Thanks for highlighting this story, Dennis. A Bicycle Coalition colleague
of mine is a lawyer, and part of a national "Bike Law" group. She just
wrote an article for them on this case, which interested people may read
here
<https://www.bikelaw.com/2019/02/blinding-sun-is-never-an-excuse-to-hit-a-cyclist/>
.
She ends with these sobering thoughts:
This morning, on my way into work, and less than a week after the plea
agreement was accepted by the Court, handfuls of drivers went speeding past
me into the blinding morning sun. This was so despite children heading to
school and patches of black ice all around us. Given the State’s plea
agreement, the Court’s acceptance of the deal, and the media’s coverage of
the case last week, the other drivers’ actions did not surprise me one bit.
While feeling quite jaded, I return to the same conclusion I reached at
the end of the piece I wrote for the *Maine Cyclist. *The hard truth is
if we want prosecutors to start seeing crashes like the one that killed Dr.
Eckert as crimes, we need to start treating behaviors such as driving
blind, driving distracted, and driving inattentively as crimes ourselves.
The E - Mails describing Hearings scheduled in Augusta for Proposed New
Legislation in Safety and Education relating to Bicyclists, Pedestrians and
new Programs for Educating Young People on Safety All came together when
reading the Report on the legal Deliberations concerning the Pickup Driver
and the Doctor bicycling home after a busy day at the Healthcare Center
where she worked . After searching a few other accounts of the "accident"
in other media, I found that she was hit at 4:49 PM October 10, 2016. The
Pickup Truck Driver said he was blinded by the Sun.
In all the Stories I could find, There was NO Mention at All of Sunglasses
or Sun Visors. Mid October, anywhere in Maine, Late Afternoon or Early
Morning, Drivers will experience Low Angle Sunlight in their Faces. People
on Bicycles, Children waiting for Schoolbuses, People driving to work in
the Morning , May come up behind a Stopped School Bus While driving facing
that same Bright Sunlight.
Then in the Late Afternoon, driving back home, a School Bus will Stop to
let Children out. And That same Autumn Low Angle Bright Sunlight will be in
a Driver's Face and Windshield. Do you have Sunglasses ? Does your car,
SUV,
Pickup Truck have Windshield Sun Visors ? Is your Driver's Seat adjusted
so the Sun Visors will help YOU to see that Bicyclist on the Shoulder of
the Road, or the School Bus stopped around the Curve ?
Dennis Marrotte
