Cyclist in UK banned from driving after killing a pedestrian. What about the guy who killed Chastity Rettinger?

Abhishek Mukherjee — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:30:19 +0000

A cyclist who knocked down an 84-year-old pedestrian who later died has been jailed for seven months and banned from driving for a year.

Darren Hall, 20, rode down a hill in Weymouth too fast he then went up on to the pavement on a blind bend to avoid a red traffic light, Dorchester Crown Court heard. Hall hit Ronald Turner in August last year. He died 13 days later.

Hall, of Weymouth, pleaded guilty to the 19th Century offence of wanton and furious driving causing bodily harm.

Full story here: http://road.cc/node/6442

Chastity Rettinger’s story via Bikejax:

On Tuesday the 14th April, mother of 2 Chastity Rettinger set out from her office to spend her lunch hour training for the MS150.

Chastity along with friend and co-worker Kristine Whitley had no reason to worry about their intended route. They would be riding along Old St. Augustine Rd. which is one of the few roads in Jacksonville that not only has marked bike lanes. But that also correctly moves the cyclist to the left of right hand turn lanes eliminating “The Right Hook” which is the number one cause of automobile/cyclist accidents.

While moving the cyclist to left of the right turn lane might end the potential of the right hook. It doesn’t however protect the cyclist from the inattentive driver.

Approaching the I-95 overpass a driver was too busy fiddling with his GPS to notice the cyclists on his left as he left the right turn only lane to merge back into traffic. In doing so he hit both cyclists ending Chastity Rettinger’s life and sending Kristine Whitley to the hospital.

The driver drove away from the accident scene with a minor citation.

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Cyclist in UK banned from driving after killing a pedestrian. What about the guy who killed Chastity Rettinger?