Bicycle Austin forum

Darron

Member

Registered: 2014-05-22

Posts: 131

No cellphone for 2 years for Michigan driver in fatal bike crash

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/m … /28459901/

ST. JOHNS — A woman whose car struck and killed a bicyclist last fall near DeWitt drew an unusual sentence Wednesday in Clinton County District Court.

Mitzi Nelson will serve two years of probation and at least 90 days in jail, but she will also have to speak to 20 driver's education classes about the dangers of distracted driving, perform 150 hours of community service and forgo owning or using a cell phone or other portable communications device during her time on probation.

Judge Stewart McDonald acknowledged that someone could challenge his authority to bar someone from using a cell phone but hopes the sentence will deter others from using one behind the wheel.

"I don't think she has a right to have a cell phone," he said. "I think it's a privilege."

McDonald gave Nelson six months in jail, with the final 90 days deferred depending on her progress. Nelson will have to serve the first 30 days of her jail sentence immediately and another 30 days next spring. The rest of the 90 days will be served over four holiday periods. The judge said he would consider her request for work release at a later time.

He also ordered that she pay more than $15,600 in restitution and $1,500 in fines, fees and costs. The state in May suspended her driver's license for a year.

I think justice was served here within the framework of current laws around these types of accidents.  It was also good to see the driver plea no-contest and take some responsibility for her actions.  Also good to see the judge include driver education as part of this sentence.

MichaelBluejay

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From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

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Re: No cellphone for 2 years for Michigan driver in fatal bike crash

Seems like the judge got it exactly backwards when he said that owning a phone is a privilege, not a right.  Property ownership is well established in this country, while operating a vehicle has always been treated as a privilege ever since licensing.  Her license was suspended for a while, but they took her phone away for a longer period of time.  I'm happy to let her have a phone, but just take the keys to the car away...forever.  As I frequently say, when you cause the death of another road user, I think you should lose the right to drive again.

Still, it's nice to see *some* penalty applied for a driver killing a cyclist.  We don't seem to see that in Austin very much.