A Teenager Hit Six Cyclists While Trying To Roll Coal And Was Not Arrested

[Coolbob]

So, he accidentally hit six cyclist while attempting to 'only' assault them with exhaust and the authorities let him go. WTF!?!

A Teenager Hit Six Cyclists While Trying To Roll Coal And Was Not Arrested

A 16-year-old pickup driver hit multiple cyclists on Saturday morning near Waller, Texas, a city just west of Houston. The teenager struck six cyclists in all, and two of them were airlifted to local hospitals to treat shoulder, neck and back injuries; one cyclist suffered head trauma, according...

jalopnik.com

 

[AHicks]

The fact he hasn't been arrested disturbs me almost as much as the fact he ran over the riders. You have to wonder if his family might have something to do with that.....

Lack of accountability for your actions is one of today's biggest problems in my mind.....

 

[Mulezen]

Let’s hope that he is charged and loses his license until hell freezes over. As to the parents who put him in that hulking useless truck…sue them

 

[PedalUma]

The truck should be impounded and sold to help pay medical bills. The kid should have his license suspended and removed from his possession. With one year for each attempted homicide. He should be limited to using a bike or to walk for all of his transportation needs for six-years - not even a bus or ride share, nor for work. And he should document 125 eight-hour days of volunteering for local not-for-profit cycling organizations, over the first three-years. Then 125 eight-hour days volunteering for air quality or environmental conservation organizations over the next three-years to qualify for reapplying for a driver's license. Over this time he should be on monitored parole with mandatory weekly anger management classes.

 

[RunForTheHills]

I don't normally like to criticize how other people raise their children, but this was failed parenting for sure.

 

[Coolbob]

I'm speculating here, but I bet the police on the scene think big trucks and rolling coal are cool, and think hitting a bunch of nerds on bicycles is no big deal.

 

[AHicks]

I'm speculating here, but I bet the police on the scene think big trucks and rolling coal are cool, and think hitting a bunch of nerds on bicycles is no big deal.

If that's the case it's because they're afraid of the fallout from a parent or relative with some say in the matter...

I would LOVE to know the picture of that truck and all the crunched bikes made the front page of the local paper, the evening news, all with this kid's name plastered everywhere. That's not likely going to happen though, for the same reason the little butt head wasn't arrested on the spot....

 

[PedalUma]

I'm speculating here, but I bet the police on the scene think big trucks and rolling coal are cool, and think hitting a bunch of nerds on bicycles is no big deal.

I will bet that the outward anger is based on inner fear. Cyclists represent a threat to a dying way of life that cannot be sustained. And yes, that others in that community have the same recalcitrance and fear. That is what is creating the aggression.

 

[Mulezen]

That he is a juvenile probably has something to do with no arrest.
Here’s a happier ending

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/09/29/doctor-surgery-woods-biking-minnesota/

 

[RunForTheHills]

I will bet that the outward anger is based on inner fear. Cyclists represent a threat to a dying way of life that cannot be sustained. And yes, that others in that community have the same recalcitrance and fear. That is what is creating the aggression.

I don't think that most people in the US believe cycling is a threat to their way of life. Many probably think that cyclists are inconvenient and that the roads were built for only cars. It is more a feeling of entitlement than fear. There is also a certain type of idiot out there that thinks this type of stunt is fun and cool to do. I have run for exercise for more than 40 years. I have had drinks thrown at me, cars swerve at me to scare me, horns honked, and the ever popular "run Forrest run" yelled at me many many times.

 

[AHicks]

That he is a juvenile probably has something to do with no arrest.
Here’s a happier ending

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/09/29/doctor-surgery-woods-biking-minnesota/

So you're saying the fact he's 16 should allow him to still be walking around as if nothing happened if he shot somebody? What the difference? That kid needs some of the right kind of attention....

 

[Mulezen]

juveniles often are released to the custody of parents...even in shooting cases. That doesn’t mean I would not support a public whipping.

 

[PedalUma]

In California a car or truck can be a deadly weapon as much as a knife or gun. This case is assault with a deadly weapon.
(Section 245 A, 1) Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.
How did the kid get the weapon? Is it okay to wave around a loaded gun in public? Did the kid display anger, malice?

The following is from a criminal defense lawyer:

What is Assault with a Deadly Weapon Using a Car?​

Unfortunately, people do use a car to intentionally injure others. We have seen it in the context of domestic violence, DUI, aggravated battery (in a road rage context), street racing / reckless driving / exhibition of speed, mayhem as against a pedestrian, and in juvenile matters. It is often charged as attempted murder, rather than assault with a deadly weapon (Penal Code § 245(a)(1)).

It is important to note that the victim need not be injured at all for one to violate Penal Code § 245(a)(1). A violation occurs when defendant acts willfully, with an awareness that the car was likely to directly cause and probably result in the application of force or great bodily injury to another, directly, or by pushing something else into another. The critical inquiry by a prosecutor, judge and a jury is whether defendant acted in a way, with the awareness and willfulness required, that could have created injury or harm to another.

A car can be considered a deadly weapon insofar as it is an instrument that can be used in a way to cause substantial, significant or great bodily injury or death, so it can be classified as a deadly weapon. People v. Aguilar (1997) 18 Cal.4th 1023.

The most common defense to such a charge is often the lack of willful intent to cause any injury to another. In other words, the injury to another was simple negligence. This defense may be possible under circumstances that tend to show defendant had no anger or motivation to injure the victim.

 

[Dallant]

Kid/parents probably have friends on the force. Lots of police/justice system BS protecting rich kids. Maybe he’s their local high school QB.

 

[retiredNH]

Such is life in Texas. Lived there for 3 years. Leaving was the happiest event in my life. Live there at your own risk. And remember that a kid actually beat a rap by claiming "affluenza:

From Wikipedia:
Ethan Anthony Couch (born April 11, 1997) is an American who, at age 16, killed four people while driving under the influence on June 15, 2013, in Burleson, Texas. Couch was driving while intoxicated and under the influence of drugs, was driving on a restricted license and was speeding in a residential area when he lost control of his vehicle, colliding with a group of people assisting another driver with a disabled sport utility vehicle. Four people were killed in the collision, and a total of nine people were injured.[5] Two passengers in Couch's pickup truck suffered serious injuries, with one passenger suffering complete paralysis.

Couch was indicted on four counts of intoxication manslaughter for recklessly driving under the influence. In December 2013, Judge Jean Hudson Boyd sentenced Couch to ten years of probation, subsequently ordering him to undergo therapy at a long term inpatient facility.[6] Before sentencing, Couch's attorneys had argued that Couch had "affluenza" and needed rehabilitation instead of prison, arguing that Couch had no understanding of boundaries as his affluent parents had never given him any.[7] Couch's sentence, judged by many as outrageously lenient, set off what The New York Times called "an emotional, angry debate that has stretched far beyond the North Texas suburbs".[8]

 

[rich c]

Happens all the time. Bicycling did a story on a boy run over by a dump truck while riding. No charges filed.

If There’s No Justice When Drivers Kill Kids on Bikes, What Hope Do Any of Us Have?

Police blamed 14-year-old Mario Valenzuela for his own death. Video of the fatal crash shows otherwise.

www.bicycling.com

 

[Dallant]

Yet another reason to avoid public roads with a bicycle at all costs.

 

[PedalUma]

Another reason to assert ourselves. Bikes were here before cars. City streets were broad and clear. Country lanes were safe and cycling was the thing to do. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bicycle-craze-flashback-0427-20140503-story.html

 

[retiredNH]

In 2004, they held the democratic national convention in Boston. As part of the run-up, they closed Storrow Drive, which runs along the Charles river. We took advantage of that and used it to ride from Brookline, MA to downtown. Not many other bike riders either. We had free run (free riding?) of the area around the convention center too.

 

[PedalUma]

Cars are rolling lasagna trays. They dent that easily with a punch to a crease in self-defense. One tap does $1200 in damage. Then the driver's insurance goes up. Hold your own around cars. They are very fragile.