(Photo: Tom Reel/San Antonio Express News)
Summary from Erik Ryberg of TusconBikeLawyer:
Folks, that is a photograph of seven year old Kylie Bruehler. She is at a funeral service to bury her parents, both of whom were killed last week when a driver veered onto the shoulder and drove his pickup truck into them.
They were riding together on a tandem.
The local news reports that “investigators say there are no charges on the driver. They believe this was an accident and that somehow the driver lost control of his truck.”
Texas’s governor recently vetoed a law that would mandate a safe passing distance for cyclists, saying it was unnecessary.
This is one of the saddest, most senseless cyclist killings I’ve ever heard of. If it’s manslaughter when the driver is drunk, then isn’t it manslaughter when the driver is distracted or texting or adjusting the radio? MYSA News has run a few followup stories, like this one and this one, detailing Texas cyclists’ outrage at the lack of state legal protections. Remember Denton resident, Nick Magruder, who was hit and run earlier this year, narrowly escaping with his life? It didn’t make the newspaper headlines or blotter, and it also didn’t make the Traffic Safety Commission agenda. Like most pressure for positive change, unfortunately it often takes tragedy with fatality to bring attention to where it’s needed the most.
BikePortland just ran a story on this and readers from all over America are commenting.
Rest in peace, Gregory and Alexandra Bruehler.
Photo courtesy of Michelle Mondo and Eva Ruth Moravec of MYSA News.