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28-year-old Leandro Brito-Martinez received a whopping 80-year sentence for killing 14 year-old pedestrian Tobias Soto.
The extenuating circumstances were that police were trying to stop the driver because they identified the vehicle was stolen, the driver fled, driving up to 100 miles an hour and running at least one red light, and, probably, because the driver was Hispanic. It'll be interesting when and if a white driver gets a similar sentence.
Still, since killing drivers of all stripes typically get off with slaps on the wrist, if that, it's surprising to see such a lengthy sentence.
I'm at a loss for words.
"'A person died here, for heaven's sake. Can you just let it be?' | Austin ghost bikes are disappearing, and volunteers don't know why"
This is old, but I just found it.
Driver t-boned cyclist Tom Carlson, and faced no penalty, not even a ticket.
I was in Chris' neighborhood today and something told me I should swing by, so I did, and coincidentally it turned out that it was his 60th birthday party. That was mentioned in the article dougmc posted but yesterday I'd only skimmed the article and didn't see the bit about the party. (I've since read the article carefully.)
He remembered the heyday of this forum back when it was an email list, particularly the spirited discussions involving Mike Dahmus, Patrick Goetz, and me. He also talked of his time in Japan, and raved about how the public housing there works so well, but how that idea is a non-starter here.
There's more, but I'm mostly at a loss for words. Probably no one has done more for cycling locally than Chris, and that's not even all he's done. If the world were fair, people like him wouldn't be taken so young, while the people actively f**king things up live decades longer.
For years I've opined here that drivers who kill other people through recklessness should lose their driver licenses permanently. Because as it stands, drivers might get jail time (if that), but usually don't lose their driving privileges, and even if they do, it's for a relatively short period of time. KXAN reports that someone convicted of intoxication manslaughter faces up to 20 years in prison, but only 2 years of losing their license.
Austinite Tanya Roberts is now pushing for longer de-licensing periods, following the death of her son Colton who was killed by an impaired driver.
Thank you for posting this. I'm very sorry to hear that Chris Riley will be leaving us soon. I'm glad he's being honored.
Wow, that was an eye-opening article, chavela. Thank you for sharing it.
My son almost became a firefighter. It would have been awkward if I were at odds with him.
Comment on Nextdoor:
I may go ten [mph] over on the interstate but that doesn't affect anyone.
And that right there crystalizes the problem: the widespread idea that "my actions don't affect others".
I pointed out that speeding DOES affect others: stopping times are increased, crashes are more likely, crashes are deadlier.
I note that the poster, Krissy Morrow, was the same person who blamed Critical Mass cyclists [in a letter to the Chronicle] after another driver accidentally crashed into Morrow's car, as a result of the second driver's road rage against CM.
Hard to count this one as progress. Until the end she was protesting her innocence merely because she "didn't see them". In fact, she likely did see them, because evidence says she decelerated like 10mph before hitting them, but that's beside the point: She never saw speeding as a problem. Likewise, it seems that most people are furious that their vehicle might gently remind them that they're breaking the law by putting others' lives at risk. Today I got road raged at from a driver temporarily stuck behind me while I was driving the speed limit, because they thought that was too slow.
So, before we had minimal prosecution, and little belief from drivers that speeding is a bad thing. Now, we have a little more prosecution, and still little belief from drivers that speeding is a bad thing. Yay?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ca … rcna156458
TIME reports that she was doing 81 mph. I couldn't find any reporting that said what the speed limit was.
I'm reminded that recently CA floated the idea of requiring cars to audibly notify the driver if they were driving X miles over te speed limit. 100% of the reader comments about that article were negative, how it would be an imposition on their supposed "freedom". Like I always say, things won't get safer until we change drivers' hearts and minds, and clearly that's not gonna happen any time soon.
dougmc, would you like the whole site, forum, domain name and all? All this could be yours.
I just came across this again, from the 6/16/2006 Austin Chronicle. I would give up bicycling 7 years later, for similar reasons.
Dear Editor,
Amy Babich’s letter last week is quite timely
[“Postmarks,” June 9], and should be read with
the gravity it deserves. A close acquaintance of
mine was recently hit by a driver while cycling as
well, breaking both of his legs. The driver drove
on, without stopping. Half an hour later this
individual called the police to inform them that
someone had “thrown a body” at their car. The
cyclist who was killed on Sixth last year moved
within my circle of friends as well.I, myself, was involved in a bicycle/car
accident last week, destroying my bike in the
process. I was lucky to have not been seriously
injured. That driver, as well, did not stop to
offer assistance.The lethal combination of poor bicycle/ pedes-
trian infrastructure and poorly trained, careless
drivers has made Austin a quite hostile environ-
ment for those of us who bicycle or walk for
pleasure or necessity. Our lackluster bus system
is woefully downtown-centric, and those who
neither reside or commute to our city’s center
are left with few options, save cabs, long walks
in blistering heat and rain, and cycling.So that’s it. I give up. I take back what I have
said in these pages previously about cycling
as a viable means of transportation. I’m tak-
ing what little money I have and buying the
cheapest auto I can find, simply so I will not
be murdered by a careless driver on my daily
commute. I spent three years trying to tell
myself that Austin was a sophisticated, forward-
thinking metropolitan area in which one did not
need a vehicle for everyday use. I was wrong.
Any individual who rides a bike or walks as their
primary means of transportation treads a fine,
dangerous line in this city and will find that
there are few sympathetic ears with the power
to help. [Emphasis mine, as it parallels my own experience/feelings.]Perhaps one day I can move to a more
forward-thinking city and not fear for my life
on a bicycle every morning. Perhaps Austin’s
city government will one day invest in the
infrastructure to protect and foster bicycle
transportationalists. I, for one, cannot wait
that long.Regretfully yours ,
Mike “Dub" Wain wright
I'm also reminded how in the mid-90s, Roger Baker said to me of my biking radio show on KO.OP, "Bluejay, every week you report on all these cyclists who get magled or killed by drivers, and in the same breath you're telling people that they should ride bikes." That comment was the impetus for my starting BicycleSafe.com, and the flagship article "How to Not Get Hit By Cars" became quite popular, even being the cover story on both Carbusters and Australian Cyclist, but, whatever, it's still dangerous out there. Just this week, a cyclist got mangled by a hit-and-run driver who reportedly hit him intentionally, at 45th and Guadalupe, as reported in another thread.
I was car-free for 27 years, and moved house multiple times entirely by bike, using a big trailer. Biking wasn't just something I did, it was part of my very identity. Probably everyone thought I'd be the last person to give up biking. When we bought the car I joked to my wife that it was such a scandal that the Chronicle would probably do a story about it. In any event, I gave up biking 11 years ago and I don't regret it. I paid my dues, but I'm done being harassed by drivers at best and putting my life on the line at worst.
I've said it ad nauseum: It doesn't matter how many miles of bike lanes we stripe in, until we change drivers' hearts and minds, the streets will never be safe for cyclists. And because of that problem, the streets are just as dangerous today as they were 10, 20, and 30 years ago.
Tonight while driving home from the Walgreens on 45th and Guadalupe I came upon a person who had just been hit by a car while biking (literally seconds afterwards). The person was unconscious and was severely injured- broken hand, concussion, broken collarbone etc. I jumped out and immediately started rendering aide along with another woman. After talking to numerous witnesses it was determined he was intentionally hit by a car that accelerated towards him, hit him from behind then sped off. APD, Austin Fire Department and EMS arrived within 7-10 minutes. The man had no recollection of the event, was incoherent at first and refused medical assistance even after being told he had numerous broken bones and a concussion. The EMTs, firemen and Austin Police did an amazing and empathetic job dealing with this tricky situation. APD gets a lot of negative press but I just wanted to give a shout out to the people showing up to work everyday and doing the right thing.
I also want to thank the neighbors who all sprang in to action, getting towels, offering water and gatorade to the victim, making statements to the police, those who took photos of the vehicle etc. It made me feel like I was part of a community who actually cared. We are stronger together!
Finally- if you witnessed this incident and have any info to provide please call APD. The person who committed this crime is dangerous and needs to be held accountable for their violent actions.
I'm moving my sites to a new server and this forum probably won't survive the move. If I can get it running in an hour, then it'll live, otherwise, R.I.P.
In that case, dougmc, I suspect you might want the MySQL database file, and if so, you can have it, as long as you safeguard users' email addresses which I assume you would do even without my asking.
Studies show that bike lanes result in more sales for the businesses around them, but business owners' perception is that they hurt business, so the owners oppose them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/worl … rking.html
This is what I'm talking about when I refer to differences in culture.
Can you imagine that happening here? Cue Americans whining about their "freedom". As though driving an obscenely large vehicle is a "right".
A U.K. cyclist took video of a van that passed him too closely, and sent the video to the company that owns the van, and posted it online.
Rather than apologize, the company sued the cyclist for supposed trademark infringement (since the company's name/logo was on the van). (Yeah, I know, that's not how trademark infringement works.)
The financial case for going car-free has gotten even stronger. AAA reports that the cost of car ownership went up a whopping 14% from 2022 to 2023, now $12,182 on average, or more than $1000 a month.
BTW, I know the calculator no longer works. I sold the Bicycle Universe site a few years ago (to buy a Pac-Man machine). The calculator worked at first after migrating to the new owner's host but now it's not for some reason.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 … ars-safety
What if people were just decent and didn't drive drunk?
That's certainly very interesting. Thank you for sharing.
Good stuff. What interests me most is that interest in transportation planning is now a thing. Can't imagine this kind of attention to it 30 years ago.
Council will no longer require a minimum amount of parking for new projects (except for ADA parking).
https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/20 … ent-rules/
Discuss.
On southbound S. Congress at Oltorf (and maybe other corners, I didn't check), a green signal with a picture of a bicycle indicates when bikes (and pedestrians) can cross at the crosswalk, with a large, illuminated "No Right Turn" icon lighting up for drivers, forbidding them from turning right into the crosswalk. Every once in a while, I stop and reflect at how much has changed in Austin, facilities-wise, since I started biking here in 1985.
On the other hand, today while driving I stopped at a mid-street crosswalk wheere a pedestrian was stopped at the entrance to it, and the car behind me laid on their horn, without stopping, even after I eventually passed through the crosswalk. They kept continuously blaring while speeding (in excess of the speed limit) off to the distance. The more things change....
Two high school seniors (!) have a column in the Austin Chronicle saying that transit alone won't fix our traffic woes (true) and calling for congestion pricing, as is done in some other major cities.
First, it's refreshing when car critics acknowledge that transit doesn't solve traffic problems. If it did, we'd expect building new traffic lanes to do the same thing, but we know they don't. Many car critics are quick to point out that extra highway capacity doesn't work while at the same time claiming that transit "takes X cars off the roads". We can't have it both ways, and these young columnists get that.
Second, it seems like the next generation might really be on the ball. Happy to see this.
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