No charges in death of Mesa cyclist: Police say more proof is needed to cite driver with violation of "3-foot law"
According to The Arizona Republic, no charges will be filed in the recent death of Linda Cleapor in Mesa. While riding her bicycle she was overtaken and struck and killed by a semi-truck on September 12.
The fact she was hit and killed by the truck is not enough evidence, police say, to charge the driver with failing to give her three feet of space. This because (reading between the lines) there are no witnesses to the accident to say that she did not purposefully lunge under the tires of the truck.
From the article:
“Mesa Police Detective Chris Arvayo, a department spokesman, said issuing a citation isn’t easy when detectives investigating the scene are dependent on eyewitness accounts.
“Obviously, there wasn’t three feet between them because she got hit, but that doesn’t tell us where she came from or where she was on the roadway. In order for that detective to issue the violation, there’s just got to be more there,” Arvayo said.”
Should you have any questions about why Arvayo thinks a dead body in a roadway is not enough evidence to support a citation for failing to give the cyclist three feet of space, his email address is christopher.arvayo@cityofmesa.org
I reported on this tragic accident earlier, here.
Our condolences to Ms. Cleapor’s family and loved ones.
–Erik Ryberg
October 1st, 2007 at 7:48 am
Typical lawyering. You want to assign blame without evidence.
Poodles and dogs pal.
October 1st, 2007 at 11:54 am
When I crash my car into a telephone pole, I get a ticket for not being in control of my vehicle no matter what happened that may have caused me to veer into the pole — a poodle, a dog, a recently quaffed six-pack, or inattentiveness.
When you drive your semi past a cyclist in a bike route and she ends up under your tires, I think the evidence is there to support a finding you did not give her three feet of space. Remember– this is a civil infraction that does not result in any jail time. It’s just a fine. But even that is too much for some.
October 27th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
“assign blame without evidence…” holy cow, the evidence seems pretty clear to me.