Chattanooga Pulse

Written by Gary Poole
Friday, 27 March 2009 11:29

The Hamilton County Grand Jury, after hearing testimony from a traffic investigator in the accident earlier this month where cyclist David Meek was killed while riding on Ashland Terrace, has declined to indict the driver of the truck that sideswiped Meek. According to the report from the investigator, the driver of the truck “could have seen the bike, but it is not likely that he should have seen the bike.”

Under Tennessee law, as far more people are now aware, drivers must give at least three feet right of way when passing cyclists on the road. However, the investigator said that the conditions – including time of day and the lack of a reflective vest – led to a situation where the driver was unlikely to have even seen Meek. Since the law acknolwedges that you cannot be expected to yield right of way to something you can’t see, the Grand Jury obviously felt the same way.

If one good thing has come out of this case, it has been an increased awareness of the three-foot law and an increased awareness of cyclists overall. However, there are still those out there who simply cannot grasp that cyclists have the same right to the road as they do, as Bernadette Jay and Louis Lee over at WRCB Channel 3 discovered recently. According to Jay’s report, local physician Mark Gilbert claims someone shot at him with a paintball gun while cycling.

“I felt my backside where I’d been shot, and realized with orange paint that I’d been shot with a paintball gun. And I thought ‘wow, that’s ridiculous,’” said Gilbert. He was able to identify the driver who struck him with a paintball and the Sheriff’s Department is currently investigating the incident. However, we really have to wonder what type of people think it’s “fun” to shoot at cyclists with paintball guns. Here’s hoping the Sherriff’s Department tracks this person down quickly and gets them off the street before they seriously injure or kill someone.