This story stokes my cynicism in so many ways.
A motorist struck a cyclist in Florida—the state that leads the US in the number of cyclists killed by motorists.
The driver was arrested. I shouldn’t be so cynical, you say. Well, I can’t help but to think the constables in Volusia County were diligent enough to apprehend the driver because someone captured the incident on video.
Oh, and the cyclist in question is Mike Chitwood—the Volusia County Sheriff.
Now, I am glad that, according to his tweets, he is recovering well from a fractured fibula and a gash caused by the car’s mirror. Having sustained similar injuries from being “doored,” I empathize with him.
But, in addition to the video and his position as Sheriff, there is another factor that led to a prompt arrest: the driver, Paige Bergman, was shopping on Amazon on her phone—yes, while she was driving—when she struck Chitwood, who was on a 20-mile ride.
She was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Unless they’re caught on video, hit-and-run drivers who hit cyclists are rarely arrested.
Apparently, Sheriff Chitwood isn’t the only person she hit: Online court records indicate that in December, she was arrested on domestic battery charges.
So, tell me: Had she not been so flagrant, and had her victim not been a high-ranking county law enforcement officer, might she still be behind the wheel, looking at her screen instead of the road?
