Politician who cracked down on speeding arrested for killing biker in road rage incid
09-01-09, 05:41 PM
#1
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Politician who cracked down on speeding arrested for killing biker in road rage incid
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/wo...o.html?_r=1&hp
September 2, 2009
Canadian Politician Charged in Bike Death
By IAN AUSTEN
OTTAWA — As the high-profile attorney general for Ontario, Michael Bryant had championed severe and controversial traffic safety laws. On Tuesday, he was charged with criminal negligence causing death and with dangerous driving causing death in an unusually violent episode of road rage involving a bicyclist.
The arrest of Mr. Bryant stemmed from a collision between a bicycle and an automobile in Toronto’s most prestigious shopping district late Monday evening. The episode started off as minor but swiftly escalated, leading to the death of Darcy Allan Sheppard, 33, who was identified as a bicycle courier.
After the collision, Mr. Sheppard apparently grabbed the driver’s side door and held on. Within moments, the police received reports of a Saab convertible racing past the fashionable shops of Bloor Street with a man clinging to its side. Two construction workers doing repairs along the road told CTV, a Canadian television network, that the car accelerated, its tires squealing, before veering into oncoming traffic on the left side of the street.
The workers said that the motorist repeatedly mounted the sidewalk and drove near lampposts in what seemed to be an attempt to brush off the man hanging onto the side.
One of the workers said the driver was “yelling pretty loud and he sounded very, very angry.” The other worker said, “He meant to knock him off.”
Several witnesses said that the clinging man flew off of the car after striking a mailbox. Sgt. Tim Burrows of the Toronto police traffic division said Mr. Sheppard died shortly after arriving at a hospital.
The convertible raced into the covered driveway of a nearby luxury hotel, the witnesses said. Not long after, Mr. Bryant was filmed by television crews sitting in the back of a police cruiser. A black Saab convertible near the hotel entrance had extensive damage on its driver’s side.
On Tuesday, Mr. Bryant left a Toronto police station after being charged. He made a brief comment, offering his “deepest condolences” to Mr. Sheppard’s family.
Until he quit politics this spring to start an economic development agency for the city of Toronto, Mr. Bryant, a Liberal, was among the highest-profile members of Ontario’s government. In his last role, as economic development minister, Mr. Bryant negotiated the province’s participation in the bailout of Chrysler and General Motors.
But it was as the province’s top law enforcement official that he produced the greatest controversy and acclaim of his 10-year political career.
Among his targets were street-racing motorists. In 2007 he gave the police the power to seize and destroy cars modified for racing even if no charges were lodged against their owners.
After describing such cars as being as dangerous as explosives, he said, “We will crush your car, we will crush the parts.”
Later that year the province passed a bill to deem any vehicle traveling more than 50 kilometers an hour, or 31 miles an hour, faster than the speed limit to be racing. The legislation, under which more than 10,000 charges have been brought, allows the police to immediately seize vehicles and suspend licenses.
September 2, 2009
Canadian Politician Charged in Bike Death
By IAN AUSTEN
OTTAWA — As the high-profile attorney general for Ontario, Michael Bryant had championed severe and controversial traffic safety laws. On Tuesday, he was charged with criminal negligence causing death and with dangerous driving causing death in an unusually violent episode of road rage involving a bicyclist.
The arrest of Mr. Bryant stemmed from a collision between a bicycle and an automobile in Toronto’s most prestigious shopping district late Monday evening. The episode started off as minor but swiftly escalated, leading to the death of Darcy Allan Sheppard, 33, who was identified as a bicycle courier.
After the collision, Mr. Sheppard apparently grabbed the driver’s side door and held on. Within moments, the police received reports of a Saab convertible racing past the fashionable shops of Bloor Street with a man clinging to its side. Two construction workers doing repairs along the road told CTV, a Canadian television network, that the car accelerated, its tires squealing, before veering into oncoming traffic on the left side of the street.
The workers said that the motorist repeatedly mounted the sidewalk and drove near lampposts in what seemed to be an attempt to brush off the man hanging onto the side.
One of the workers said the driver was “yelling pretty loud and he sounded very, very angry.” The other worker said, “He meant to knock him off.”
Several witnesses said that the clinging man flew off of the car after striking a mailbox. Sgt. Tim Burrows of the Toronto police traffic division said Mr. Sheppard died shortly after arriving at a hospital.
The convertible raced into the covered driveway of a nearby luxury hotel, the witnesses said. Not long after, Mr. Bryant was filmed by television crews sitting in the back of a police cruiser. A black Saab convertible near the hotel entrance had extensive damage on its driver’s side.
On Tuesday, Mr. Bryant left a Toronto police station after being charged. He made a brief comment, offering his “deepest condolences” to Mr. Sheppard’s family.
Until he quit politics this spring to start an economic development agency for the city of Toronto, Mr. Bryant, a Liberal, was among the highest-profile members of Ontario’s government. In his last role, as economic development minister, Mr. Bryant negotiated the province’s participation in the bailout of Chrysler and General Motors.
But it was as the province’s top law enforcement official that he produced the greatest controversy and acclaim of his 10-year political career.
Among his targets were street-racing motorists. In 2007 he gave the police the power to seize and destroy cars modified for racing even if no charges were lodged against their owners.
After describing such cars as being as dangerous as explosives, he said, “We will crush your car, we will crush the parts.”
Later that year the province passed a bill to deem any vehicle traveling more than 50 kilometers an hour, or 31 miles an hour, faster than the speed limit to be racing. The legislation, under which more than 10,000 charges have been brought, allows the police to immediately seize vehicles and suspend licenses.
09-01-09, 09:27 PM
#6
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Don't start throwing stones just yet.
One thing that is missing, in the article, is exactly how the bicycle-car collision occurred and who was responsible for it. Either there were no witnesses as to just how it happened (and who wasn't watching where he was going) or somebody saw it and just isn't talking....except about what happened after the collision.
Ordinarily (as in this case), the person in the car is assumed to be at fault, as a car offers much more protection than a bike, but I've seen a lot of idiot bikers who ride anywhere they want, anyhow they want, with little or no regard for traffic. We also don't know if Bryant thought the cyclist was trying to force his way into his car and harm him.
One thing that is missing, in the article, is exactly how the bicycle-car collision occurred and who was responsible for it. Either there were no witnesses as to just how it happened (and who wasn't watching where he was going) or somebody saw it and just isn't talking....except about what happened after the collision.
Ordinarily (as in this case), the person in the car is assumed to be at fault, as a car offers much more protection than a bike, but I've seen a lot of idiot bikers who ride anywhere they want, anyhow they want, with little or no regard for traffic. We also don't know if Bryant thought the cyclist was trying to force his way into his car and harm him.
09-01-09, 09:34 PM
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you are defending this guy? He drove on the sidewalk and even tried to get the bicyclist to hit poles to brush him off.... eventually he succeeded. Fry him and destroying cars just because they are "modified for racing" come on, that has police abuse written all over it.
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09-01-09, 09:41 PM
#8
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No I'm not, but I'm not the type of person to start throwing stones just based on the limited amount we know from the article. That's why you have trials and juries. I think it is crucial to know just how the collision occured...and why. Now, we may not, because the biker kept hanging on to the car.....and is dead. We won't know his side of the story....and neither will the police.
09-01-09, 09:58 PM
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Don't start throwing stones just yet.
One thing that is missing, in the article, is exactly how the bicycle-car collision occurred and who was responsible for it. Either there were no witnesses as to just how it happened (and who wasn't watching where he was going) or somebody saw it and just isn't talking....except about what happened after the collision.
Ordinarily (as in this case), the person in the car is assumed to be at fault, as a car offers much more protection than a bike, but I've seen a lot of idiot bikers who ride anywhere they want, anyhow they want, with little or no regard for traffic. We also don't know if Bryant thought the cyclist was trying to force his way into his car and harm him.
One thing that is missing, in the article, is exactly how the bicycle-car collision occurred and who was responsible for it. Either there were no witnesses as to just how it happened (and who wasn't watching where he was going) or somebody saw it and just isn't talking....except about what happened after the collision.
Ordinarily (as in this case), the person in the car is assumed to be at fault, as a car offers much more protection than a bike, but I've seen a lot of idiot bikers who ride anywhere they want, anyhow they want, with little or no regard for traffic. We also don't know if Bryant thought the cyclist was trying to force his way into his car and harm him.
Nobody should of been killed and the driver of the car should not of lost his cool but I am sure the guy on the bike did his part to escalate the situation. Nobody in a car loses his cool for no reason and tries to run a biker over.
09-01-09, 10:07 PM
#10
Well since the guy was in a convertible, and the biker was grabbing onto the car, maybe the biker was trying to punch him or something. There are tons of moron bikers here in NYC and they have no regard for anyone including themselves the way they ride.
09-01-09, 10:26 PM
#12
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There is more to this story than what the article suggests. The news has recently reported that the police had been in contact with the victim an hour before he was killed. Apparently, there was alcohol involved and a fight had occurred with his girlfriend that had required the police's attention.
That DOES NOT change that he did not deserve to die. Up here, even self-defense is not necessarily a justifiable defense.
That DOES NOT change that he did not deserve to die. Up here, even self-defense is not necessarily a justifiable defense.
09-02-09, 12:26 AM
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This story is going to have an interesting outcome...
According to reports...police were at the cyclists girlfriends home to escort him away about 1 hr prior to the altercation with Bryant....
Police said they had contact with Sheppard barely on hour before his death, when his ex-girlfriend called police just after 9 p.m. and told them Sheppard was at her home and refused to leave.
Officers arrived and escorted him away, said Const. Tony Vella, adding there were no allegations of criminal activity such as assault and there was no indication he was intoxicated.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local.../?hub=CP24Home
According to reports...police were at the cyclists girlfriends home to escort him away about 1 hr prior to the altercation with Bryant....
Police said they had contact with Sheppard barely on hour before his death, when his ex-girlfriend called police just after 9 p.m. and told them Sheppard was at her home and refused to leave.
Officers arrived and escorted him away, said Const. Tony Vella, adding there were no allegations of criminal activity such as assault and there was no indication he was intoxicated.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local.../?hub=CP24Home
