According to cyclist/attorney Dj Wheels, Jeffrey Adams, the driver charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon in the Santa Monica Dr. Thompson-lite case, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
However, both Wheels and a comment left by Andrew note that the hearing was continued to December 13th.
Wheels also notes that Celine Mahdavi, the driver given a slap on the wrist sentenced to 90 days in the hit-and-run maiming of cyclist Louis Deliz, was scheduled for a restitution hearing on October 12th, which was rescheduled for December 1st.
Despite being sentenced to three years probation, in addition to her extremely limited jail time, the judge allowed her to travel to Europe for nine days.
Which suggests that the only person really being punished for her crime is her victim.
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Ventura resident Shannon Richard pleaded no contest to leaving the scene of a fatal collision on Tuesday.
Richard was charged with fleeing the scene after she hit Jose Louis Carmona as he walked along the the roadway when she was distracted by a crying child, leaving him to die on the side of the road.
The Ventura County Star reports that she thought that she had hit a deer, coyote or some other animal — in other words, she had no idea what the hell she hit, and didn’t care enough to find out.
Richard was not charged with driving under the influence, despite an initial arrest on drunk driving charges. Her lawyer said she was under the legal limit, and had only drank wine after the collision.
Note to drivers: if you want to get away with it, go home and have a couple of drinks. Then if you’re caught, just claim you only drank after you got home.
Reading between the lines, the victim was blamed for causing his own death by walking along the roadway without lights on his bike. Oddly, pedestrians — which is what Carmona was while walking his bike — aren’t normally required to have lights and are allowed to walk on the shoulder of a roadway.
Unless he was actually within the traffic lane, the driver should have been at fault.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 9th; Richard faces anything from four years in jail to probation with jail time.
Guess which one she’ll probably get.
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A couple other quick notes.
Rex Reese points out that bicycling was once reputed to ride the gay away; undoubtedly, it’s a popular for of recreation at the clinic run by Michelle Bachmann’s husband.
Nebraska alum Todd Munson points us to a hit-and-run that took out a couple of Lincoln motorcyclists; the perpetrator is the star of the volleyball team — and daughter of the coach; needless to say, she remains on the team since fleeing the scene of a collision isn’t that big deal.
A Culver City cyclist tells the city council of that city that not only did a CCPD officer ignore a mild hit-and-run, the officer followed up by frisking and fondling him. This may be the first time anyone has used the phrase “does stuff with my anal cavity” in an open council session.
A Houston cop claims his supervisor ordered officers to stop riders for biking while black.
Bike unfriendly USC takes a first step in dealing with bikes by asking two-wheeled students to be more considerate; the university will also hire consultants to study additional solutions to “the bike problem.”
University of Wisconsin researchers say the secret to a long life could be as simple as riding to the store.
Local bike shops face a considerable challenge in competing with online retailers, however, a group of New Hampshire bike shops have banded together to create a coop website allowing riders to shop online and still buy local; could be a good model for L.A. shops.
This is why you need a helmet; not because of car collisions that exceed their safety requirements, but because bad things can happen when you bike. I rode with a helmet for over 20 years without ever needing it; the one time I did, I was glad I had it.
After a cross-country cyclist is killed on a New Mexico reservation, tribal police fail to conduct an investigation because they didn’t think it was serious. Note to drivers: if you want to kill a cyclist, try doing it on tribal lands.
Here’s a new one. A London bus driver ran over and killed a cyclist because he had a sudden painful spasm that kept him from stepping on the brake. Note to drivers: see your doctor now to complain about back pain to document your excuse in case you ever need it.
A former leader of the League of American Wheelmen — now League of American Bicyclists — receives a posthumous honor from the Dutch for inventing the center line.
Finally, don’t get too comfortable in your position on the road; you can be replaced.
