In some recent posts, I have taken heart in the fact that some drivers are being held to account in meaningful ways for injuring or killing cyclists.
Still, there have been many more incidents in which drivers got off with the proverbial "slap on the wrist."
Troy Manz was doing a 72-hour "sea to sea" race from Florida's Gulf to Atlantic coasts in February of last year. The former Marine turned emergency flight doctor and National Guardsman. He and his fiancee, Trish Wilkinson were just 20 miles from their destination--St. Augustine Beach (where I've pedaled during every trip to my parents' house) when they and a friend, Barbara Gilmore, were struck from behind by a car going about 70 miles per hour.
Wilkinson and Gilmore were taken to the hospital and treated for their injuries. Manz, however, died at the scene.
Last week they testified in a traffic case against the driver, Jonathan Quick. While his blood alcohol level was determined to be below the legal limit, conditions were clear and, as Wilkinson recalled, "we took every precaution, we did everything safely." They all wore helmets and had lights on the front and rear of their bikes. Moreover, they complied with all relevant traffic laws, according to the Florida Highway Patrol report of the incident.
Quick was initially charged with careless driving and failure to yield the right of way. The judge in last week's hearing upheld the latter charge but dropped the one for careless driving. As a result, Quick was sentenced to 12 hours of driver improvement school and an $1166 fine.
So..was that judge saying that Troy Manz's life was worth only $1166 and 12 hours?
Perhaps not surprisingly, Quick had a history of driving infractions before he ran into Manz, Wilkinson and Gilmore. "I'm very concerned that this is going to happen to someone else and nothing that happened in the court system will keep the keys out of his hand or will be any sort of repercussion," Wilkinson lamented.
She astutely identified the problem: Such lenient sentences do nothing to prevent future incidents and, really, give no incentive for scofflaw drivers to change their behavior.
