The driver of a pickup truck who struck and killed a bicyclist in Kirkland in July will be fined $42 for improperly changing lanes.
Kirkland police told KIRO.TV news that they determined there was no reason to charge the 18-year-old driver with vehicular homicide, even though the teen apparently swerved onto the shoulder when he hit the man on the bicycle.
“Unfortunately, unless a person's driving recklessly, they're intoxicated, (on) drugs or alcohol, then there's really no criminal charge to this,” Det. Allan O'Neill told KIRO. “… It's a terrible accident.”
According to reports, John Przychodzen, 49, of Kirkland was riding his bicycle on the shoulder of Juanita Drive when the pickup veered off the road and onto the shoulder and struck Przychodzen from behind.
The family has hired an attorney, Chris Davis, and plans to file a lawsuit against the driver. Davis said he wants to put the driver under oath to determine whether he was distracted by his cell phone when he crashed into the bicyclist.
Przychodzen had recently moved here from Connecticut and was riding home from work at the time of the collision.
Vulnerable users
The Washington state legislature this year enacted a vulnerable users bill, signed by Gov. Gregoire, that seeks to hold motorists accountable when bicyclists or pedestrians are injured or killed.
While the bill doesn't make negligence a crime, it does increase penalties, including loss of driver's license in some cases. The bill is summarized at the Cascade Bicycle Club blog:
“Penalties in the bill range from moderate to severe. One may opt to surrender their license and pay a civil fine of $5000, or one may appear in court and request the alternative penalty. Under the alternative, one would perform up to 100-hours of community service in traffic safety or driver improvement, complete a state approved traffic safety course, and pay a fine of $250.”
Unfortunately, the law doesn't go into effect until June 2012 to give the courts and law enforcement time to deal with the changes.
The death of Przychodzen was the first of five that hit the bicycling community of western Washington in a short period in the late summer and early fall.
A few days after the Kirkland fatality, Michael Wong was struck and killed by a hit and run driver in Seattle. There is a dinner and fund-raiser in his memory scheduled on Monday. More at Seattle Bike Blog.
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