Appears hunting season can include bicyclists here in Boise this fall.  A county jury acquitted Alex Cole Thackery (19 years old) of  felony leaving the scene of an injury accident and inattentive driving.  These charges stemmed from him hitting a cyclist last October.  You’re going to love the technicality that got him off.

Alex hits the cyclists from the rear as they were both traveling in the same direction.  Does he stop?  No.  Instead he drives a mile and a half away.  Parks, gets out  and see the damage (bicycle tire track imprinted on the bumper, baseball size dent on top of front corner panel on drivers side) to his vehicle.  He then walks/runs back to the crime scene and finally calls police.  These events took some 45 minutes to transpire.

His excuse – he is a slow learner and couldn’t process what had taken place.   To back that up he showed where he took special ed classes through junior high.  In addition he said he didn’t know that the cyclists was injured.  Yes, my friends that is what got him aquitted.  He didn’t know he hurt someone after hitting them with his SUV.  Quoting his attorney “It’s not could have known, should have known. It’s actual knowledge that he caused injuries,” McDevitt argued in her closing. “You may think he should have stopped. But that’s not the law.”

Oh, never mind the fact that he had a prior accident after which he told the investigating police officer he would kill himself if he got in another accident.  Plus he previously plead guilty to inattentive or careless driving that stemmed from a reckless driving citation.
So why was this  jerk even given a drivers license?  And having a license doesn’t mean a driver should get a free pass just because they are a documented “slow-learner”.

A few weeks ago another cyclist was hit from behind on a long straight stretch of road that I occasionally  ride on.  She is struggling to stay alive.  The driver who hit her, an Idaho Prison employee no less, has yet to be sited.

Boise just ranked 20th in Bicycling magazines top 50 bicycle friendly cities.  Generally, the motorists in Boise are bicycle aware.  It is the courts and lawyers who appear to be our biggest threat to safety.

Read more here. [ http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/10/01/3404278/jury-begins-deliberations-in-thackery.html?sp=/99/101/102/164/#storylink=cpy]