Conference noted::bicycle

    I had ridden with him a couple of times. Peter Vincent knew him
    well and rode with him regularly. 
    
    Pete will be helping to drive a response (in the form of a letter) that
    petitons the courts to "do the right thing" this time. He will be
    asking noters to help amplify the outrage of his family and friends
    and to insure that the voice is loud, clear, and very serious that
    we cannot stand for this.
    
     Chip

    The same thing occured last night in NH.  A kid on a bike was
    run over by a drunk driver with prior convictions.  There were
    others injured as well.   Frightening and very sad.
    -Larry

Lynne tells me that the driver is currently in jail on $10,000 bail and 
will be arraigned on Friday.  There should be details in Saturday's 
Telegram.

    I heard of what happened from a friend.   There were two riders
    training on Rt 70, taking turns pulling, heading toward Clinton.
    As they passed Mile Hill Road on the right, a truck took a right
    (heading up from Clinton), and broadsided Mark.  Knowing that area,
    they guys were probably doing a good pace, and this drunk either didn't
    bother looking or thought he could beat them. 
    
    Just another cyclist dead...no one cares.  We are a menace and deprive
    cars and trucks their rights of the road....  Somehow I feel deeply
    that I should give up this sport and begin something safer like bungy
    jumping...
    
    steve

    ...would have been a left, not right, up Mile Hill if the truck was
    coming from Clinton.  That curve on 70 is brutal for drivers this
    time of year with the evening sun (not that I'm in any way defending
    drunk driving or this idiot).
    
    I once stopped at the Boylston Police Department and asked why
    they allow head on parking (cars extend into the road, making
    it difficult for cyclists) at the donut/convenience shop under
    their police headquarters... dumb question of the year.
    Kratz

    My mistake, it is a left.  
    
    

Here in the South of France, the flics have a different attitude for 
motorists against cyclists and pedestrians - if a car is involved with either 
of them, then the motorist is deemed at fault and it is his responsibility to 
prove otherwise.  For me, an excellent scheme in the sometimes-muddled French 
thinking - of course it doesn't stop anyone being hit and killed by drunks, 
but it's a step in the right direction.

PS As from this week the alcohol level permitted before prosecution is down 
from 0,7 to 0,5, which I think is 2 or 3 glasses of ros�.

    Robin, flicks = police?
    
    inquiring minds...
    
    Chip

    re  -.1
    I had the same thought Chip.  But what I'd like to know is how you get
    to work so early?
    
    Rick

exactement, flics = police, we have many - from the friendly local agent to 
the leather-booted, white crash-hat brigade who always travel on motos (one 
each!!) in two's and are not to be trifled with.

I think I said it before " ... the normal expression of the French policeman 
is that of some-one who has just stepped on a toad"  (try it for yourself and 
you get the idea).

    "early to bed, early to rise..." unfortunately the rest of this little
    addage is a lie :-).
    
    actually, i do get to bed early, up at 4:15am and in work by 5:30...
    
    i do this for one reason only. usually i can get out around 2:30pm,
    go for my ride, eat at a reasonable time and keep my wife from
    getting p.o.'d at me :-)
    
    Chip

    
    Chip, I do the same, get in by 5:30 to 6:00. That way I have 
          plenty of time in the afternoon. I alternate between going 
          to the gym and cycling. and when I'm done, there is still 
          plenty of time for dinner and my girlfriend and the cats
          and....
    
    Shaw

    -1 i hear ya... ya gotta take those... and... and... :-)
    
       

    Probably worth mentioning...
    
    It should be emphasized that the safe way to go around the resevoir is
    the clockwise way, not counterclockwise as the rider that was killed
    was doing.  Clockwise avoids several possible conflicts with cars,
    including Mile Hill, the 70/140 intersection, (both) 140/12
    intersection(s), etc.  There aren't too many roads that go into
    the resevoir (not suprising...); there's lots of roads that "fork"
    out from the route.
    
    I also tend to go north up Rt 12 from Nancy Cheng's into Sterling and
    take 62 back to Clinton.  While this adds 2 miles and you have to worry
    about a few intersections (since the water is no longer next to you),
    it offers a full breakdown lane.  The more direct route from Nancy
    Chengs's to Clinton is Rt110, but this has no shoulder.
    .02 Kratz 

    I did not know Mark Young and yet I am saddened by this tragedy.  If
    there is something noters can do to either help assure appropriate
    penalties for the motorist, for the family of Mark or to support groups
    that promote better motorist awareness and safety for bicyclist, I
    would like to get more information.
    
    I ride around the resevoir quite a bit and never thought about "safety"
    in choosing a direction.  Kratz makes a very good point in promoting
    going clockwise for the safety of the rest of us since we must ride
    defensively.  Thanks!  I know this is the spirit in which Kratz offered
    this suggestion.  
    
    I like the section closer to the resevoir along 110.  It generally has
    less traffic and I will probably continue to use it.  
    I have also discovered some back roads between 12 and
    110 that are even more deserted and encourage anyone riding in the
    area to do some exploring.
    
    Rick
    

    I picked up Saturday's Worcester Telegram, and here's a synopsis of the
    story:
    
    	The Assistant DA asked that bail be set at $25,000
    	The defendant's attorney requested $10,000 bail
    	The judge set the bail at $100,000 cash (without hesitation)
    
    The defendant is charged with vehicular homicide while under the the
    influence of liquor and negligent operation, which is a felony; and two
    misdemeanors, vehicular homicide while under the influence of liquor,
    and vehicular homicide by negligent operation.  Te defendant has had
    two previous OUI convictions in MA and one (maybe two) in NH since
    1988.
    

    I like the judge's attitude.
    
    Chip

Is that right?  Vehicular homocide while under the influence is a misdemeanor?


Tim

From:	US4RMC::"[email protected]" "Lynne Tolman"  9-NOV-1995 02:49:44.89
To:	[email protected]
CC:	
Subj:	Driver sentenced


Telegram & Gazette,
Worcester, Mass.
11-09-95

MAN SENTENCED FOR BICYCLIST'S DEATH

By Gary V. Murray
Telegram & Gazette Staff

   WORCESTER -- A Berlin man with four prior drunken driving convictions
was sentenced to jail yesterday after pleading guilty to motor vehicle
homicide in connection with a fatal accident Aug. 10 in Boylston.
   Jeffrey S. Patch, 33, of 56 Barnes Road, Berlin, pleaded guilty in
Worcester Superior Court to motor vehicle homicide by negligent
operation in the death of 42-year-old Mark W. Young of 10 Mulberry Lane,
Northboro.  Young, an architect and avid bicyclist, died Aug. 13 at the
University of Massachusetts Hospital in Worcester, three days after he
was struck by Patch's pickup truck while riding his bicycle on Route 70
in Boylston.
   Judge Diane M. Kottmyer sentenced Patch to two and a half years in
the House of Correction with two years to be served and the balance of
the sentence suspended for four years with probation.  As conditions of
probation, Patch was ordered to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation
and any related treatment recommended by the Probation Department, to
attend weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and to perform 100 hours of
community service.  Kottmyer recommended that 91 days of Patch's jail
sentence be served at an alcohol rehabilitation program.
   The sentence imposed by Kottmyer was recommended by Assistant
District Attorney Gregory J. White and defense lawyer Leonard J.
Staples.
   White said Patch told police that he was making a left-hand turn from
the southbound lane of Route 70 onto Mile Hill Road when he was blinded
by the sun and struck Young.
   White said a police reconstruction of the accident revealed that
Patch crossed the double solid line on Route 70 well before Mile Hill
Road.  Police also determined that Patch had consumed several beers
before the accident, according to White.
   Patch, who refused to take a Breathalyzer test, was not indicted for
driving while under the influence of alcohol.  While members of Young's
family suggested that Patch's consumption of alcohol was a factor in the
fatality, Patch told Kottmyer, "I didn't feel that I was under the
influence, but I had consumed a few beers earlier on that day."
   Prior to sentencing, friends and members of the victim's family, who
said they agreed with the recommended sentence, spoke emotionally about
the impact of Young's death on them.
   Directing her comments to Patch, Young's widow, Nancy Hunter-Young,
told of "the enormity of the void that has been left by his death."  She
said her husband was "the most precious part of my life" and that since
his death, "I feel nothing. I am dead inside.
   "No one can set you free from the imprisonment of your conscience,"
Hunter-Young told Patch.  She also called for a change in the law that
would make a drunken driving suspect's refusal to take a Breathalyzer
admissible as evidence in court.
            ----------------------------------

                                Lynne Tolman   [email protected]

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    And the Jerk gets away with only serving two years in the slammer 
    for killing somebody, and it was his fourth drunk driving assualt?
    Seems not enough punishment if you ask me.
    
    Shaw

    Not even close. It still amazes me that "negligent homocide" is
    attached to someone willfully putting the public in danger by
    making a choice to drink too much, climb in a vehicle and possibly
    kill.
    
    Sounds like second degree to me. That was just a slap on the hand by
    my account.
    
    Chip