MAGAS MAKES THE WALL STREET JOURNAL!

Protecting The Rights Of Those Who Ride

Steve Magas is Ohio's Bike Lawyer. He has written about Ohio Bike Laws, bike crashes, bicycle advocacy and court cases for some 30 years. Soon we'll be adding a series of features about your favorite Ohio bike shops.

MAGAS MAKES THE WALL STREET JOURNAL!

Saturday 31 Mar 2012 by Steve Magas | No Comments

I wrote an essay a few years ago called “The BLS – Boring Legal Sh….er… Stuff – For Cyclists,” in which I described how your homeowner’s insurance, auto coverage, health insurance and more intersect when you are whacked by a car. I also suggested that cyclists need to make sure their Estate Planning was in order by updating their will and having Powers of Attorney in place for financial and health care matters. Fast forward a few years and this piece was mentioned on a hotsy-totsy financial planning website. A writer from The Wall Street Journal saw it -and suddenly I’m on the phone with Arden Dale, a regular WSJ contributor! On March 13, 2012 Ms. Dale’s Wall Street Journal story about Estate Planning for Sports Enthusiasts hits the web, and there, in a 43 word paragraph, Ms. Dale describes our 30 minute conversation for all WSJ readers to take in.

Read the rest of this entry »

Darke County – Dark Case

Tuesday 27 Mar 2012 by Steve Magas | 2 Comments

Darke County, Ohio is a small rural county, about 600 square miles, that sits north of Dayton. With one “city” in the county, Greenville, and a lot of smaller villages and townships, the total county population of 53,000-ish doesn’t seem surprising. Like all of Ohio’s 88 counties, it has a courthouse, court system and judges, along with an elected prosecutor and sheriff. Oddly, the Probate/Juvenile Court is online, but not the Common Pleas Court. It’s also the home court for a rather dark case…

Read the rest of this entry »

THE LATEST ATTACK ON CYCLING ADVOCACY

Monday 12 Mar 2012 by Steve Magas | 26 Comments

Jerry Walling and Roger Brislawn do what many, many cyclists around the country do – they sit on the Bicycle Advisory Committee of their community. They never dreamed that accepting this role, and reviewing bike crashes, would lead them to the brink of “large fines and imprisonment...”

Read the rest of this entry »

Kelly Cox Gets 9.5 Years for Killing Cyclist

Saturday 10 Mar 2012 by Steve Magas | 10 Comments

On May 23, 2012, Kelly Cox was driving her Chrysler Pacifica along Rapids Road near Chardon, Ohio… while drunk… very drunk…with kids in the car… She ran into, and killed, Geauga County Judge Chip Henry. Regular readers here know that I’ve written a good bit about this case already – and won’t reiterate what I’ve written here, here and here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Reps BOEHNER, SCHMIDT & GIBBS Tick Off Millions of Ohio Cyclists!

Tuesday 7 Feb 2012 by Steve Magas | 1 Comment

On February 2, 2012, Speaker of the House John Boehner, Jean Schmidt & Bob Gibbs, two Ohio members of the House of Representatives, ticked off MILLIONS of Ohio cyclists – how? By voting to KILL funding for bike and pedestrian projects.

Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE – KELLY COX PLEADS GUILTY TO KILLING JUDGE CHIP HENRY

Tuesday 24 Jan 2012 by Steve Magas | 1 Comment

The case against Kelly Cox, the motorist accused of driving drunk, with an amazing 0.28%BAC, and killing cyclist Chip Henry, was set for trial today, January 23, 2012. Numerous subpoenas had issued and the Henry family assembled for the ordeal that criminal trials are for the families of those killed. Instead of starting trial, though, they discovered that last minute plea deal negotiations were underway. Today, a few hours later, Kelly Cox plead guilty to the key crime – Aggravated Vehicular Homicide – and other crimes.

Read the rest of this entry »

10 Reasons Motorcyclists Don’t “Wave”

Friday 20 Jan 2012 by Steve Magas | 17 Comments

I found this summary a long time ago – thought it was time revisit it…

The “wave” is ubiquitous to motorcycling… you approach an oncoming rider, you do the “wave” – sometimes it’s arms out or hands down or fingers pointed or whatever… but waving is certainly accepted…

Here, though, is a pretty nice list that compares the [alleged] reasons why the owners of certain types or brands of motorcycles don’t wave… enjoy!

[I apologize to whoever wrote this first – I’ve seen it on so many sites and places that I’ve lost track and can’t credit the appropriate original, and obviously very funny, author]

Top Ten Reasons Not To Wave.

Read the rest of this entry »

“I AM Traffic” – AFRAP & Impeding Traffic- Constitutional Arguments?

Wednesday 16 Nov 2011 by Steve Magas | 11 Comments

I initially wrote this piece in 2010. I tweaked it around 2013 but am giving it a big re-write today because AFRAP and “Impeding Traffic” continue to be topics of discussion and continue to be tossed about by Police Officers when dealing with cyclists on the road.

I got a call some years back from a fellow, Brent Nimmo, who is an AVID cyclist in the Columbus, Ohio… well… “avid” probably isn’t a strong enough adjective – passionate bordering on fanatical maybe? Part of this piece tells the story of how this 54 year old diabetic talked his way out of an “impeding traffic” ticket by proclaiming “I AM Traffic,” and maybe, just maybe, educated an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper in the process.

Read the rest of this entry »

FIND THE BIKELAWYER ONLINE

Friday 11 Nov 2011 by Steve Magas | No Comments

A few months ago I had the absolute pleasure of having a conversation with Ann Fisher about Bikes and the Law. Ann’s very popular radio show followers happened to be listening and, lo and behold, a tape was made – or whatever substitutes for digital “tape” these days…

You can listen here.

I took second billing that day – to Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin! I’ll take THAT any day!

Enjoy!

KELLY COX SEEKS NEW VENUE, COMPETENCY TESTING & SUPPRESSION OF ALCHOL TESTING

Thursday 10 Nov 2011 by Steve Magas | 5 Comments

In Geauga County Kelly Cox has been charged with driving drunk – with a HUGE BAC – and killing Judge Chip Henry. She recently filed three motions asking the court to
– move the case to a different venue.
– determine if she is comptent to stand trial and
– suppress the alcohol testing.

You can read the motions here.

Read the rest of this entry »

« Older Entries

Newer Entries »

Protecting The Rights Of Those Who Ride

Follow Me