BANGOR, Maine — The collision of a bicycle and motor vehicle Tuesday on Union Street by the junction with Interstate 95 was the second serious accident there in less than a week.
An Old Town man exited I-95 Tuesday morning and was turning left onto Union Street — with a green light — when a man on a bike ran into his vehicle, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said Wednesday.
Ronald Warren, 56, of Bangor was not wearing a helmet when, about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, he hit the side of the 2004 Toyota sedan driven by Old Town resident James Largay.
“Mr. Warren was transported to Eastern Maine Medical with a head injury,” Edwards said. “There is no information on his condition [available from the hospital], meaning he either has been released or refused his condition to be released.”
Officer Paul Colley responded to the bicycle-car collision on Union Street.
No charges are pending in either accident, Edwards said, adding that it was just a chance occurrence that two injury collisions occurred in the same area within a week.
Bangor resident Brecon Oldham, 57, was mortally injured early Saturday when she was struck by a car driven by local resident Marie McBrine, 78, who was with her 6-year-old granddaughter and attempting to turn from Union Street onto the interstate.
Oldham, who worked at nearby Westgate Manor, later died at the hospital. A special item of remembrance will be placed in Westgate’s memory garden and a friend will scatter her ashes at Acadia National Park, her obituary in the Bangor Daily News states.
“Brecon possessed a beautiful spirit for reaching out and touching the lives of anyone she came in contact with,” the obituary states. “She was loved more than she realized.”
Mr. Warren must not have been following the traffic laws on his bicycle. He should have stopped with the vehicular traffic and waited for a green light. He obviously ran a red light to be hit by the car who had a green light.
Exactly, and the police say “no charges are pending.” Well, somebody ran the red light, and from the article, it says the cyclist did. Why would that person not be charged? What if the person in the car runs the red light and hits the cyclist? No charges then either, right?
The person driving the vehicle has the right to waive or press charges. My guess is he feels bad for the guy because he got hurt so bad, which means he is a very compasionate individual who thinks the guy learned enough of a lesson by getting hurt and he doesn’t need to be like the rest of america and try to sue for mental suffering
So the police won’t write a citation for the traffic violation? The guy should, at the very least, get a ticket. I didn’t think the driver of the car would have the right to press or not press charges (as I view this as a traffic violation). Maybe I just don’t understand the law well enough (which could be the case). Since cyclists want to have access to the roads (as they should), they should be treated the same. You run a red light, there is a consequence.
I apologize I didn’t interperet the traffic violation side of it. My comment was about the driver of the car suing for damages etc
Have never heard of such a concept. Next time I get bagged for speeding I’ll have to find a sympathetic person who can tell the cop to never mind…don’t do your job.
“The person driving the vehicle has the right to waive or press charges.”
Absolutely false.
The police have the discretion to issue a civil citation and the district attorney has the discretion to file criminal charges. Complainants, witnesses, victims — none can prevent a prosecution.
Apparently cyclists have to obey the rules of the road, they are just not necessarily enforced it seems.
Apparently so.
You’ll find that the same thing applies to motorists…
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/07/01/news/state/speeding-up-in-maine-but-tickets-down/
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/12/07/news/lewiston-auburn/trucker-will-not-face-charges-in-fatal-crash-with-ymca-minivan/
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/07/17/news/penobscot/no-charges-will-be-filed-in-string-of-26-grass-fires-along-i-95/
http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/No-charges-pending-in-Waterville-pedestrian-accident.html
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/06/01/news/midcoast/sheriffs-department-vehicle-strikes-pedestrian-in-belfast/
http://www.pressherald.com/news/DA-Charges-unlikely-in-Shirley-pedestrian-fatal.html
Doesn’t even sound like he was hit BY the car. It sounds like he hit the car. Had it been the other way around, there probably would be pending charges.
Dang right there would have been charges filed along with an outcry from the biking community claiming drivers are out to get bicyclists. I thought when I saw the photo yesterday with the bikes front wheel crumpled up that it was the riders fault. This is the third article in as many days about bicycles. I said this 3 days ago and I’ll say it again:
The majority of bike riders do not follow traffic laws.
The majority of bike riders do not stay to the side of the road.
The majority of bike riders impede motorized traffic.
Groups of bicyclists on our roads do not save gas because the motorized traffic must respond to their presence and this uses more fuel. Every time a line of vehicles must stop, slow, or go around a bike it takes extra gasoline to do so.
Bicyclists should be licensed.
Bicycles should be registered, inspected, and taxed just as motor vehicles are. Contrary to claims made by pro-bicycle groups, roads were built to promote commerce not to give bike riders a place to ride. Road laws governing bicycles should be modified to disallow riding side by side and bikes should be required to pull over and stop when a vehicle is passing them. There should be an minimum age that a bicyclist can get their license to ride. Allowing young children on the same roads as motorized traffic is ridiculous in the extreme.
….
Unfortunately, that’s how life works in our society. Someone screws up and then none of us can have nice things any more. (Also, you may have misspelled “… because some folks in the city don’t ride their bikes properly.”)
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I feel the same way about motorcycling. Us good ones get a bad reputation from the bad ones who have pipes that can be heard from miles away and are seeking attention by the obnoxious sounds of revving their engines on take off (making up for something else they lack would be my guess)
The majority of motorists do not follow traffic laws either. Scofflaws know no vehicular boundaries.
Or he was riding on the sidewalk, which is illegal in Bangor.
Well said. Thank you
people in cars running lights, people on bikes running light, people being killed and injured where will it all stop….
Will all the second guessing from yesterday stop now??
This situation we know with the details here could have easily been avoided to make it a point it is the second serious accident, well is not so much of one, it was an avoidable collision.
Why did the bicyclist not get a ticket for running the red light? Far too many crashes where the cop feels sympathy and doesn’t issue a ticket. Many states require at least one ticket be issued when two vehicles crash together.
It’s too bad that there is so much hate out there. Yep, Mr. Warren may have made a mistake, he got hurt folks. Have a little compassion. Whether or not a citation or ticket was not the story and is not the choice of the citizens. This is why we have police. Sometimes things don’t make much sense to us, but we need to have a little faith that the police did what they were supposed to do. From one human to another, I am very thankful that Mr. Warren is okay. The story about Ms. Oldham is a very sad case. May she rest in peace and all of those who have something to day about her bike riding that say……stop. It just isn’t right. Let her rest now and let the rest of us learn from these folks’ unfortunate accidents.