When allegedly Stravanating cyclist Chris Bucchere, 36, slammed into and killed 71-year-old Sutchi Hui while he was crossing the street with his wife Bucchere had reportedly already run two red lights and a stop sign, according to a story in the LA Times. Now, a Superior Court judge has decided that Bucchere should face the felony charge of gross vehicular manslaughter.
Superior Court Judge Andrew Y.S. Cheng ruled Thursday that Chris Bucchere, 36, should face the felony charge, believed to be a rarity for a bicycle collision that resulted in a death. . . . Ted Cassman, Bucchere’s attorney, argued during the preliminary hearing that the charge should be reduced to a misdemeanor.
We feel for the Hui family and our thoughts are with them, however, had the tables been turned and Bucchere been on a bicycle hit and killed by a car being driven by Hui, do we really think the charge would have been the same? A dump-truck driver in Denver hit and killed a cyclist (his second violent act against cyclists) and his charge of “careless driving resulting in death” comes with only a maximum one-year jail term and a $1,000 fine. And that is just plain wrong.
[Link: LA Times and The Denver Channel]
