Our client Rich Halbeisen’s August 1 bicycle crash has stirred up Charlotte’s cycling community. After plowing over Rich from behind, sending him flying into the air and to the hospital, the 82 year old driver who hit Rich kept driving until another driver followed and made him pull over. The driver who hit Rich was so far to the right of the lane that he blew his tire against the curb. The witness said the thud was so loud when the car hit Rich, there was no way the driver could not have known he hit someone. Despite the witness’ statement and the driver’s terrible history of causing personal injury accidents, no warrant for hit and run or even a traffic citation was issued. Frustrated, and afraid for the driver’s next victim, Rich wrote a letter to Mecklenburg County’s District Attorney, Peter Gilchrist, to ask what could be done about this man’s license. He emailed the letter to a fellow cyclist who passed it on and it is now circulating among the cycling and political community. I’ll keep you posted on what happens next.
One Comment
Your description of this collision is eerily reminiscent of that of someone I knew of when I lived in Champaign, Illinois. Jerry Keiper was riding his bike home from work at Wolfram Research when he was hit from behind, run over and killed by an elderly driver who kept going. The driver claims he never knew he hit somebody and assumed he hit a pothole.