road in Jacksonville, training for a charity ride, the MS 150, in Daytona. But on October 1, two days before the event, he was hit by a truck, pinning his bike against the railing and throwing him in the air. He says he has no recollection of being hit or of the driver speeding off leaving him behind in the road.

Five broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade, three weeks in the hospital, a drug-induced coma, and 40 pounds lighter, the injured bicyclist is happy to be alive. His wife can’t believe someone left her husband in the road to die.

"I was floored by the disregard that someone had for him. As he said, there was ample bicycle lanes, no reason for this to have happened," she said.

McCormick Road has just received its own bike lane just so accidents like this don’t happen. But they do.

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October 29, 2009

DUI Hit-and-Run Driver Sentenced

She will spend the next four years in prison for DUI manslaughter. Many are saying she got off lucky. It was bad enough when last April, the 25-year-old woman side-swiped a van on I-295 near San Jose Boulevard. But instead of staying at the scene of the early morning wreck, police say she drove away.

She might have gotten away with it, but when she left the scene, she kept driving and then lost control of her pickup truck on Crown Point Road and struck a tree. As often happens with people who are driving while under the influence of alcohol, she was uninjured, but her 30-year-old male passenger died at the scene. Despite the death of her passenger, the woman took off on foot and was eventually tracked down by K-9 teams.

The woman pled guilty to DUI manslaughter. This week she was sentenced.

We wonder how the family of her passenger feels about her four years behind bars. According to state guidelines, the woman could have received 15 years for a felony in the second degree. Leaving the scene, in this case twice, bumps the sentencing to a first degree felony.

The driver of any vehicle involved in a crash that results in the death of any person is required by Florida law 316.027 to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the crash or as close as possible, and remain at the scene.

You are required to stay and render aid and give information to any officer investigating the scene and to give aid to anyone injured at the scene including getting them to a doctor or hospital if that is requested by the injured person.

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