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Two Scooter Riders Critical After Crash in Salt Lake City
Written by George Tait
Friday, 20 August 2010 07:36
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Thursday night, just after 11:00 pm, a couple on a scooter on 200 West and 200 South in downtown Salt Lake City were struck by a taxi cab. It appears that the cab was headed west on 200 South and the scooter was headed west on 200 South. At this time the cause of the crash is under investigation but police do not suspect alcohol or speed were factors in the scooter crash. 
From the pictures at the scene it appears that the taxi cab may have been making a left-hand turn and entered the scooter's lane of travel. Also from the pictures at the scene of the scooter crash it appears that at least one of the occupants of the scooter went over the hood of the taxi cab and crashed into the windshield of the cab. This crash needs to be investigated in detail to determine who was at fault. KSL points out that neither of the scooter riders were wearing helmets. If both were 18 years or older neither of the scooter riders were required to wear helmets. I understand that news agencies have a duty to report the news accurately but, in my opinion, they also have responsibility to point out in tis case that the two scooter riders were following the law. In a court of law this continuing reporting that motorcycle or scooter riders were not wearing helmets while not reporting that helmets are not required has the appearance to put the blame on the riders. Often the cause of a crash at an intersection involving a motorcycle or a scooter is the fault of the vehicle driver. Often the first words out of the mouth of the offending driver is "I just didn't see them." Perhaps the law has to be applied more stringently or we need to enhance the penalties for "not seeing" motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, bicycles and even pedestrians. Perhaps if people started doing jail time that might help the rest of us see a little better.
Utah Bike Law and its lawyers are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions about your rights and options, call us or another reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free consultation. We provide a free, confidential consultation to not at fault persons named in this article. The free consultation offer extends to family members as well. Utah Bike Law and its attorneys are licensed to practice law only in the State of Utah and maintain offices in Salt Lake City, Utah. No attorney client relationship is established by simply visiting this website. Trackback(0)
Comments (6)
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written by a guest , August 21, 2010 The man that didn't make it was my brother in-law. I will be coming out there from Delaware to be with my sister (his wife) because I know she needs me right now. I will also be speaking to a lawyer to try and make sure that justice will be served to the guilty party (the taxi driver) because it's clear that the police will be useless in this matter like they always are. Thank you to people who are there for Derek and Shelly Price (my brother in-law and sister) and please help me bring this dirtball taxi driver to justice anyway you can.
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written by a guest , August 21, 2010 I hope your aunt if OK - she probably has a good claim against the taxi company and / or the driver at least.
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written by a guest , August 20, 2010 The Woman mentioned in the article is my Aunt, a year younger then me, and it looks like she's going to be fine. Only some broken bones. The Man, however, did not make it. I'm glad my aunt is ok, but I feel really bad about her friend. I didn't know him.
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written by a guest , August 20, 2010 Thanks for the comment - sorry about your friends - we are trying to enhance penalties for drivers that cause serious bodily harm to 2-wheeled drivers (scooters, motorcycles and bicycles) - see our post on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/utahmotorcyclelawyer
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... written by a guest , August 20, 2010 The people from the scooter are friends of mine. The thing that gets me about this is that the driver of the taxi was not cited even though there were several witnesses who've stated that the taxi driver just wasn't paying attention and plowed right into them. The witnesses had to watch the whole thing! Furthermore, the police took blood samples from my unconscious and extremely critical condition friends to see if they'd been drinking. How is that justified? They didn't have the ability to consent or anything else but, due to their appearance (they belong to the local burner/hippy community) I suppose the police decided that drugs or alcohol had to have been involved (they weren't) The police have not done any further investigation at this time.
Hopefully this doesn't get pushed under the rug by Salt Lake City's notoriously slack and biased police department. They need to place blame where it belongs: a inattentive/distracted driver, not on the fact that my friends weren't wearing helmets. Yes, helmets would've helped, but bottom line is that the lives of two people have been forever changed and there need to be some things put in place to prevent this from happening to others. report abuse
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Regards,
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