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Cecil officer hit riding bike

An off-duty Cecil Township police officer, Detective Mark Marcucci, was struck by a car shortly before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday as he rode his bicycle north on McConnell Road. http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20131204/NEWS01/131209763
marko82
2013-12-05 15:12:50
Thanks for the link, Marko!
vannever
2013-12-05 17:42:24
wow, glad to hear he wasn't badly hurt, which sounds pretty amazing for being hit from behind.
salty
2013-12-05 21:24:33
Despite being very close to country roads, this road is like a 1.5 lane ex farm road with 20 year old houses on it with like 1/3 to 1/2 acre lots. Almost suburban. Kid probably play in the street. F the observer reporter. The victim possibly added the bit about why he wasnt on the trail. But it is while riding in this direction that I catch a lot of flack from drivers yelling "there is a bike trail" or the like. He should have said that he wasnt on the trail for the same reason that people dont take a train to the grocery store or work, because it isnt going where he is going. I know that newspaper is the crappy stepsister of a crappy news paper for people in the fake country areas of the city, but this is crap.
steevo
2013-12-06 07:29:00
^^^ That's why I have avoided the Trek Sunday Ride. The drivers near the Montour trail are the most aggressive and angry. I've been yelled at (flipped off, etc) more there than anywhere else combined. Always the same, "Get on the Trail!!"
sew
2013-12-06 09:01:04
... he wasn't on the trail for the same reason that people don't take a train to the grocery store ... Thank you, @steevo, for a wonderful line. *stealing* I will add it to @edmonds59's observation that car drivers who do not put their car in park at a stop sign have not clearly demonstrated that they have fully stopped.
stuinmccandless
2013-12-06 09:36:04
StuInMcCandless wrote:I will add it to @edmonds59?s observation that car drivers who do not put their car in park at a stop sign have not clearly demonstrated that they have fully stopped.
LOL That's a good one! Not sure how it translates when I'm driving a stick. Actually, as an observation, Chicagoland drivers tend to wait significantly longer at stop signs than the average W.PA driver does. I find myself torn (while driving) between being annoyed that anyone would stop at a sign and count to ten (apparently) and being thankful that drivers do come to a full and complete stop which makes the road safer in a lot of ways.
headloss
2013-12-06 12:54:08
if (manual=true) s/put in park/set parking brake/
stuinmccandless
2013-12-06 14:06:05
I imagine most people that only drive (in other words most people) consider their tax dollars going to the construction of trails to be their tax dollars paying for bicyclists to not be on the road. Since they don't use the trails themselves, the benefit of the cost is not having to be inconvenienced on the road. When that doesn't hold true, they see the trails as a waste of money, are still inconvenienced (in their eyes), and are probably just miserable people to begin with. Rage, empowered by 200 horsepower and 2 tons of metal, ensues. That's my theory at least.
andyc
2013-12-06 16:53:03
this road is like a 1.5 lane ex farm road with 20 year old houses on it with like 1/3 to 1/2 acre lots
That's a realtor's assessment for you.
dmtroyer
2013-12-12 08:54:53
sew wrote:The drivers near the Montour trail are the most aggressive and angry. I’ve been yelled at (flipped off, etc) more there than anywhere else combined. Always the same, “Get on the Trail!!”
The closest I've ever felt like I was going to die was on one of the on-road detours of the Montour in Peters--about 9pm in late summer, someone in a giant pickup truck passed me at high speed just below the crest of a hill right as someone crested it from the other direction--wasn't sure if they were going to hit each other, or me, or what...
epanastrophe
2013-12-12 11:29:44
Well... "a cyclist's life is worth squat" is exactly not the conclusion to draw from this. Whether or not the office was charged, there is still CIVIL liability, which is where the value of the cyclist's life plays into things. The lack of charges against the officer means there is no CRIMINAL liability. Which is why whether or not the officer was doing anything he wasn't supposed to be doing under the law is relevant. As always, if you kill somebody with your car and you were not obviously driving recklessly or DUI and you stop, render assistance, and report the accident, the law doesn't consider you a criminal. Accidents happen. And I bet you'd have a very hard time convincing a jury otherwise. (And that applies whether you kill a cyclist, a pedestrian, or another motorist.)
jonawebb
2014-08-29 18:51:37
I disagree. I believe there is a CRIMINAL liability. It just will pull much more higher ranking officers into the case. Notice that officers are expected to answer promptly. This policy is developed and signed in into implementation by someone high in the chain. This policy is in direct violation of the law. So if you let officer to be suit then a little bit latter it will break whole hell lose. But it's very disturbing that police could break a law for their own needs.
mikhail
2014-08-30 06:44:57
What do you think the chances are that the cops would be checking the mirror parts if one of us got hit?
sgtjonson
2014-08-30 07:26:35