Posted on 10/15/2007 8:58:36 AM PDT by MissEdie
CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) - The family of a 15-year-old Charlotte girl killed in a charity bike ride is suing the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The lawsuit alleges that the MS Society promised traffic control and police protection it didn't deliver, and routed the 2006 Breakaway to the Beach from Charlotte to North Myrtle Beach, SC, along a stretch of narrow and busy highway unsafe for bicyclists.
The lawsuit does not say how much money the family is seeking.
Rachel Giblin was killed on Sept. 16, 2006, after a pickup truck hauling a trailer hit the tandem bike she and her older brother were riding along U.S. 15/401 near Society Hill, S.C. It was Rachel's third MS ride, which raises money for research, local programs and helps increase awareness of the disease.
The MS Society wouldn't comment on the lawsuit, but released a statement saying it does everything it can to ensure rides are as safe as possible.
You got it...let's reserve the roads just for hogs like you in their SUVs.
I just did the MS in Missouri and they stated that the routes were open to normal traffic, and you were responsible for your safety.
Most routes were low to no traffic, but a couple of connecting stretches had traffic at 45+mph. Drivers shouldn’t have a hard time noticing cyclists as there a hundreds of them stretched out over many miles.
MS should not be liable, the driver should.
Greed clouds minds.
I actually have a truck, it is used to haul the cattle that make your ( or others ) food to market and such. My wife has small foreign SUV that we cram our 3 or our 5 kids into when we want to go somewhere, else we take the truck. Gee I guess I could go out and buy another car.
Alas I just tried a post a simple opinion but you want to get snippy as do most greenies so, how much taxes did you pay on your bike to ride on my tax funded roads last year? And your cars do not count.
Give your SUV-phobia a rest and move into the industrialized world my friend.
I think you have more of the root problem.
Lousy Drivers!!
I cycle, but luckily haven’t been nailed yet. I have, however, been nearly killed and had my race ready car which had years of blood, tears, and money invested destroyed by an inattentive driver. Maybe I shouldn’t have been in that intersection so that this terrible driver could careen around to her hearts desire!
Since when is it the responsibility of pedestrians, cyclists, other drivers, and inanimate objects to avoid being run over by bad drivers???
If you can’t avoid a cyclist, you can’t function as a licensed driver and should stay on the couch. We should have more rigorous driving tests and regulations.
People who equate 15 year olds with toddlers are just as unthinking.
The dumbing down and infantization of the populace proceeds apace, when 15 year olds are considered “children”, and sex-ed for 6 year olds is de riguer.
Here’s a hint: infants up to 2 years, children up to about 12, then adolescents until the age of majority, then young adults. How hard is that?
Who equated a 15 year old with a toddler? The article said the girl was on her third event, now she is 15, that makes her 12 when she went before just like you indicated, a child, just like I said. How hard it that?
Why do you assume the drivers are always in the wrong? What if a biker is going up a hill and kind of careers over to the side while being passed? Before they make a correction, they could get knocked off or knocked under the car. Not really the driver’s fault.
After being on 35 mph roads that I could only go 20 mph because some bicyclist decided he owned the entire lane, I have to say ___ you to bicyclists. Get on the sidewalk for chrissakes, you’re expected to in Japan. You simply can’t maintain the speed necessary to not have people pissed at you when there isn’t a designated bike lane, especially uphill-—in Seattle—during rush hour (don’t live there now but I wanted to pull my hair out.)
My SUV is narrower (thus easier to maneuver around bikers or other obstacles in the road) than my Oldsmobile was. And it’s easier to see ahead to plan out my path, which is better for YOUR safety.
As if SUVs are some kind of menace, while people who are riding below speed limit by 15 mph aren’t. lol
Contributory negligence?
Well said. I have had this argument before with the brightly colored, Spandex butt-in-the-air bunch.
For some reason, they cannot understand that on roads with no shoulder, they not only put themselves at risk, but are a threat to drivers that have to use the roads. In my area, rural Maryland, there are hoards of them every weekend. Even the most patient of my neighbors are just sick to death of the sight of them.
I personally don’t like these bike-a-thons or walk-a-thons. Seems easier and cheaper to just give the money to charity without the charity having to do these large events.
By causalities, do you mean deaths?
I would consider death a serious casulty, unless it was my own.
Its hard to believe the driver was not given a ticket. This was a group ride. I am sure he noticed more than usual bicycle traffic, or the problem is maybe he didn’t. In any case he owns a steel co but I am sure this did not influence the decision. History repeats on another group ride in bike friendly Carolina
Sunday 10/21: Lee Anne Barry and another cyclist, Tom Hoskins of Columbia, were hit by a Chrysler SUV as they headed northbound on U.S. 521 in Lancaster County.
Both cyclists died from their injuries.
The driver of the SUV, a woman from Greensboro who has not been charged, was not injured, the S.C. Highway Patrol said Monday. The wreck remains under investigation.
There are motorists who think it's their inalienable right to pass you at 40+ mph faster than you are going and not even pull over into the other lane, even though nothing is coming. This means 2 tons of steel whizzes by about 4 feet from your rear end, big whoosh sound!
I'll take my chances on the treadmill and tennis courts.
I am very sorry to hear about the 2 deaths. The driver should be charged with something.
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