Milford bicyclist heard words ‘kill him, run him over’ before being hit by car, cops say

By Brian McCready, Milford Bureau Chief
bmccready@nhregister.com / Twitter: @nhrbmccready

MILFORD — The 42-year-old bicyclist told police he heard the words “kill him, run him over.”

Then the car allegedly hit the bike the man was on, police said.

The man was thrown from the bike but was not seriously injured, police said.

But then the motorist turned the car around and this time allegedly ran the bike over, police said.

When police responded to the incident in the area of Edgefield Avenue at the intersection of Yale Avenue around 5:30 p.m., the bicyclist was able to recall the license plate number on the car and that led investigators to arrest a 20-year-old Bird Lane resident, police spokesman Sgt. Vaughan Dumas said.

Louis A. Melfi III, is charged with evading responsibility, and reckless driving, police said. Melfi told police there was a problem with a bicyclist but denied striking the bike, police said.

But the bicyclist, who was not identified, told police he was on a leisurely ride Wednesday evening when he heard a female voice shouting from a car “kill him, run him over,” Dumas said.

The bicyclist was driving in the shoulder of the road eastbound on Edgefield Avenue and told police he also heard a male voice yelling, “I’m gonna run you off the road,” police said.

The vehicle hit the bike’s rear tire and the man was knocked off the bike, he told police. He also told police the car continued a short distance, and then stopped, backed up and ran the bike over a second time before being driven off, police said.

In addition to the license plate number, the bicyclist provided a description of the vehicle. The vehicle was located at Melfi’s residence. Investigators determined based on physical evidence from the car that it did strike the bicycle and Melfi was arrested. He was released after posting $500 bail and is due to appear in Superior Court in Milford Aug. 11.

–EBR

Andrea Kelly, whose journalism I have praised in the past, finished her AZ Daily Star piece on the new 4th Avenue bike-paving with this doozy:

And while many won’t care whether there’s a new strip of pavement placed where bicyclists will likely ride, plenty of others will see that as a problem and will undoubtedly remind us that bicyclists don’t pay for infrastructure.

What does it mean to be “reminded” of something? It means to be made aware, once again, of something you once knew but had forgotten.

Is she trolling for on-line comments? Because that’s what it seems like. She admits in her own article that the project is being paid for with a sales tax, and surely she does not believe that bicyclists don’t ever buy anything.

There are so many problems with the “bicyclists don’t pay for infrastructure” argument that it is hard to know where to begin. Bicyclists don’t pay gas taxes for the miles they cover on their bikes, but that’s about where it ends. They pay for infrastructure in the normal ways like through state and federal taxes.

And of course, bicyclists pay dearly for infrastructure they don’t use, just like everybody else does. I pay for schools, but have no children. I pay for a military that I wish would stay at home. I pay to subsidize various industries I loathe and whose products I vow never to use. But like everyone else I also benefit in incomprehensible ways from living in a civilized country where there is give and take, and I’m proud of it.

Bicyclists also pay for infrastructure by not harming it in the first place. People on bikes don’t take up (many) parking spaces, don’t hold you up at the light, don’t wear down pavement, and almost never kill you if they hit you.

But everybody knows all this. The “bicyclists don’t pay for infrastructure” is not an argument about facts. Facts have nothing to do with it. It’s an argument about values. And the values argument is this: bicyclists get in my way. They are different from me and just by being there they make me feel guilty and lazy for sitting around on my fat ass, and I wish they would go away. Therefore, because they make me feel lazy, I am going to call them lazy: they always want to get something for nothing. And I am going to accuse them of not paying their way to do their silly, effete, elitist activity. They don’t contribute. They aren’t Americans.

–Erik Ryberg

TUCSON – An early morning accident leaves a bicyclist dead.

Tucson Police say it happened on 4th Avenue and Congress around 5:00 a.m. when the bicyclist and a vehicle were both headed westbound on Congress.

Witnesses say the bicyclist lost control and swerved into the vehicle. Tucson police police say preliminary reports show that the cyclist is at fault.

No citation will be issued for the driver.

And from KOLD:

Bicyclist killed after crashing into vehicle in downtown Tucson

Brian J. Pedersen Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Monday, July 5, 2010 7:33 am

A bicyclist was killed early Monday when he collided with a vehicle while riding downtown.

The 47-year-old man, whose name has not been released pending next of kin notification, was riding west on Congress Street near Toole Avenue about 5:55 a.m. when he lost control of his bike, hitting a vehicle that was also heading west on Congress, said Sgt. Diana Lopez, a Tucson Police Department spokeswoman.

The cyclist, who was not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene, Lopez said.

I am awaiting more information about this, but at the moment it is the usual announcement that the cyclist was at fault.

–Erik Ryberg

He was riding his bike as far to the right as he reasonably could, given that the bike lane was full of snow. The driver said that since Mason was technically inside the bike lane, a bus could come just as close as it wanted, so long as it didn’t cross that white stripe.

In other words: if you are in the bike lane, you don’t get three feet.

Naturally, the Flagstaff police agreed.

And so did the City Attorney.

Or anyway, they did until they started getting barraged and embarrassed by press reports and public outrage.

In the end, not only did everybody cave, but the disorderly charge was dropped and the bus driver was ticketed for what Ed Beighe over at AZbikelaw.org is saying may be the first-ever Arizona citation for a three-foot rule violation that did not involve an actual collision. And the Flagstaff daily wrote a great editorial about it.

I think the lesson to learn from all this is: don’t go quietly! Contact the press. Talk to me if you need tips on getting video and audio footage. Fight the power! These are bureaucracies we are dealing with here, and a lifetime of fighting bureaucracies has taught me that the only way to make them change is to humiliate them or to sue them. Usually, public humiliation is cheaper, quicker, and more fun.

Anyway, thats what Mason did, and he did it brilliantly. As the Flagstaff paper notes, the outcome of all of this is that both police and bus drivers are getting extra training on bike laws and how they apply. A positive step for all.

–Erik Ryberg

But as usual, Copenhagen wins.

–EBR

78. Comment by Kevin T. (thehotelguru) — January 8,2010 @ 4:33PM
Ratings: Thumbs Down Thumbs Up -2 +1

A cyclist gets as much space when I pass as they allow themselves. I don’t cross into their lane and they should stay out of mine. If this works out, they need no more room than the car in the lane on the other side of me. My tire stays in my lane. If the cyclist crosses the white line, that’s their problem. Cyclists, in Tucson at least, are jerks. Riding along like they are in some time trial to get from light to light on River Rd. Plenty of places to act like Lance Armstrong that aren’t our roads. If you feel the need to play dress up in your spandex do it on the river paths or in a gym where the bikes are in no danger of encountering a car.

–EBR

More about the sentencing hearing here.

AZ Star article, with usual comments, here.

–EBR

From the Yuma Sun:

No charges filed yet in cyclist’s death

November 26, 2009 9:45 PM
BY JAMES GILBERT, SUN STAFF WRITER

The case involving a woman whose car allegedly struck and killed a 37-year-old Yuma man two months ago has been referred back to the Somerton Police Department.

The 25-year-old female driver from Somerton, whose name has not been released, reportedly struck and killed Doug Flynn on Sept. 24 in the 300 block of East Madison Street as he and other cyclists were nearing Somerton.

Flynn, an avid cyclist, was president of the Yuma Bike Club and had been employed by the Yuma Sun since 2002, most recently as its creative services manager.

Roger Nelson, chief criminal deputy attorney with the Yuma County Attorney’s Office, said no charges have been filed in the case. It was returned to police on Nov. 17, asking it be sent to the state crime lab to determine if the driver had any drugs in her system.

“We have not received a lab report yet,” Nelson said. “We are waiting for it.”

Once the county attorney’s office receives the lab report, it will review the case again and determine whether to file any charges.

According to the Somerton Police Department, the accident happened at about 6:41 a.m. An investigation showed that the vehicle that struck Flynn was traveling eastbound on Madison Street and the cyclists were riding in a long single-file line on the opposite side of street, heading west.

The driver, according to Somerton police, tried to pass a tractor pulling a farm implement in a legal passing zone.

During that passing attempt, Somerton police say, her car struck Flynn and another cyclist. Two other cyclists were riding ahead of Flynn at the time.

When paramedics arrived in less than four minutes after receiving the call, they found Flynn unresponsive, lying on the ground and being treated by some of the cyclists. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

And from the comments section:

This was a very unfortunate accident and my condolences go to his family and friends. However, like it was said before it was an Accident! According to all the evidence the young woman driving the vehicle did not break any laws and the authorities would know that by now. We are nobody to judge people, you never know what the next day will bring us. My heart goes out to her, I’m sure she will never forget that day as long as she lives.

and

Bicyclist should of stayed off the road. It was unfortunate for Mr. Flynn but bicycles do not belong on the street they belong on the side walk. There is no logic in allowing bicycles on the street. One exaple of why they do not belong on the street is they hinder traffic and instances like these where the driver didn’t see these people until it was too late. Doesn’t the police department issue tickets for people that drive way below the speed limit. The bicyles cannot be considered the same as the vehicle. They don’t have turn signals, they can’t keep up with traffic. They are a hazzard on the road for motorist and they jeopordize their own safety. Just saying. My condolences to his family and friends.

–EBR

Tucson does slightly better by pedestrians than the state average when it comes to spending. Arizona spends an average of $2.16 per person per year on bicycle and pedestrian projects. Tucson spends about $2.52 per person, the report says.

This part is interesting, too:

The report also said 14.1 percent of all traffic deaths in Arizona [during 2007 and 2008] involved a pedestrian. The state spends an average of 2.6 percent of its federal transportation funding on pedestrian-oriented projects.

Hmmm.

–Erik Ryberg

The Arizona Daily Star has a depressing, simple-minded editorial about the Third Street bike enforcement that is occurring.

They say:

The recent, albeit limited, crackdown of cyclists who ignore the traffic rules of the road is a positive move, not because cyclists aren’t welcome in Tucson, but because our community is bicycle-friendly and keeping everyone safe is paramount.

If keeping everyone safe is paramount, why is there no enforcement of the three-foot rule? The vast majority of cycling fatalities in Tucson occur because drivers hit cyclists from behind, often while the cyclist is in a bike lane. I am sure it has happened, but I can’t recall a single recent incident of a cyclist being killed from running a stop sign, and certainly not a stop sign on the Third Street bikeway.

And if keeping everyone safe is paramount, why the insanely dangerous Fourth Avenue underpass? As I told Channel Four News the other day, and as I have stated in this blog: we spent 46 million dollars on that underpass. We can spend a little more and make it safe for cyclists. Will we? Or will we wait for another hit-from-behind fatality on Broadway as a cyclist attempts to merge across those lanes to reach the underpass?

I have no problem with citing cyclists who literally blow through stop signs, and I am well aware that college kids, especially newly minted ones, can ride like idiots. Tickets might actually help some of them. But what about also targeting the behavior that is actually killing cyclists?

This passage really got me:

“Ghost bikes,” or bikes painted white and mounted near a road to mark where a rider was killed, can be found throughout the city, sad reminders of what can happen when people don’t pay attention to each other on the road.

It would be wonderful if bicyclists and pedestrians on and around the UA campus would decide on their own to obey traffic laws and stop at stop signs, yield when necessary and look before they go plunging into the road.

The Star is correct that these memorials can be found throughout the city. I have personally installed many of them, and all were for people who were killed by drunk, angry, speeding, or inattentive drivers. People who never had a chance, and who were obeying traffic laws.

Anyway, Bob Mionske has said it all particularly well here.

The Star has it backwards. If the City wants to encourage bicycling, as it says, then it will make the Third Street bikeway easier, not harder, to traverse (I very much doubt that removing that stop sign–making the intersection a two-way, instead of four-way stop–would make things any more dangerous for cyclists or motorists).

And if TPD wants to improve the safety of cyclists it will start following up on assaults and move at least some of its enforcement resources towards targeting the motor-vehicle violations that keep killing cyclists, instead of focusing only on the violations that annoy drivers.

–Erik Ryberg