Do you have any source beyond the Examiner? I can’t find any other confirmation, and the story at the Examiner is thin enough that I’m not convinced of it’s credibility. But if we could confirm the story, then that would be worth writing about.

Anyway, thanks for bringing that to our attention Max!

AT

And the judge’s power (or lack thereof) to suspend a driver’s license is controlled by the state, not the judge. Write your representative in Sacramento.

It’s a sentiment not meant to be literally true. It resonates with cyclists because that’s how it feels. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying it’s 90% true. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told someone was hit and the police wouldn’t take a report. It happens too often.

Unfortunately, even if she were given a year in prison, she would likely be released within days as a “non-violent offender”.

Deliz is likely alive today only because of a quick response by citizens, police, paramedics, and emergency room doctors. Alex, I think you are wrong that the police don’t care. A case would never have been filed if the police did not fully investigate.

It is important to remember the person responsible here is Mahdavi. She drank alcohol (at 18 years old) and then drove her car. Her character and upbringing are demonstrated by her decision to leave a man dying in the street after causing his injuries.

We can expect many more such accidents after the vote to legalize marijuana in California later this year.

I do regret that stories like this make biking seem quite dangerous. This discourages all but the brave to get on the road.

When you look at E.R. visits due to bikes you get about these numbers –
66% are children.
25% are Adults involved in Bike\Bike or solo accidents. All mine fall in this cat.
10% are bike\car accidents. They are about equally divided into Car’s Fault, Bike’s Fault, and could not be determined.

So biking is safer than many people would believe. We need to reach a critical mass of bikers on the road. Mom and Pops won’t do anything dangerous however.

I think our biggest concern is to make sure that Louis gets restitution and financial relief to relieve his current suffering. I am ultimately pessimistic at this point of him recieving anything from the defendant or the Mahdavi family at all.

1) The judge did not give a court order that she not be allowed to drive. This means that when January 2011 comes around, she could be driving again if the DMV sees fit. We should not be looking to the DMV to make criminal justice decisions.

2) No jail time sends a clear message that this sort of thing is not a big deal. She has a felony charge – in the long run that, not jail time, will have the greatest negative impact on her. But to everyone else, the jail time is the disincentive. No one gives a fuck if they hit bikers and they don’t in part because they don’t face real penalties. Only a fraction of a percentage of these hit and runs land in court, so someone who hits a cyclist now knows they face a fraction of percentage risk of jail time should they hit a cyclist and leave them for dead. That’s an incentive to leave the scene, and it’s an incentive not to care if you hit cyclists.

3) One member of Louis’ family made a very salient point. I was more in the camp that the Hospital and Morgue program, a drivers’ license suspension, her being forced to pay Louis’ medical bills, alcohol counseling, and her probation stand a better chance of changing Mahdavi than jail time. However, Louis family member argued that Mahdavi needs time to think about, to process what she has done. She needs to think about how horribly she has impacted Louis and whether she wants to continue to be that sort of person. She needs to think about how she will go about changing herself, and how she can do some good things in the world so that ultimately she can forgive herself –> that is the route out and up for Mahdavi. Without time in jail, she may never confront those issues.

I think the approach we need to take is to remind everyone driving is a privilege not a right, and go after the driving privileges of the reckless, and in the case of hit and run, also the heartless and cowardly. I want to see in extreme cases, people banned from driving for life, their car impounded and with severe penalties if found to be driving unlicensed. I think in some cases jail time is appropriate, especially if deliberate intent is at play, but most of all I want reckless drivers off the road.

Sometimes reckless drivers have no other past history of crime or violence outside of their car, so are less of a threat to all society in general like other criminals. They are only truly dangerous once put behind the wheel controlling a multi-ton vehicle at fast speed. So lets get these people out of cars.

Additionally, losing ones driving privilege should come with class instruction on living car free. A lot of us are already living car free or car-lite by choice, but someone who has never fathomed the idea, they easily lapse into illegally driving without a license when they don’t understand alternatives.

**that does NOT play into

**I can easily advocate jail time and go home, but jail is reality for some people, and it’s a reality I really don’t wish on anyone.