[formula4speed]

This one is local to me. Reports indicate the cyclist was very safety conscious and well lit. The driver has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. Hopefully there will be some justice for the victim and his family.

DuPont manager charged in Hockessin hit-and-run

 

[newfangled]

What is with all of these hit&runs?

The penalty for fleeing an accident should be so high that if you do it, and you get caught, then you're completely f'd.

I realize that high penalties for hit&run might have discouraged the driver in this case from later reporting himself to the police. But if the driver hadn't fled the scene and had called 911, then maybe the cyclist wouldn't have died alone in a ditch.

 

[scubaklook]

I was thinking alcohol was involved since they managed to cross lanes. The 12hr gap would give time to clear the alcohol (and call the lawyer). I wonder what the penalty is for hit and run vs killing someone while under the influence. I think you would have to make them equal otherwise people will just leave if they are drunk hoping to get away or at least get the lesser charge.

 

[mtbxplorer]

Reports indicate the cyclist was very safety conscious and well lit. The driver has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. Hopefully there will be some justice for the victim and his family.

I hope so, no excuse for no 911.

 

[BrianMc]

You can be well lit but if the oncoming driver is also 'lit' and swerves into your path there aren't a lot of options. Pretty telling that the damage was on the passenger side of the car and the car's tire tracks were off the road on the cyclist's side of the road.

I think that the penalty should be the same as for drunk driving and leaving the scene. I can't see a sober person leaving the scene. That would not reduce the number of its and runs like this though, as a drunk won't be that rational.

 

[Bokchoicowboy]

I was thinking alcohol was involved since they managed to cross lanes. The 12hr gap would give time to clear the alcohol (and call the lawyer). I wonder what the penalty is for hit and run vs killing someone while under the influence. I think you would have to make them equal otherwise people will just leave if they are drunk hoping to get away or at least get the lesser charge.

Most states have laws that make hit-and-run with injury or death a felony, whether or not the driver is intoxicated. Many states have charge "enhancements" if alcohol is involved that allow the sentencing judge to add jail time and/or financial penalty to the sentence.

Scubaklook is correct in his speculation regarding leaving the scene to clear alcohol from the driver's system. For those drunks who are aware and coherent enough this is quite common. Many simply keep driving after hitting a person or property just because they are too intoxicated to be aware of what is happening to them.

 

[formula4speed]

I know we have a vulnerable user law on the books, but I can't remember what enhancements it involves. Most of our elected officials here in Delaware are pro bike, so I am cautiously optimistic this won't just be a slap on the wrist.

 

[rogbie]

Typical drunk hit and run. Hopefully the detectives will ask where and what he was doing prior to the crash, and ask for alibis. The standard, "Where you going, where you coming from" question given at all traffic stops.

 

[Whacked]

Well if your 17yrs old
drunk
hit and kill a cyclist
your mother went to the high school prom with the sheriff
you can get off scott free, not even a DUI or community service

it happened.

Easter Sunday, year 2000
the day my brother was killed by a drunk 17yr old whos mother went to the prom with the sheriff

 

[chazpat]

^ wow, way to exploit the dead.

EDIT: just came across this again. It was in reference to a spam post, since deleted.

 

[joshhan]

I hate reading stories like this but I'm always curious to see how it ends up.

Looks like he appealed all the way to the DE supreme court:
https://www.wdel.com/news/video-man...cle_4d82d888-f94c-11e6-a823-5bee6ed982aa.html

And lost:
https://www.delawareonline.com/stor...s-conviction-hockessin-hit-and-run/100923390/

"On the night of Sept. 12, 2014, Pardo was at the Border Cafe near Stanton where he had dinner and six to seven drinks before driving home with his three sons, then ages 5, 8 and 9."

How you gonna have 6 to 7 drinks and then drive home with your 3 kids in the car?
Dang!

 

[Flamingtaco]

One dead, three with possible late teen PTSD and nearly a decade without their father in the years they need him most.

Alcohol is a hell of a drug for some. If you can't drink without getting drunk, don't.

 

[DrDon]

High school classmate skipped school, got drunk and ran a red light. Killed an infant belonging to a Chinese couple who were exchange students. No jail time. Daddy was a judge.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro