Thursday, June 5, 2008

Driver charged in cyclist's death

ABC11 has the story about the driver who struck Clive here, along with a picture of the driver. Here is the text of the story:

Orange County authorities charged the driver of a SUV in the death of a cyclist.

North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Matt Smith told Eyewitness News charges were filed Wednesday.

Ryan Idyle, 26, is charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle, careless and reckless driving and driving left of center.

The accident happened around 8 a.m. Tuesday on Pleasant Green Road in Orange County.

The bicyclist was 59-year-old Clive Sweeney.

Sweeney was hit head-on by a SUV that lost control and crossed the center line. He died at the scene and Idyler suffered minor injuries.


I hope that the coverage that this incident has gotten will raise people's awareness about the busy -- and shared -- nature of our roads. Just a little less speed and a little more awareness could make things safer for all involved: cyclists, motorists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians. Here's hoping.

2 comments:

Derek said...

I posted this at ABC11. Has the driver's deer excuse been corroborated by any witnesses? I haven't seen this in the ABC 11 stories. I'm not necessarily saying that he made it up, but I just haven't seen that angle explored. Obviously it will be an issue if the charges stick.

DukePirate said...

No, I don't believe that it has been substantiated. As you point out, it's hard to disprove, but it's also hard to imagine a deer standing in the road at that (rather busy) time, what with Clive being there on a bike. In my experience deer are actually more afraid of a person on a bike than a car, which makes it hard to imagine one sticking around.

Stranger things have happened, though, and part of me would really like to believe that this is just an unfortunate accident. Hard to say, though.