Fox26: Pickup truck runs over 6 cyclists in Waller County, 4 people hospitalized

[China]

The whole "rolling coal" thing is stupid.  A symptom of redneck little dick syndrome.  I know he's only 16, but I hope they throw the book at him:

 

Pickup truck runs over 6 cyclists in Waller County, 4 people hospitalized

 

A group of Houston area cyclists are hospitalized after getting hit by a pickup truck in Waller County Saturday morning.

 

According the Waller County Sheriff, 6 cyclists were hit by the vehicle along old 290, roughly 2 miles west of Waller.  In total, four of the cyclists had to be taken to area hospitals, including 2 by helicopter.

 

"I thought someone was dead," said Chase Ferrell.  "I heard a lot of crunching. I heard brakes. Tires screeching. People screaming."

 

Ferrell had been riding with the cyclists as part of a training ride for IRONMAN Texas. 

 

Roughly 75 miles into their training ride, Ferrell says a black diesel pickup truck slowed down near him and accelerated to blow smoke in his lane.  Moments later, the pickup trick tried doing the same thing to other cyclists riding ahead of Ferrell.

 

"The reason he couldn’t stop is because he was accelerating to blow more diesel fuel on these cyclists," said Ferrell.  "He ended up hitting 3 people before his brakes even started."

 

The driver of the pickup truck has been identified as a 16-year-old boy. According to Ferrell, the teen stayed at the scene and met with police after hitting the cyclists.

 

As of Saturday evening, the driver of the pickup truck had not been arrested.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[CobraCommander]

Throw the book at him. 

[skinsmarydu]

And make sure he never drives again.  It didn't take him long to prove himself unworthy of that privilege. 

[Rocky21]

Stay classy Texas

[Larry]

How long before his guest appearance on Fox?  

[Jabbyrwock]

Just because I'm hungover as hell and I want the world to hate me this morning:  I don't know enough about this case to condemn (or defend) the kid.

 

Rolling coal may be something out of his control if his parents modified the vehicle (e.g. removing particle filters) to achieve the effect.  Its a dumb ass thing to do, to be sure, but if his parents did it, or allowed him to modify the vehicle, it happens to some extent all the time when he accelerates, and he has no direct control to turn it off just 'cause bikers are next to him (Frankly there should be emission standards that eliminated this practice).

 

So when I read this story, the facts I hear are a 16 year old kid slowed down because there were bikers, accelerated to get around the first batch, slowed down again for a second batch, accelerated to get around them, made a horrible misjudgment and people got badly injured.  Nothing I've read in the story, outside one of the bikers interpretation of events, indicates the kid necessarily acted with malice.

 

I'm teaching my 17 year old to drive.  We have bikers all the time up here and he does this exact same maneuver every time (in a hybrid that does not emit smoke).  Slow down before the biker(s), wait for an opening, accelerate around.  Even when the biker is in a separate biking lane he frequently does this because the biker floats so close to the separation line that they sometimes weave across the line and that makes younger drivers nervous.  I could easily see something like this happening with my son, and it would have nothing to do with with malice and intent to hurt.  In fact, in his case, quite the opposite.

 

Again...not saying that is what happened here.  Just saying from the story I don't know enough.  "Roaling Coal" demonstrates stupid parents, but not intent of the 16 year old in the truck at the time.

 

Finally a word about bikers: I 100% believe in "share the road" and go out of my way to do so quite frequently.  Hell...I'm one of them on occasion.  But too many of them out here do not understand that "share the road" works both ways: when you are slowing traffic  because there is no lane, and people have been patient for you, you should try and find a place to pull off and let people by.   Try to stay in the middle of your bike lane.  If your riding in a group, do so single file when there is traffic: the bike lane is not really wide enough to accommodate otherwise without placing you in the car lanes. etc.

 

 

[Larry]

52 minutes ago, Jabbyrwock said:

Finally a word about bikers: I 100% believe in "share the road" and go out of my way to do so quite frequently.  Hell...I'm one of them on occasion.  But too many of them out here do not understand that "share the road" works both ways: when you are slowing traffic  because there is no lane, and people have been patient for you, you should try and find a place to pull off and let people by.   Try to stay in the middle of your bike lane.  If your riding in a group, do so single file when there is traffic: the bike lane is not really wide enough to accommodate otherwise without placing you in the car lanes. etc.

 

. . . and when some four wheeler passes you on a road, and then the road comes to a stop sign or traffic light, don't squeeze between the car and the edge of the road so you can get in front of him, and make him pass you a second (or third or fourth) time.  

 

[Yohan]

As a cyclist, I have had coal rolled at me, not given my 3 feet and things thrown at me. For the most part now I try to stick to pathways and have switched to mountain/Fat biking. There is a huge lack of respect for cyclist, even the head line “Pick up Truck Runs Over 6 Cyclists” shows that.

[Dan T.]

The DC Bike Ride was this past weekend.  One day out of the year when the bikes take over the streets. About 9,000 people cycling on 20 miles of traffic-free streets through scenic Washington DC, including the Memorial and 14th Street Bridges.  A great, well-supported, fun ride.

 

It's not always that easy, though DC has done a lot to make the city bike friendly.

 

There are drivers who are actively hostile to bikers.  And there are militant bikers who can act like assholes, in a constant state of righteous indignation. The sense of entitlement - among drivers and bikers both - leads to conflict.  

 

A little empathy -  both ways - helps a bunch. 

[Hersh]

2 hours ago, Jabbyrwock said:

Just because I'm hungover as hell and I want the world to hate me this morning:  

 

 

 

Mission accomplished with that post. 

2 hours ago, Larry said:

How long before his guest appearance on Fox?  

 

I don't know. I'm guessing Ironman races aren't just filled with a bunch of communist loving socialists. 

[Jabbyrwock]

12 minutes ago, Hersh said:

 

Mission accomplished with that post. 

 

Not to worry.  Ill deal with being universally hated by drinking tonight and watching football.

 

...one of them there vicuous cycle things.

 

See...kept the topic on cycling.

[Destino]

4 hours ago, Yohan said:

There is a huge lack of respect for cyclist, even the head line “Pick up Truck Runs Over 6 Cyclists” shows that.

This reminds me of how I learned that a friend from high school was hit by a car and killed walking home in Texas.  He was Native American and so Texas media reported that a drunk, which hadn’t been proven as an autopsy had not been done, had been struck stumbling home and that the driver was shaken but unharmed.  
 

it was the only time in my life is seriously considered if it would be worth the trouble to beat the **** out of a reporter.  

[TheDoyler23]

My oldest is 7 and the idea of handing the 16 year old version of him the keys to a modded 7000 pound Yee Yee truck seems... like a bad idea. 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by TheDoyler23

[tshile]

I am not a real cyclist… I mean I ride my bike 20ish miles for a workout but I’m not like a real cyclist. 
 

my friends will **** about them. 
 

I don’t really get it. They’re just working out. It’s not that big of a deal to go around them safely. Yeah sometimes you have to wait 30 seconds. So what…?

 

I don’t get it. Where I live these people **** about the cyclists but also won’t vote for bike lanes. 
 

In my experience the people who behave like this fall into one of two groups:

- conservatives. No idea why. Maybe they view the healthy/workout type as liberal. No idea. Don’t get it. 
 

- out of shape people. I think they’re just jealous someone else is taking the time to work on their health, and it inconvenienced them for like 15 seconds (if at all)

 

of course they may just be because I know a lot of conservatives and a lot of out of shape people, and it otherwise has nothing to do with it 

 

as a side note, and I believe I said this in another thread, with the exception of florida (cause they go back and forth all the time, I can almost always peg the dominant ideology of a city/town by:

- how many people are running/walking/biking, especially early morning, but also through out the day

- how many parks, bike lanes, and other items dedicated to physical, outdoor activity they have. 
 

More liberal - more of those things. 

more conservative - none of those things. 

[Destino]

I have no issue with cyclists in general.  Especially not in the burbs, where my worst encounter with them is getting stuck behind them for a few blocks.  I have no commute and have Spotify and Audible, so when I'm driving I’m rarely in a hurry these days. 
 

Some cyclists in the city are insane. 
 

I plan on getting a bike soon, but I’ll be riding on trails because I prefer my outdoor time to be more of the relaxing green variety.  Less chance of being run down by someone’s ****ty teen too, which is a nice bonus.  It’s been a long time since I’ve biked trails though and apparently bikes got real complicated since then.  

[Yohan]

1 minute ago, Destino said:

 

 

I plan on getting a bike soon, but I’ll be riding on trails because I prefer my outdoor time to be more of the relaxing green variety.  It’s been a long time since I’ve biked trails though and apparently bikes got real complicated since then.  

Get a State Bicycle Klunker https://www.statebicycle.com/collections/bicycles/products/state-bicycle-co-x-national-park-foundation-klunker-yellowstone-edition 1*1 gearing with a coaster brake (pedal backwards to stop). Not complicated at all and old school! 
 

 

 

 

[Destino]

3 hours ago, Yohan said:

Get a State Bicycle Klunker https://www.statebicycle.com/collections/bicycles/products/state-bicycle-co-x-national-park-foundation-klunker-yellowstone-edition 1*1 gearing with a coaster brake (pedal backwards to stop). Not complicated at all and old school! 

 

Love the paint, but I need hand brakes to slow (not stop) the back wheel. 

[Rocky21]

There are no bigger douchebags on the planet than “cyclists” but that has nothing to do with this kid killing these people.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Rocky21

[Die Hard]

I only ride on trails. I don’t want to be constantly monitoring for cars. I don’t appreciate the honks to startle riders either.

And when I do ride in the road, very rarely, I’m off to the side letting cars pass and I treat my bike like an automobile when in the city and stay behind cars but off to the side so I can be passed. 
 

As a driver, I’m flabbergasted by groups of cyclists who block the road, instead of riding single file off to the side, and congest traffic. I understand driver rage.

 

As a cyclist, my rule of thumb is if you hit me, you better kill me. Because I’m going to take away everything you ever loved. That’s the cost of being a prick.

[LD0506]

1 minute ago, Die Hard said:

As a cyclist, my rule of thumb is if you hit me, you better kill me. Because I’m going to take away everything you ever loved. That’s the cost of being a prick.

 

I like your style

[Darrell Green Fan]

We have these guys around here (Mt Airy) all the time.  I live on a country road with no shoulder and they are a pain in the neck.  But I'm also a rider (ebike) and when I have a car come up I slow to nearly a stop to allow them to pass, trust me riding with a car behind you is uncomfortable. But again I'm on an ebike and just out for fun, the hard cores are making time and can't slow to a crawl with every car.  So we need to work together.

 

As for this story if the accounts are as described in the article why was the driver not charged?  

[China]

So the police never informed the DA, and he learned about the event from social media.  Not sure why he wasn't arrested at the scene.

 

Teen intended to 'smoke' cyclists, but plowed into them instead

 

Cyclists want answers after a teenage driver slammed into the group last Saturday, injuring six people, in Waller County.

 

The collision happened on Business 290 near the Bettis Water Tower. Paramedics took two of the cyclists by ground to the hospital and two others by air for treatment, according to authorities.

 

District Attorney Elton Mathis said his office will lead the investigation and vowed they'll get answers. Mathis said he has assigned a senior prosecutor to the case who will work with an accident reconstructionist to determine why a 17-year-old boy in a pickup truck ran into the cyclists.

 

Chase Ferrell, a witness, told ABC13 the teenager deliberately tried to mess with the cyclists. Ferrell said he tried to scare them by "smoking" them on the road. In this case, the term refers to when a driver blows exhaust from their truck into the bicyclists' path.

 

Ferrell was also biking on the road, headed southeast at the time of the incident.

 

"It's just disheartening and hard to see whenever our friends are being life-flighted out there, and the perpetrator, the kid, gets to be able to go home and sleep in his own bed," said Ferrell. "To have no injuries, to have no consequences. Seemingly, I'm sure he feels really bad, but that's not justice. That's not going to cut it. I saw him try to do the same to the group that he hit. Where he would get close, then try to accelerate. He just got all the way over. He clearly didn't mean to hit them, but he was definitely trying to intimidate them and blow smoke on them."

Ferrell said friends of the cyclists created a GoFundMe page to help with their medical expenses. He said all have been released from the hospital, but some will need follow-up surgery because of broken bones.

 

Mathis told ABC13 he first heard about the crash from social media, not from law enforcement agency. He said his message to the cycling community is clear. This investigation will be a top priority.

 

"I want them to know," said Mathis. "They are viewed as important. They deserved to be protected. That's what this office will endeavor to do once we see all the evidence and can figure what exactly happened out there on the road."

 

Mathis said possible charges could include the felony of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Waller County Assigns Special Prosecutor To Coal Rolling Teen Case

 

Last week, a teenager sent six bicyclists to the hospital after hitting them with his truck while attempting to roll coal. As of today, the sixteen-year-old driver still hasn’t been charged, but a new step taken by the local district attorney may help push the case along.

 

For those of you just joining us, “rolling coal” is the act of intentionally spewing soot from an illegally-modified diesel vehicle. It’s often done specifically to choke bicyclists, pedestrians, or drivers of any vehicle deemed “lesser” by the testosterone-addled, infantile roller. Normally the process leaves victims with watering, stinging eyes and a sore, scratchy throat (ask me how I know), but one Texas teenager decided to up the ante by adding broken spines and traumatic brain injuries into the mix.

 

Now, that teenager (whose identity was not released due to his age) will have to contend with more than just the local Waller Police Department. The District Attorney for Waller County, who has called coal rolling “AT A MINIMUM an assault” has assigned a special prosecutor with a background in vehicular homicide to investigate the case.

 

The special prosecutor, Warren Diepraam, is an “expert in prosecuting vehicular homicides” and has been recognized by the NHTSA for “innovation” in prosecution. That innovation seems to consistently result in harsher penalties for offenders.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Crash investigation after Waller teen hit cyclists was 'not handled appropriately,' prosecutor says

 

The top prosecutor in Waller County says police mishandled the investigation into a teenager who ran over six bicyclists after harassing several others Sept. 25, and who was let go from the scene without so much as a ticket. 

 

The Waller Police Department refused to treat the crash site as a crime scene, according to Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis. At the scene, troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety also urged Waller police officers to consult with the district attorney's office before letting the 16-year-old go, but they declined to reach out. Instead, Mathis said, he found out about the crash on social media. 

 

His office is working with DPS and the Waller County Sheriff's Office gathering evidence with regard to how Waller police officers handled the case. Prosecutors will also look into connections between the family and police, Mathis said. 

 

"At this point we can confirm there are some connections, but have yet to see evidence of a city official directing the officer on the scene as to how to handle this particular situation," Mathis wrote in the post. "We will continue to look for any such criminal interference as the investigation proceeds." 

 

Mathis isn't immune from such scrutiny. Screen grabs of the Facebook profile for the teenager's father shared with Chron show he is friends with Mathis, Waller County Judge Trey Duhon and the wife of Waller Mayor Danny Marburger. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

 

[Yohan]

https://www.bikelaw.com/2021/11/felony-charges-for-waller-driver/

 

SIX COUNTS OF FELONY ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON

The 16 year old son of Waller, TX’s Jason and Jennifer Arnold who used his parents’ black F-250 to plow into our 6 cyclist clients and friends who were more than 70 miles into a training ride in preparation for Ironman Texas on the morning of Saturday, September 25th, 2021 on Business 290 East in Waller, Texas, has officially been INDICTED AND TAKEN INTO CUSTODY ON SIX COUNTS OF FELONY AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON — one for each of the people he almost killed with his reckless and violent behavior behind the wheel.