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.
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!
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.
Regular readers know that I have written quite a bit about the Ed Miller case and was also asked to write an Op-Ed piece in the Columbus Dispatch about cyclist/motorist tensions stemming from the case. Miller is the motorist who went out partying with his buddy, Columbus TV personality Gabe Spiegel, in July 2008. They drank and went to an all-night, BYOB strip club. Before leaving the club they did a self-assessment and, like many drunks, Miller decided he was “OK to drive” at 5:00 am or so… and off they went. A bit later, Miller came up on cyclist Steve Barbour, hit Steve from behind, and killed him.
His first criminal trial resulted in a hung jury. As the jury was being seated in his second trial, Miller elected to cut a deal. He plead guilty to a slightly less charge of causing a death while driving recklessly and to a DUI charge. This past week Miller was sentenced to three [3] years in prison on the felony and six months on the DUI.
James Caskey was killed in 2008 while riding his bike in Florida. His estate sued the Lawrence Daniels, the motorist that hit him – nothing unusual there, happens all the time. The twist in this case is that Caskey’s estate claims Daniels was texting at the time of the crash – and the judge has ruled that evidence of texting is sufficient to allow the jury to consider PUNITIVE damages as well as the usual compensatory damges. This is, it is claimed, a case of first impression in the United States.
Not many details yet, but a cyclist was killed around 7:15pm October 14 in Hamilton, Ohio. According to one news report:
“…At 7:17 p.m. Friday, a man was crossing the road in front of 2039 South Erie Highway when he was struck by vehicle traveling north on Erie Highway, according to the Hamilton Police… The victim was transported to Ft. Hamilton hospital where he died. The victim’s name has not been released and the accident remains under investigation…”
UPDATE – CYCLIST IDENTIFIED
The cyclist killed in Hamilton, Ohio has been identified as 66 year old Earl Taylor, of Hamilton [NOT “56 years old” as reported in all media reports]. The crash is still under investigation. No charges have been filed. The motorist stopped and helped until police and EMT’s arrived. A website has been set up to help Earl’s family with funeral expenses.
Steve Barbour was a beloved Columbus cyclist. He was a retired civil engineer from O.D.O.T. A long-time member of Columbus Outdoor Pursuits, he had been a ride leader since the 1980’s. He was on his way to lead a C.O.P. ride the morning he was run down and killed by Ed Miller.
Steve Barbour Ghost Bike
Yes, yes, it’s true… the Bike Lawyer is in the Twitter House. You can find me @ohiobikelawyer through Twitter. I’m still working on controlling my thoughts to 140 characters… not so easy when you have an unlimited white board available on this page!
Well, as I suspected, things HAVE been moving along in Geauga County behind the scenes. I wrote recently that it seemed like nothing was happening in the case of Kelly Cox, who killed Judge Chip Henry in May. I was hopeful that authorities were examining phone records, toxicology reports or other forensic data before charging the driver. Today we learn that a sealed indictment was filed – and Kelly Cox was indicted by a grand jury on numerous charges.
On Monday, May 23, 2011 around 7:35 pm Judge Charles “Chip” Henry was riding his bicycle north on Rapids Road in Geauga County, Ohio – east of Cleveland. The Judge was known to his colleagues as an avid cyclist. It was a nice evening – clear, dry. Sunset in the area that night was 8:44 pm, so light wasn’t a problem.
I am still working on my report of 2010 fatal bike crashes in Ohio. ODPS has not finalized its 2010 crash data yet. In fact, I received a new report recently which listed an 11th fatal bike crash in 2010.
We’ve gathered most of the data – police reports, photographs, witness statements and accident reconstruction analysis from most of the 11 fatal crashes. In the meantime, I continue to watch the Google Alerts for news of 2011’s fatal crashes. Here’s a brief summary of some of the 2010 data, and a close look at two crashes.
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