Justice Delayed and Denied in Cocke County

Dan Ford was drunk and speeding and killing. Kate Richardson died July 12, 2011 in Cocke County, Tennessee because of the choices made by Dan Ford. He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and will serve a grand total of two days in jail for  DUI but not for committing vehicular homicide which can carry a maximum sentence of six years. Ford is a former chair of the Cocke County Republican Party and a failed politician. Shortly after the accident his attorney attempted to blame the victim for riding her bicycle down a dark highway.

I was going to write some outraged tome on the outcome of this case but I just can’t get up the energy. The district attorney negotiated a plea bargain and Ben Cantrell, a judge from Nashville, approved this outrageous sentence. According to news reports her family approved of the settlement and the DA is defending his plea deal. I don’t know their reason but it may be they want to put the incident behind them. Obviously they have every right to respond to the case as they see fit.  The family filed a civil case for $11 million and I hope they take every penny the man owns.

Most killers of cyclists are never charged unless it’s a DUI. That happened in this case but he still gets off after 48 hours in jail. The district attorney used the excuse that she wasn’t riding on the right and she had a black back pack.

That doesn’t deserve a death sentence.

Tragedies Strike Cyclists in May

Tragedies Strike Cyclists in May

May was a tragic month for three cyclists in Tennessee.  It started at the 3 State 3 Mtn Challenge in Chattanooga during a descent from Lookout Mountain on a cold rainy day.  Antonio Jose Desousa Ribeiro, 49 of Jacksonville FL, failed to remain in his lane, crossed into the opposing lane and was struck by a motor vehicle.  On May 23^rd  Jacob Billings, 14 of Smithville, TN, was making a steep descent on Casey Cove Rd and also crossed into the opposing lane and was struck by a motor vehicle.

In Knoxville, also on May 23^rd, a 16 year old was trying to cross Western Ave at Sullivan Rd.  The intersection is a difficult intersection to cross, even for experienced cyclists.  Western Ave is an arterial road and there are several subdivisions on both sides of Western and Victor Ashe Park is just north of Western.  There are many reasons a young cyclist might be trying to cross Western … visit friends, go to the park etc.

Is cycling becoming more dangerous in TN?  No.  While each one is tragic, there are relatively few cycling fatalities in Tennessee each year.  The law of small numbers applies as a certain degree of randomness allows the numbers to fluctuate.  When we look at the fatality numbers, we need to remember the longevity numbers.  A National Institute of Health study published last year concludes that leisure time physical activity, for example riding a bicycle two hours a week, increases life expectancy by 3.2 years.  Do the math; riding a bicycle is more likely to increase your life than reduce it.

Was cycling safer in 2010 and more dangerous in other years?  No, it's just number randomness.  There is a positive analysis in the TN numbers as we all know there is been a significant increase in the number of riders since 2005, but the number of fatalities has remained relatively stable.  This is also true on the national level.  On the national level the trends are more evident as because of the larger numbers there is less randomness and the graph lines are smoother which indicate the trends in a more statistically valid way.