Richard A. Austin of Forestville, Md. was sentenced Friday to 14 months in prison on a charge of negligent homicide for hitting cyclist David Haywood Williams Jr with his car and leaving the scene. Williams was hit by a second car as he lay in the street and died from his injuries.
Most of the reporting on this story used the shorter AP capsule which makes it seem like it was just a crash with a hit and run, where the driver returned to the scene.
At the plea hearing, Austin admitted to driving his SUV along Southern Avenue on June 4, 2010. Austin hit 40-year-old David Williams Jr. Austin continued driving, stopping about two blocks away.
While Williams lay injured in the road, he was hit by a second vehicle. He died at a Maryland hospital.
Prosecutors say Austin walked back to the scene and admitted to police that he had hit Williams.
But WUSA9 has a longer report that includes this little nugget at the end.
A search of the Airbag Control Module (ACM) of the SUV revealed that Austin was driving 75 mph approximately one second prior to striking Mr. Williams. The ACM also recorded no braking for the previous eight seconds prior to impact.
The speed limit there is 30mph. So this wasn't just "an accident," the driver was driving in a totally reckless manner. It appears there are now three things that can get you sent to prison in a bicycle fatality - driving drunk, hit and run, and driving 150% over the speed limit.
Austin pleaded guilty in May. He's 52 years old and will also be placed on three years of supervised release.
At the plea hearing, Austin admitted that he was driving his Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle at about 10:30 p.m. on June 4, 2010, along Southern Avenue. Forty-year-old David Haywood Williams Jr. was riding a bicycle in the same direction in the 1400 block of Southern Avenue. Austin drove up to Williams from behind and struck him with his SUV. Williams was thrown from his bicycle and landed on the roadway of Southern Avenue.
Nice job by the investigators and prosecutors in this case.
Of course, the second car that hit Williams left the scene as well. And unlike Austin, they never came back. So there is still some work to do - if that driver can still be found.
I can't understand why anybody would be doing 75 in a 30 at that hour...unless the crash were intentional.
When he's out, he needs his license taken away.
Posted by: Shawn | July 22, 2012 at 07:58 AM
I am a bit confused, because usually the ACM doesn't record speed information like that.
EDR (which are being phased in) do record this information, but I am guessing it is just sloppy reporting (or sloppy lawyering). Why is this important? Well, the evidence isn't perfect and it also might not reflect true vehicle speeds (as opposed to speed at the wheels).
However, bascially this case got it right. Excessive speeding + death = jail.
Posted by: charlie | July 22, 2012 at 09:51 AM
Charlie: modern ACMs are being widely used as "black boxes" to record such information, and might be mandatory on all new cars in a few years.
I am glad that there was prison, but 14 mo is very lenient under the facts. I hope he has his license permenantly revoked.
Posted by: SJE | July 22, 2012 at 03:13 PM
Yes, this seems very lenient.
After his license is revoked, he should be required to use a bike as his only transportation. Of course for many of us that wouldn't be punishment.
Posted by: Jack | July 22, 2012 at 05:30 PM
Some of you may remember this 2002 incident where a driver killed a cyclist in Sligo Creek Park. The situation isn't that much different except apparently the driver stayed at the scene. He got 3 years in prison:
According to http://www.fosc.org/Memorials5.htm :
Walter Penney, 48, was riding a bicycle in a designated northbound bicycle lane at the side of the parkway as a Wheaton driver sped the other way at nearly 60 mph. The car crossed the median, hit and killed Walter Penney. The driver, 25, received three years of actual jail time, a fine of $1500, and was assigned 240 hours of community service. Reportedly neither drugs nor alcohol were involved; the driver was "in a hurry."
Posted by: Jack | July 22, 2012 at 05:44 PM
Guy hits cyclist, doing over twice the speed limit, not slowing down, and not stopping afterwards. and he gets 14 months? People have received higher sentences for selling crack.
I guess we now know how much the life of a cyclist is worth in this area. Not much.
Posted by: Edge | July 23, 2012 at 08:06 PM
"I guess we now know how much the life of a cyclist is worth in this area. Not much."
The price is higher than I've generally seen in the past. Previously it was a sub-$300 ticket.
As Wash points out, that the crash was seriously investigated without the driver having been drunk or having had a record of drunk driving is progress. The justice system used to assume that no one would convict a driver of killing someone unless that driver carried a "dunk driver" label (extraordinary circumstances excepted, like the guy in CA who had been reported to the police for attempting to injure cyclists with his car before he succeeded).
Posted by: Jonathan Krall | July 23, 2012 at 09:23 PM
It appears there are now three things that can get you sent to prison in a bicycle fatality - driving drunk, hit and run, and driving 150% over the speed limit.
All this depends on where the accident occurred. It was Mr. Austin's misfortunte that Southern Avenue is in the District of Columbia rather than Maryland, because until Oct. 1, 2011 Maryland did not have a law for negligent vehicular homicide. Going forward, we have three different laws in this area:
1. In all three states, if you kill someone whule drunk, drag racing, or doing something really stupid after being warned by a passenger that you are liable to kill someone for doing it, you can be convicted for manslaughter and reckless driving. 10 years.
2. In Maryland, if your are deliberately doing something with a substantial likelihood of killing someone--whether you realize it or not--you may be guilty of negligent vehicular homicide. Double the speed limit of 30 mph over the limit appears to be an example, as would cruising down a bike lane to pass traffic.
Three years.
3. In DC, even plain old negligence might get you convicted of negligent homicide, if your behavior itself is clearly negligent. Overlooking a stop sign, probably not--but failing to maintain a commercial vehicle in proper working order, maybe so.
Posted by: Jim Titus | July 24, 2012 at 07:34 AM
what about a cyclist who rides at night, in a very dark area, there's no bike lane, wearing dark clothing and no reflectors/light on bike? Isn't the cyclist "negligent" too?
Posted by: Yvonne Johnson | July 26, 2012 at 12:45 PM
Yes. Though the only relevant part is riding at night with no lights or reflectors. Was that the case?
Nonetheless, it is completely overwhelmed by the reckless speeding. Most drivers wouldn't hit a cyclist in that situation because they are not outdriving their headlights and are paying attention. That's why you have headlights.
Posted by: washcycle | July 26, 2012 at 01:04 PM
@Yvonne. It's hard to imagine how this behavior by a cyclist would get someone else killed, but if it did, then the cyclist could be guilty of negligent homicide in DC.
This is probably insufficient to convict a cyclist in Maryland--but if you add to that riding on the wrong side of the street, then perhaps a cyclist would be guilty even in Maryland if she collided with another cyclist and killed her.
No applicable statute in Virginia.
Posted by: Jim Titus | July 26, 2012 at 03:12 PM