Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Reverend Martin Luther King

"........This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim'spride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi - from every mountainside.

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring - when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"





I was at the Marion County Court Annex is South Salem this morning to answer the charge against me. As was communicated to me verbally, the DA has chosen to not prosecute. While not officially listed as "not guilty" it beats having a criminal record.

Once I had the paper in my hand saying there was not going to be a prosecution I was able to walk across the parking lot and get a copy of the police report. (8 pages, $14 charge!!)

I now have the driver's name and address. I won't post it here unless there is a compelling reason to do so.

The biggest eye opener to me is the disparity between the driver's side of the story and mine.

He says that all the bikes were along the fog line except for me, and I was in the middle of the lane. (I could have legally been there, many will argue that I SHOULD have been there, but I wasn't.)

He says I tried to hit his vehicle as he passed me.
(where's my helmet cam when I need it?)

He says I flipped him off.
(ditto on helmet cam, and even if I did he thinks running into me is ok??)

Looks to me like he is now also guilty of giving false statements to police officers.

Aside from that it's a beautiful sunny day here. Too bad I'm busy in meetings until mid afternoon. I doubt I'll have time for an afternoon ride here because I have to get back north for some hill intervals up Jackson Quarry with a group at 6PM.

At least I am free to ride my bike!

"free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last"

I finished up the day with a half dozen of my social bike group folks on a hill interval workout. There was a bit of a challenge thrown during the planning of this. It was billed as a "if you want to go farther ride with Kevin, if you want to go faster ride with me". Needless to say I came to this evenings ride ready to hammer! I summitted every hill first, I led the group on the flats most of the time. I felt strong and it was only 20 miles before it got dark. I can do short and fast. ;-)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............20...............0.................20
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....618.....+.........0........=.......618
Year to date...1734.....+.........30.......=......1764
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

13 comments:

  1. There is no such thing as truth.. There is only perspective..

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  2. I agree, and thought I had heard it before. I googled it trying to find out who to attribute the quote to. Ha! Looks like everybody who's anybody has uttered that or something like that!

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  3. Hey Mirrorwacker, Glad you are no longer a potential criminal! Are there still charges against the SUV driver?

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  4. Actually a "choosing not to prosecute" is not the same as a not guilty. It merely means they are not prosecuting at this time. The DA can re-institute the charges at any time if they feel they can prove the case.

    The DA also chose to not prosecute the driver.

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  5. It sounds like the DA just threatened you to shut you up. Marion County is now the number one place to live for SUV drivers that want to hit bicyclists.
    - Ventura

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  6. Really makes me want to get a helmet cam.

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  7. This whole situation has always been more than just the driver and me. I feel if I don't use this situation to improve the climate on the roads for all bicyclists I have squandered the moment. I want this guy to know that if he does this kind of thing it will cost him. I want enough publicity that others like him learn the same lesson. In the police report the driver seemed to justify buzzing us and hitting me because he said I was in the middle of the lane. I was not in this instance. I do when I feel it's necessary for my safety. I didn't think it was at that moment. I may edit out identifying info and post the police report. It's just amazing how different his statement is from what actually happened. It's also amazing given his admissions that he wasn't charged with the felony of "hit and run" (or more correctly, "failure to perform the duties of a driver")

    Alex, the problem with helmet cams is the relatively short record time. I've got two, the both record a maximum of 2 hours. That may be fine for commutes and shorter rides, but I usually am riding longer that. When to have the cameras rolling and when not becomes a question.

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  8. Heh, I wonder if the driver of the SUV has seen this blog? You should use the address from the police report to send him the URL :-D Although maybe that would be seen as harassment, so maybe not a good idea, hehe

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  9. I doubt very much that he has read the blog. I've been working on editing out all identifying information from the police report. I'd like to post it here just so we all know how these things get twisted around. Do your best to have good witnesses and good documentation. The SOB SUV driver's story bears little resemblance to what actually happened that day. I don't want to jeopardize any possible legal actions, or open myself up to any charges of harassment or inciting, but I do want this guy to learn a lesson.

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  10. So the other witnesses don't count? I thought you can lodge a citizen's citation?

    Mark

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  11. I was on the phone with an attorney this morning looking at pursuing a civil suit against this guy. I'm told if I do the DA will likely re-institute the Criminal Mischief 2 charges against me. :-(

    I'm not enamored over the idea of having a criminal record just so this guy learns that he can't run into cyclists just because he doesn't think they should be allowed on the roads.

    I'll keep looking at options.

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  12. We are second class citizens. It's acceptable to intentionally run us over, and it's a crime for us to pursue justice.

    I see that the DA in Marion County is an elected official. It looks like he'll be up for reelection in 2010.

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  13. Have you found out any reason why the DA is so intent on protecting this geezer?

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