Archive for the 'getting off easy again' Category

Charles Nystrom family thanks those who were present with him

Posted by Erik on August 20th, 2009 filed in getting off easy again, memorial

This letter to the editor was published today in the AZ Daily Star:
Share the road
Aug. 14 marked the anniversary of Chuck Nystrom’s death on Tanque Verde Road. My husband was struck and killed by an impaired and impatient driver that day. Also, that day, four nurses stopped to offer the benefit of their professional skills. [...]

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Asheville firefighter who shot at cyclist will not receive attempted murder charge

Remember that firefighter from Asheville, NC who stopped to tell a bicyclist that bicycling was too dangerous and he shouldn’t do it? And when the bicyclist left he pulled out a gun and shot him? Yeah that guy.
Well a grand jury has refused to return an indictment on attempted murder. It is [...]

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Driver who killed Allen Johnson finally cited

Posted by Erik on August 13th, 2009 filed in fatality, getting off easy again

I don’t know much more than that, but Allen’s brother Brad wrote me today and said the driver had finally been cited with driving in the bike lane and violating the three-foot rule. The driver has apparently moved out of state.
More on Allen Johnson here.
–Erik Ryberg

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Firefighter who shot at cyclist released on $200,000 bond

From the Asheville Citizen-Times:
Accused Asheville firefighter posts bond
Staff Reports • July 29, 2009 12:15 AM
ASHEVILLE — A firefighter accused of shooting at a bicyclist, striking him in the helmet, was released from jail Tuesday after a judge reduced his bond.
Charles Alexander Diez, 42, fired at Alan Simons, of Asheville, after arguing with him about riding [...]

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Alejandro “Beaver” Nunez, 1959-2009

Alejandro Nunez was killed while riding his bicycle on 22nd Avenue right at the intersection with South Sixth Avenue. The police did no accident reconstruction work. They did not paint the street or measure skid marks. They wrote a brief account from the perspective of the driver, which is that Mr. Nunez inexplicably [...]

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Zero citations so far for “Three foot passing rule” in Tucson this year

A couple times a year I send a public records request to the City Court to determine how many people have been cited in Tucson for violations of the three-foot safe passing rule, A.R.S. 28-735 (A).
The statute reads:
“While overtaking and passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction, a person driving a motor vehicle shall [...]

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You want to get a ticket or dontcha?

One the things I find the most irksome about the Tucson Police Department’s various bad policies is their habit of telling wounded cyclists that if they have to write up an accident report they are going to give the cyclist a ticket.
Here’s how it works:
A cyclist gets hit by a car, and is lying in [...]

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Report from the William Wilson sentencing

I couldn’t attend, but a reader has written this:
The sentencing for the Mr. Wilson was this morning and I attended. Tucson’s TV channel 13 crew was also there so it will be on today’s news. Bottom line: no jail time, 3 years of probation, he never drives again and he is to remain in an [...]

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William Wilson, motorist who severely injured El Tour rider Gary Stuebe, to be sentenced Monday, June 22

It’s before Judge Richard Nichols at 9:00 AM in Room 675 of the Superior Courthouse in Tucson if you want to go.
The Superior Courthouse is the big one on the southwest corner of Congress and Church street right in downtown Tucson.
You can read more about Gary Stuebe, the El Tour rider who was critically injured [...]

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Driver who killed TPD motorcyclist cited, but still no citations in Allen Johnson case

Several readers have written in to inform me that the driver who made a left turn into the path of Tucson Police Officer Peter Mannino has been cited with failure to yield and, more importantly, A.R.S. § 28-672, “Causing serious physical injury or death by a moving violation,” which could land her in jail for [...]

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