As a former bicycle messenger, these stories are near and dear to my heart:
Seattle Police are looking for the driver of a red minivan that slammed into a bicyclist in Belltown then drove off, leaving the biker critically injured.
The crash happened around 7:00p.m. Monday on First Avenue between Bell and Blanchard streets.
The bicyclist, a 30-year old man, was taken to Haborview Medical Center.
If you know anything about this incident, please contact the Seattle Police Department: http://www.seattle.gov/police/contact/
Map of Where Incident Took Place
Remember, if you are on two wheels, ride like you’re invisible. To many people, you probably are.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it is far too easy to get and maintain a driver’s license in this country. Episodes like this only help to illustrate my point. It also underscores why we desperately need more bicycle lanes in the city of Seattle. What is seen as a minor inconvenience for car drivers is actually life and death for bicyclists.
It is my sincere hope that the cyclist is okay, and while I am skeptical of it happening, I really hope the driver is caught and is never allowed to drive ever again.
And what if the accident was caused by the cyclist? No license is needed, no bike tabs required, no test of any kind is ever taken, and yet you complain about how easy it is for people to get an maintain a drivers license? Wow…
It is illegal to leave the scene of an accident regardless of who is at fault.
Therefore, I rather doubt the cyclist was hit by a benevolent, highly-skilled, law-abiding driver.
Then again, I don’t imagine that your comment was serious to begin with.
Ohhh ok, so because the driver took off, that means he was at fault? I agree, leaving the scene of the accident is totally illegal, but theres so many ways things can go down, you cannot assume anything. To dismiss the cyclist as the cause of the accident, just makes you blind as I see cyclists putting themselves at risk of an accident as often as I see drivers do. Cyclists will run red lights, make the wrong turn down a one way street, make illegal turns, using bikes that are OBVIOUSLY not street legal and even go so far to gather in numbers in order to block traffic in all directions for kicks and giggles. Mind you, some of those cyclists are also drivers, who if they make stupid decisions biking, might actually make similar stupid decisions driving.
Ohhh ok, so because the driver took off, that means he was at fault?
It means that he was guilty of, at the very least, hit-and-run which is a felony in the State of Washington, so yeah, I guess you can say that.
I agree, leaving the scene of the accident is totally illegal, but theres so many ways things can go down, you cannot assume anything.
You can assume that the driver is a felon.