A man turned himself into investigators on Sunday after fatally striking a bicyclist on a highway, then leaving the scene, according to Oregon State Police.
in case anyone does not want to click the link here is the whole article:
Brian Hammons, 55, faces hit-run and criminally negligent homicide charges.
SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — A man turned himself into investigators on Sunday after fatally striking a bicyclist on a highway, then leaving the scene, according to Oregon State Police.
Brian Hammons, 55, faces hit-run and criminally negligent homicide charges.
Just after 7 p.m. Saturday, police say they responded to the collision in Marion County on Hwy 64 near milepost 5. According to investigators, the bicyclist, Harley Austin, 42, was riding south in the bike lane on Hwy 164 through the intersection of Talbot Rd SE when Hammons, who was driving a Dodge Ram 3500, turned onto the highway and collided with Austin. New Level 3 ‘Go Now’ evacuations issued for Bedrock Fire
Austin was taken to Salem Hospital, and was later pronounced dead, OSP said.
Authorities allege that Hammons left the scene after the arrival of medical personnel but before law enforcement arrived. He turned himself in the next day and was lodged in the Marion County Jail.
The investigation is ongoing. Any witnesses of the incident are being encouraged to contact OSP, referencing case SP23-252845.
I think you're reaching for something to be angry on this one. I read the title as "[car] crash [involving a] bike". Shorthand is not at all uncommon in headlines, which need to be snappy. They're not trying to frame the incident as caused by the bike or anything.
I'm not angry at the headline. Just. Not a god damned thing is being done to slow down pedestrian and cyclists death on our streets and roads. Not a thing. All we get is a fucking painted line and hope that some asshole doesn't hit you. Start impounding peoples cars for traffic violations. Increase fines so luxury car drivers think twice about driving on the sidewalk.
They’ve been doing this talking about e-bike fatalities non-stop. “E-bikes are dangerous…. 42 people died on e-bikes…” they cite the statistics, but never mention how many of those people were ran over by assholes who don’t respect the danger of their cars.
To be fair calling it just a “crash” implies car vs car so calling it a “bike crash” conveys more i formation but makes it seem like only bikes were involved.
Just after 7 p.m. Saturday, police say they responded to the collision in Marion County on Hwy 64 near milepost 5. According to investigators, the bicyclist, Harley Austin, 42, was riding south in the bike lane on Hwy 164 through the intersection of Talbot Rd SE when Hammons, who was driving a Dodge Ram 3500, turned onto the highway and collided with Austin.
Why is there a bike lane on a highway?
To be clear, I'm not taking the side of the driver. Fuck people with unnecessarily huge vehicles. I side with cyclists almost 100% of the time. But this just sounds unsafe.
To me, a highway means speeds in excess of 50mph. That isn't a place where we should have a body unprotected sharing the road.
I am a bit lost, the articles title is "Driver faces hit-run homicide in Marion County bike crash". This seems to not put any blame on the cyclist. It seems much like any time a car hits and kills something, what am I missing?
There may be dodge ram drivers that aren't pricks, but the majority of them are pricks. My neighbor just acquired a Dodge ram to add validity to this equation. He was pressure washing it before sun was through the windows on a Monday morning.