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Family of girl killed during SC bike ride sues MS Society
WIS TV ^
| 10-15-2007
| MissEdie
Posted on 10/15/2007 8:58:36 AM PDT by MissEdie
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To: Jeffrey_D.
Organizers said at the time that the new route was not a response to Rachel's death.I wonder if this is what triggered the lawsuit. If MS figured any responsibility on their part, why did they change the route when 99.9% of participants made it back safely?
21
posted on
10/15/2007 9:23:10 AM PDT
by
jdm
To: trumandogz
Sad, I have done 12 MS bike rides and there are usually great traffic controls along the 190 mile route. However, there are always accidents, the vast majority being because someone on a bikes makes a dumb mistake.My first and last long distance ride was 60 miles and there was supposed to be traffic control. It worked for the first 20 miles. After that, you were on your on. The cyclists spread out too much for effective safety measures. There were two casualities, neither serious due to colisions with other cyclists. Scary day, but fun.
Many drivers will not move over nor will they wait to pass at a safe point. They will often pass you without moving over to the other lane even though they could easily do that. A lot of drivers are antagonistic to cyclists, and like to scare them.
Bikes and cars, not a good mix. I'll stick to tennis and treadmills.
I am very sad for the girl and her family, but have no good feelings toward their lawyer.
To: Jeffrey_D.
Thanks for the link for additional info!
23
posted on
10/15/2007 9:25:10 AM PDT
by
MissEdie
(On the Sixth Day God created Spurrier)
To: The_Media_never_lie
There were two casualitiesBy causalities, do you mean deaths?
24
posted on
10/15/2007 9:26:54 AM PDT
by
jdm
To: Resolute Conservative
Well, I agree with you 100%.
25
posted on
10/15/2007 9:30:01 AM PDT
by
alarm rider
(Why should I not vote my conscience?)
To: jdm
There were two casualities, neither serious
Sorry The_Media_never_lie...I just couldn’t stop myself......
26
posted on
10/15/2007 9:32:11 AM PDT
by
Jeffrey_D.
(Some people are alive simply because it's illegal to shoot them !!!!)
To: MissEdie
If I was the parent of this child, and I honestly felt that the MS society was negligent in providing a safe route for the bikers, I would sue as well. I wouldn’t sue because I wanted financial compensation, but to ensure that future bike rides are safer, and the same unfortunate incident doesn’t happen to anyone else. If there was compensation from the suit, i would donate it to another worthy charity. I don’t believe that any amount of money can compensate for the life of another, and to accept any financial gain would be an insult to the person who has died. I don’t necessarily think a lawsuit here is as bad as everyone says.
27
posted on
10/15/2007 9:33:35 AM PDT
by
ga medic
To: MissEdie
anytime! I still can’t figure out the “no charges”
28
posted on
10/15/2007 9:33:46 AM PDT
by
Jeffrey_D.
(Some people are alive simply because it's illegal to shoot them !!!!)
To: ga medic
“I dont necessarily think a lawsuit here is as bad as everyone says.”
I agree....when you use “your” parameters are in place!
29
posted on
10/15/2007 9:36:37 AM PDT
by
Jeffrey_D.
(Some people are alive simply because it's illegal to shoot them !!!!)
To: Slapshot68
If the MS Society promised a safe channel for bikers on a road not meant for biking it wasnt provided, they could be negligent.
I think there could be a clear case for negligence, depending upon what was entailed in the "promise". Minors (or anyone) biking through high traffic areas isn't a good idea. If it was assumed to be safe, I'm not sure the MS Society would be negligent, but if the safe route and personnel were unavailable after having been promoted then I'd say there's a pretty strong case to be made.
30
posted on
10/15/2007 9:38:24 AM PDT
by
zencat
(The universe is not what it appears, nor is it something else.)
To: Resolute Conservative
I am 30 and frequently use my mtn and road bikes for errands. Now I plan my route to avoid sharing the road with cars going 30 mph+ but bikes should be welcome on most roads. By the way, I can’t remember the last time I wore spandex for a ride. The goods of cycling so far out weigh the goods of driving it takes too long to list. Some facts of the story standout. It was a tandem bike. Victim female age 15. Location was on non-bike friendly road. That adds up to cyclist’s fault. Take a trip to Holland some day if you don’t believe bikes are good for transportation. Holland is pancake flat though and a lot of America is not.
To: Resolute Conservative
>>>I expect flames from the spandex crew.<<<
None from me. It’s surprising to me how many bikers manage to survive riding on SR A1A along Florida’s Atlantic coast. Even though there are off-road bike paths, they refuse to use them, insisting on exercising their right to ride on the road. I would never consider riding my bike anywhere but on the bike paths knowing how lousy the drivers are around here.
32
posted on
10/15/2007 9:40:53 AM PDT
by
shove_it
(nonillegitimous carborundum)
To: MissEdie
So now all the money donated to deal with MS now has to be used to cover legal expenses and settle the suit. Money isn’t going to bring that girl back to life.
I wonder why they’re not going after the pick-up driver, or police?
33
posted on
10/15/2007 9:42:27 AM PDT
by
metmom
(Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
To: MissEdie
A lot of unknowns about this event.
by at 08:20AM (PST) on January 16, 2007 |
Permanent Link |
Cosmos
South Carolina police said Monday that no charges will be filed in the bicycling death of Rachel Giblin, a 15-year-old girl who was struck by a pickup truck during a MS 150 bike ride last September.
Rachel and her brother, Tommy, were riding a tandem bicycle in the Breakaway to the Beach fund-raiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on Sept. 16, 2006, with their parents.
In the months following the fatality, Highway Patrol investigators determined that Rachel and her brother fell and were hit as the pickup truck passed, Major M.L. Howard told the Charlotte Observer.
(Update: Howard also told the newspaper that the truck "was passing a little too close, and the results were tragic." Speed was not a factor, he said.
Solicitor Jay Hodge Jr. did not find malicious intent on the driver's part, so he didn't file charges, Howard said.
The girl's parents want the case reopened. The father said witnesses saw the family riding upright as the truck approached.
"We're pretty angry," he said the newspaper. "In the half-second that the guy went by, there was no reason for our children just to have fallen."
"We really feel that it was not just one of those things where you're in the wrong place at the wrong time," his wife said.)
News reports at the time said Rachel's brother and mother were taken to the hospital. The father, Tom Giblin, was riding at the head of the group near Society Hill, South Carolina, when the accident happened on US 15/401.
34
posted on
10/15/2007 9:43:15 AM PDT
by
deport
(>>>--Iowa Caucuses .. 91 days and counting--<<< [ Meanwhile:-- Cue Spooky Music--])
To: Slapshot68
Nothing is absolutely safe. If it was the truck driver who was at fault sue him. I know that would be too simple, and the truck driver does not have as deep of pockets.
35
posted on
10/15/2007 9:43:27 AM PDT
by
John D
To: jdm; trumandogz
Here is some information about the accident and about the lawsuit.
Background: Driver Kills Rachel Giblin. No Charges.
On Monday, S.C. Highway Patrol Maj. M.L. Howard said no charges would be filed against the driver in the death of Rachel Giblin, 15.
The Charlotte Country Day School freshman was killed during a multiple sclerosis charity bike ride Sept. 16, 2006 near Society Hill, S.C., after a pickup truck hauling a trailer collided with the tandem bicycle she and her older brother, Tommy, were riding.
The driver, Rudy Robinson, 50, owner of Hartsville Steel, of Hartsville, S.C., declined to comment when reached Monday.
Investigators determined that the bicycle Rachel and Tommy were riding fell as the pickup truck passed them, Howard said. [Maj. M.L. Howard] also said the truck "was passing a little too close, and the results were tragic." Speed was not a factor, he said.
Solicitor Jay Hodge Jr. did not find malicious intent on Robinson's part, so he didn't file charges, Howard said.
Hodge, the solicitor, was out of the office Monday and could not be reached for comment.
The Giblins' Lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges that the MS Society:
Promised traffic control and police protection along the route but failed to provide it.
Included a narrow, 10-mile section of U.S. 15/401 which is designated for use by large trucks and does not meet the roadway standards for safe bicycling publicized by the state.
Failed to tell local police or the S.C. Highway Patrol that bicyclists would be on the highway.
Failed to warn riders that "they would be expected to negotiate a lengthy stretch of high-speed, high-volume trucking highway without the benefit of police protection or other security."
To: Resolute Conservative
I think you’re right, cyclists should take a motorist exam on the condition all motorists take a cycling exam where you have to get out on the road and peddle with the cars.
To: the_devils_advocate_666
...I HATE LAWYERS! (I think Im going to go outside and scream for a little while...) ...Here's some more stuff to scream about...
From this post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1911461/posts
U.S. intelligence officials got mired for nearly 10 hours seeking approval to use wiretaps against al Qaeda terrorists suspected of kidnapping Queens soldier Alex Jimenez in Iraq earlier this year, The Post has learned...
...Sometime before dawn, heavily armed al Qaeda gunmen quietly cut through the tangles of concertina wire surrounding the outpost of two Humvees and made a massive and coordinated surprise attack. Four of the soldiers were killed on the spot and three others were taken hostage....
...A search to rescue the men was quickly launched. But it soon ground to a halt as lawyers - obeying strict U.S. laws about surveillance - cobbled together the legal grounds for wiretapping the suspected kidnappers....
38
posted on
10/15/2007 9:45:36 AM PDT
by
FReepaholic
(A crowded elevator smells different to a midget.)
To: MissEdie
This provides more info:
Included a narrow, 10-mile section of U.S. 15/401 which is designated for use by large trucks and does not meet the roadway standards for safe bicycling publicized by the state.
Failed to tell local police or the S.C. Highway Patrol that bicyclists would be on the highway.
Failed to warn riders that “they would be expected to negotiate a lengthy stretch of high-speed, high-volume trucking highway without the benefit of police protection or other security.”
Now, all that being said, this is what happens when you have a society that is slowly but surely abdicating all personal/parental responsibility for their own and their family’s well being. The family was on this ride together. As a parent, if I saw a bike trip was heading into obviously dangerous passage for bicycles -especially a tandem bike- I would at the very least have my kids off the bike and walking, off of the asphalt. Perhaps even quit the ride altogether and head home. Regards the promised police traffic control, I’d be on the phone with the ride coordinator and/or the local cops as well.
39
posted on
10/15/2007 9:48:26 AM PDT
by
visualops
(artlife.us)
To: MissEdie
40
posted on
10/15/2007 9:49:03 AM PDT
by
fweingart
(Tom Tancredo Will Get The Job Done! (How is Mumia Abu-Jamal these days?))
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