And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody outside of a small circle of friends
First, through Robert J. Matter on the baltimore cm mailing list, this article by one Deborah Gates from the Daily Times, some sort of Eastern Shore local.
SALISBURY -- A city man cycling to work in the wrong traffic lane was fatally struck by the driver of a company truck who was apparently blinded by scant visibility from Monday's early morning rain, state police said.
Investigators blame pedestrian error and poor visibility for the 3:44 a.m. accident on northbound Route 13 near Clover Street that killed cyclist Charles Curtis Campbell, according to Maryland State Police spokesman Sgt. Keith Johnson. The 39-year-old Salisbury resident was en route to his job at the Target department store in north Salisbury.
"The pedestrian was at fault," Johnson said Monday of initial police findings.
The driver of the Herr's snack-food truck that struck the victim, Stephen Richard Sprankle, also of Salisbury, had not been charged Monday morning, police said. The accident continues to be investigated.
By law, cyclists are required to move with traffic "as far to the right" as roadway allows, Johnson said.
Campbell was struck as he rode the bicycle in the passing, or fast lane, near Clover Street, Johnson said.
And now from Barry Childress:
It is OK to kill cyclists not "as far to the right" on the roadway.
Imagine for a sec you are in your car about to make a left turn and you get rear ended and the police site you at being at fault for going slow in the fast lane.
Well that is the case if you are a cyclist.
Sorry for the attention getting intro but this is what I strongly suspect what happened here; the bike rider’s destination was .8 of a mile down the road on the left side. There are side streets that will take him to his destination on the left side of the road. And as you may know a bike rider does have the right to the left side of the road when making a left turn. If visibility has something to do with it then why was the driver not charged with violation of reasonable and prudent speed?
§ 21-801. Basic rule.
(a) Reasonable and prudent speed required.- A person may not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed that, with regard to the actual and potential dangers existing, is more than that which is reasonable and prudent under the conditions.
(b) Driver to control speed.- At all times, the driver of a vehicle on a highway shall control the speed of the vehicle as necessary to avoid colliding with any person or any vehicle or other conveyance that, in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to use due care, is on or entering the highway.
As you can see from the map (ignore the digression along Clover and Center; Google's weighting algorithm is a little off), Barry's narrative is basically plausible. It is conceded that the final turn would be a right onto North Pointe (Google Local lists a Target location on E North Pointe), but this is largely beside the point. There are two competing accounts of Campbell's behavior before the crash: one that seems likely if yo've spent sometime commuting by bike, and another that sounds appealing if you're a police department reluctant to put anyone away for hitting a peasant on a bicycle. One may either assume that Campbell was caught during a left turn, either to stop or detour, that Campbell decided to ride in the fast lane on Ocean Highway at four in the morning, in the rain out of a sense of personal enjoyment.
Two other non-substantive points: since when are bicyclists pedestrians, and where is Campbell's family? In Maryland, bicycles are logical vehicals, and cyclists are only pedestrians if drivers are manustrians. On the other point, here's how Gates concludes: "Mia Fox, manager for the Salisbury Target, said employees were saddened by the news. '(Campbell) was a team member and we are sad about the situation,' she said."
SALISBURY -- A city man cycling to work in the wrong traffic lane was fatally struck by the driver of a company truck who was apparently blinded by scant visibility from Monday's early morning rain, state police said.
Investigators blame pedestrian error and poor visibility for the 3:44 a.m. accident on northbound Route 13 near Clover Street that killed cyclist Charles Curtis Campbell, according to Maryland State Police spokesman Sgt. Keith Johnson. The 39-year-old Salisbury resident was en route to his job at the Target department store in north Salisbury.
"The pedestrian was at fault," Johnson said Monday of initial police findings.
The driver of the Herr's snack-food truck that struck the victim, Stephen Richard Sprankle, also of Salisbury, had not been charged Monday morning, police said. The accident continues to be investigated.
By law, cyclists are required to move with traffic "as far to the right" as roadway allows, Johnson said.
Campbell was struck as he rode the bicycle in the passing, or fast lane, near Clover Street, Johnson said.
And now from Barry Childress:
It is OK to kill cyclists not "as far to the right" on the roadway.
Imagine for a sec you are in your car about to make a left turn and you get rear ended and the police site you at being at fault for going slow in the fast lane.
Well that is the case if you are a cyclist.
Sorry for the attention getting intro but this is what I strongly suspect what happened here; the bike rider’s destination was .8 of a mile down the road on the left side. There are side streets that will take him to his destination on the left side of the road. And as you may know a bike rider does have the right to the left side of the road when making a left turn. If visibility has something to do with it then why was the driver not charged with violation of reasonable and prudent speed?
§ 21-801. Basic rule.
(a) Reasonable and prudent speed required.- A person may not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed that, with regard to the actual and potential dangers existing, is more than that which is reasonable and prudent under the conditions.
(b) Driver to control speed.- At all times, the driver of a vehicle on a highway shall control the speed of the vehicle as necessary to avoid colliding with any person or any vehicle or other conveyance that, in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to use due care, is on or entering the highway.
As you can see from the map (ignore the digression along Clover and Center; Google's weighting algorithm is a little off), Barry's narrative is basically plausible. It is conceded that the final turn would be a right onto North Pointe (Google Local lists a Target location on E North Pointe), but this is largely beside the point. There are two competing accounts of Campbell's behavior before the crash: one that seems likely if yo've spent sometime commuting by bike, and another that sounds appealing if you're a police department reluctant to put anyone away for hitting a peasant on a bicycle. One may either assume that Campbell was caught during a left turn, either to stop or detour, that Campbell decided to ride in the fast lane on Ocean Highway at four in the morning, in the rain out of a sense of personal enjoyment.
Two other non-substantive points: since when are bicyclists pedestrians, and where is Campbell's family? In Maryland, bicycles are logical vehicals, and cyclists are only pedestrians if drivers are manustrians. On the other point, here's how Gates concludes: "Mia Fox, manager for the Salisbury Target, said employees were saddened by the news. '(Campbell) was a team member and we are sad about the situation,' she said."