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Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)Driver who killed teen cyclist sues his family - because "her enjoyment of life... has been lessened"
A woman in Canada who killed a teenage cyclist when she ran into him and two of his friends while driving her sports utility vehicle (SUV) is suing his family for C$1.35 million in damages – claiming that “her enjoyment of life has been and will be lessened.”
The Province reports that the lawsuit alleges that due to the incident in which 17-year-old Brandon Majeski was killed in October 2012, Sharlene Simon “has sustained and will sustain great pain and suffering,” including “a severe shock to her system.”
The lawsuit, filed in December on Ontario Superior Court, also names as defendants two friends of Brandon’s who were with him when he was killed, Richard McLean and Jake Roberts, both aged 16.
Also named is the County of Simcoe, some 50 miles north of Toronto, which is responsible for maintaining Innisfil Beach Road, where the fatal collision took place.
The teenagers were riding three abreast on a rural road as they returned home from a coffee shop at 1.30 in the morning of 28 October when Simons’ Kia Sorrento SUV struck all three from behind.
The impact threw Brandon over the roof of the vehicle and despite the efforts of paramedics at the scene, he died approximately two hours later in hospital.
Of his friends, Jake escaped serious injury, but Richard spent a number of weeks in a hospital in Toronto as a result of the injuries he sustained.
An investigation by the South Simcoe Police Service held that the cyclists’ “lack of visibility… was the largest contributing factor,” and that “the driver of the Kia did not see the cyclists on the roadway and was unable to make an evasive reaction.”
A Crown Prosecutor told police that there was “absolutely no reasonable prospect of conviction and that no charges should be laid.”
Derek Majewski, the victim’s father, said: “My dead son and the boys are being sued by the woman that killed him because she is distraught.
“Normally, I would not react like this, but I think it’s very cruel,” he added.
The family was struck by a second tragedy when Brandon’s elder brother Devon, who had been hit hard by his sibling’s death, died in his sleep as a result of alcohol and pharmaceuticals.
According to the report on The Province, Brandon’s parents have some concerns about the police investigation, and they made a complaint to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, claiming that the it was biased, because Simon’s husband is also a law enforcement officer, albeit in a different force.
They believe that their son and his friends are being blamed for the crash, because they were riding three abreast, were wearing dark clothing (but with some reflective material), weren’t wearing helmets and only two of the bikes were equipped with what the police termed “minimal reflectors.”
As Majewski put it, “They’re kids; they’re allowed to make a mistake.”
A police report into the incident said that while Simon was driving at around 10kph above the 80kph speed limit, she did not have to take a breath test since there were “no grounds to request” that she do so.
It added however a roadside screening device established that she had “zero alcohol content in her blood system.”
Brandon’s parents, who are no longer together and have new partners, are themselves plaintiffs in a C$900,000 lawsuit against the Simons and Simcoe County.
They claim that Sharlene Simon was speeding, under the influence of alcohol or using her mobile phone to text at the time of the incident, and that her husband allowed her to drive her vehicle when “he knew or ought to have known” she was in no fit state to do so.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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So if we all know cycling is a safe activity why does it appear that a popular cycling website is disproportionatly reporting incidents like these?
The deaths in the UK and sentencing are relevant - in other counties I don't think they are. The rest of the site is great - reviews, the sport etc. are all brilliantly reported on. I think these sensational stories are the weak point.
Is that really the choice? Either we can soak in all the awful tales that are dreadful enough to be heard this far away or we can read about bunnies? Really? How many thousand people cycled to the Scottish parliament the other day in the Pedal on Parliament? How young was the youngest? Did it go well? No idea. But I know all about some depressing idiot case from Canada. It's not real life vs bunnies. The coverage of Canada here is not representative of real life. And before it is suggested, no, I will not submit my own PoParliament story. This Canada misery was trawled up by a paid writer (more into cooking than fixing bikes, as he admits in his profile).
What utter scumbags
Just been made aware, the husband of the driver is also suing
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/25/witness-haunted-by-tragic-bike-acci...
It also makes sense to me now why the family are suing, it REEKS of a cover up, he's a serving police man who didn't even have to hang around as he and his wife were let home and other witnesses had to stay around....
I am not so on the fence anymore.
I for one am on the fence here...Coming back from a "coffee shop" a 1.30am....not adequate lighting or reflectors. Riding three breast.
It is ALLEGED by the family of the boy who died that she was either unfit through alcohol or texting and that her partner should not have let her drive....I'm sure the police would have at least checked her alcohol level.
[EDIT] Police did not suspect alcohol was involved, and she was not given a breathalyzer"](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/26/newser-driver-sues-...)
The family are also trying to sue her.....so this could just be a counter claim to stop that action.
But I do feel for her, if she was law abiding and genuinely didn't see the guys on the bikes, that is the sort of thing that ruins lives.
But suing is a little over the top on BOTH parts.
10 mph over the __maximum__ speed limit? I think it's pretty clear that she was not law abiding. And yes, lives have been "ruined" by this. I'd save my sympathy and uncomfortable fence sitting for a more deserving case.
If she couldn't see three bicycles in the middle of the road -- all with reflectors -- then she wouldn't see a low blood sugar diabetic stumbling across the road, or an old person with alzheimers or (fill in possible things or people you, as a motorist have a duty to be on the look out for).
Car use is too prevalant. The only people out on the roads at 1:30 am should be cyclists or emergency vehicles.
I sincerely hope she bankrupts herself in a long, protracted and pointless legal action.
Sympathy to the boys' families.
Another person who doesn't read....just quotes one of my posts and didn't see my follow up...
Also, they did not ALL have reflectors, various reports says two of the bikes had PEDAL reflectors, nothing else.
She's admitted to 6mph...not 10mph...nearer 10kmph
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/26/newser-driver-sues-...
Three bikes with pedal reflectors....If I had the means, I'd recreate it, with a car, a dark night, three bikes with some pedal reflectors and then we would see what can be seen...
Pedal reflectors to me look like cats eyes, do they have these in Canada??
They tend not to be used because the roads are snow-ploughed regularly.
So, another hand-waving exculpation of the driver drifts away on the noisome breeze of your airy hypothesizing.
YES, it's INEXCUSABLE to be suing for this reason, but on the other hand, let's look at this a bit more measured.
Posted speed limit is 80kph? That's not a city road. In Canada, 80kph is for highways. 70kph is typical for long rural area roads with good visibility.
So the real question here is why were there 3 cyclists riding three abroad... on a HIGHWAY?
I can think of quite a few places where there are highways in Canada at 80 or 90kph where there are indeed corners and places where a cyclist could be hard to see and actually at fault if they were riding in the middle of the road late at night with nothing for visibility. The Malahat is a big one on Vancouver Island. I drove that one a lot and never saw a cyclist stupid enough to venture towards the middle of the road. Plenty of spots where cyclists riding three abreast would be road lube.
It's pretty ridiculous to assume that there might be someone with alzheimer's wandering around on that road though. It's 80-90kph for a reason. It's not in a city, it's at the top of a mountain that has a handful of residences hidden *well* off the beaten path and probably a half dozen small businesses.
It's also pretty ridiculous to assume that *most* people don't drive 10kph over the limit. In my decades as a driver in Canada, I'd say 95% of the traffic drove around 8-10kph over any posted limits unless it was downtown.
You say car use it too prevalent but this is Ontario you are talking about. It's a BIG place. And it gets *C*O*L*D* there. If you lived there, I doubt you'd be riding your bike 24/7 (I have done 365days/yr cycle commuting in Canada, but I wouldn't have if I lived in Ontario).
Also, you say "all three with reflectors", but the article says that TWO had "minimal reflectors" and no lights. That's pretty common. I never had reflectors (although all night riding used good quality lights). But I can picture guys riding with a bit of 3M on their shoes or something.
Methinks you need to use your brain a bit more before you speak.
I'd agree that the woman needs to bankrupt herself. Would be nice if her SUV got repo'd and she had to downgrade to driving only during the grips of winter and biking for the rest of it.
Sorry but no one comes out of this with any credit. The lads were cycling three abreast with little or no visibility in the middle of the night; the driver was breaking the speed limit and then bringing ridiculous litigation and the parents are suing her with, on the face of it, no real evidence to support their claims. An appalling tale from start to finish - nothing to do with cars vs bikes just a lot of idiots
Sigh. What has this page become? A platform for fueling hate against anybody who accidentaly harms a cyclist. I'm gonna unfollow your fb page because it makes me sick how self-righteous the people who comment there are. The amount of stupid generalizations is just enormous. It makes me sad that the majority of the community one would like to feel a part of is acting this way. It does exactly the opposite of what it should - teach people respect and look out for each other.
WTF - are you for real?
Yep. Arguing the motorist is always in the wrong is as bad as arguing the cyclist always is - both are human beings. If a story about me hitting somebody in THE CAR THAT I OWN came up on road.cc - frankly I don't think I'd get a fair trial. That gives me major cause for concern when it comes to the question of whether I should be supporting the "cause" or not.
Well its not quite as bad, because its significantly closer to the truth - the truth being the motorist is more often in the wrong. It wouldn't always be correct of course (cf the story on here recently about the sportive rider crashing into a car while doing 40mph on the wrong side of the road) but it would be a better default assumption than the reverse.
Also, I tend more towards the view that road planners are always in the wrong, which in turn means the politicians who tell them what to do, and in turn the voters who elect those politicians.
Oh - and which is worse? Having some people think you are always the one in the wrong or always being the one who gets killed or maimed? If the former were so unbearable why do so many chose to drive when they have a choice?
Apparently, I'm both. And I'm honestly not sure. Why do I have to make that choice? Why can't we hope to improve driving standards without laying great vengeance and furious anger on someone before finding out whether they could have done anything better?
Regardless of who was to blame for this terrible tragedy ......to seek financial gain the motorist...who got to walk away is showing an amazing lack of compassion and empathy for the dead boys family.
This is very sad....she values her suffering.. over a lifetime of suffering that they will endure....even if she feels she was not in the wrong..her morals are whacked
imho.
Disgraceful and a sad example of someone who does not belong in the gene pool....
Awful awful awful.
Awful awful awful.
+1 - this is a disgraceful turn of events
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