DeWitt was biking to work on Wallingford Ave near N 40th Street when a person driving a Subaru Impreza struck him on purpose and fled the scene, DeWitt told KOMO.
He was left with a broken arm and intense bruises on his face.
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Police say the suspect is wanted for investigation of hit and run and felony vehicular assault. He and his family urge the person responsible to turn himself in.
Watch the KOMO report:
Comments
31 responses to “KOMO: Police seek assailant who attacked man with car in Wallingford”
Comments sections on corporate news websites do very little to encourage my faith in humanity.
And of course until people who commit crimes like this are actually faced with real jail time and lifetime limits on future automobile use, hit and runs against people on bike and foot will continue unchecked.
Couldn’t agree more! I made the mistake of reading through the comments on the KOMO website. Seems like the majority of commentators were siding with the driver. Horrifying.
But, should we really be surprised? Our country acts like a bully (-from a foreign policy perspective, at least), so of-course that behavior is going to trickle down. A culture of assholes & bullies, we’ve become…
I agree. In addition to jail time a lifetime ban on driving should be imposed. I see the streets of Seattle getting worse and worse and the only answer is to separate cars and bicycles. Protect yourself by spending as little time mixing with cars as you possibly can. Ride the trail system and use the sidewalks.
Wrong.
Agreed. I also made the mistake of reading the comments section of the KOMO article. Most comments were sickeningly anti-bike. This only makes me loathe the drivers even more.
Don’t draw any social conclusions from angry comments on TV news websites. Those threads are hostile spaces that drive away all the reasonable voices, leaving only jerks and those who accidentally forgot to not read them.
Tom,
It is hard to not come to negative social conclusions about the drivers after reading so many stupid comments coming from those who apparently have no idea what it is like to ride a bike. I have also had a few not-so-pleasant encounters with ignorant drivers myself, including one that gave me a fractured wrist and kept me off the saddle for 2 months. I know in theory that 95 percent of the drivers are probably good enough to keep us out of trouble, but the rest matters.
Just remember that the nasty minority loves it when you to buy into their aggression and small-minded zero sum outlook. And they would also love to convince everyone that they represent the majority of drivers, but the fact is they don’t. The way we’re going to win this battle for a bikeable city is by making our case to the reasonable majority that we’re all in this together, and bike facilities benefit everyone, not just people who ride bikes. I know it’s hard to ignore them sometimes, but the less we let the bike haters define the terms of this debate, the faster our progress will be.
JB,
Thanks for your insight. Yes, it is hard to ignore them, but I agree… I wouldn’t be able to win this battle by arguing against them online. I’ll have to work with the silent majority for a grander scheme. It is probably the best that I stay away from those comment sections to keep my sanity.
Wow. How about a protest march or a critical mass. How can we allow our elected officials and transportation system to continue with this casual violence toward human bodies and our planet as if it were the inevitable price of an industrial economy. 20 years to implement the Bike Master Plan is about 17 years too long.
I have talked with a couple riders that have been hit by drivers that then left the scene. They now ride with helmet cams. As more riders use helmet cams, we may get to the point where drivers think twice about leaving the scene. If the cyclist is injured and the driver leaves the scene, the question of who was at fault no longer matters; it is a felony to leave the scene of a collision where someone is injured. I have been riding for a few months with a helmet cam and it is a hassle to always have to recharge the battery and purge the video, but it only takes one incident to make it worth it.
How often do you purge the video?
Every other day. The memory card will hold 3 days (3 hours), but the battery won’t quite last that long.
What camera do you have? And would you buy it again if this one broke?
I love the helmet cam idea, I have one in a box I never even opened. I better read the directions and try to get it going. It is the same idea as the dash cams in Russia. Now if we only had a site like “baddriver.com” where we could forward videos of idiots with the tag number. (You just got me thinking) Than when one of them goes to court they could show videos of them driving badly, repeatedly. Than it would be smart to have a dash cam in the car, too. I don’t think everyone is a bad driver. I think there are a few repeat offenders who need to get nailed.
Sorry, reply to myself, but just imagine if the insurance companies had a list of bad drivers from such a website. Than they could be denied insurance and the rest of us could get it cheaper.
Indeed, we need some way to get attention to these. I’ve tried to submit SPD complaints about really aggressive drivers before, and they appear to go nowhere. Check out how close this guy’s mirror was- we’re talking single-digit inches from me, and absolutely no reason for it other than aggression. No cars in the other lane, you can see from the beginning he hadn’t been behind me, car in front and behind him pass with plenty of room, etc.etc… but even with video, extremely clear shot of license plate and model (vanity plates at that!)… it did not seem to bring about any response.
What a douchebag, I wish I were a judge and could sentence someone to 100 days of commuting by bicycle for that bullish*t. What’s the holdup with getting a 3 foot law passed anyway?
Damm that was close.
I usually honk my horn at such nonsense but as you can see it’s after the fact.
http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Airzound-Bike-Horn-colors/dp/B000ACAMJC/
If you care to find out who the owner of that car is:
http://www.dol.wa.gov/forms/224003.pdf
$2.
I would love a genertor powered, self purging front and rear video system. I also want a generator powered loud horn, for when the polite bell isn’t enough. Maybe some very functional turn signals too.
Someone please start working on those….
I am waiting until these are actually out an in use before I decide to get one. Looks like a nice set up. Not associated with the company, just saw the kick starter and hope it lives up to the promises.
http://rideye.com/
When demagogues and newspaper editors stoke the fiction of the “war on cars,” they’re giving the tacit “OK” for this kind of behavior.
Thanks, Seattle Times. Now would you please return to 1960 and let us the rest of us grow up?
As I stated on KOMO’s website most of the interview was left on the floor and not presented.
KOMO was the one who came out with the negatives on the battles that we face everyday. Tv ratings rule.
I stated more than once what the law says I am a vehicle, I obey the laws, I get out of the way when safe, is all I want is to have my 8×10 foot of space and if the car cannot pass safely then wait 5 seconds when they will be able to. But all of that did not get aired, as it would then look like I was being a responsible rider.
I did not want this to get all blown out of shape, and I did not call KOMO about the incident.
I don’t know how we can change the minds of drivers, even if we were licensed and paid taxes would not make things even, car drivers would find other excuses.
Yhanks for listening.
Here’s wishing you a speedy recovery of body and spirit.
Thank you for giving us the true story, Neal. Best wishes for a fast recovery from your injuries.
Thanks for your side. It’s too bad that the publisher of this site represents a propaganda machine like komo as a source of information.
Hope you heal soon!
There also should be a website where we can post the videos of aggressive drivers for the entire local bike community to see. This way when we see their license plate we can avoid them.
Do you suppose we could have a 3 foot long (from the rider, not the center) rod with a diamond cutting tool on the end, mounted on our bikes? Buzz the biker, repaint the car. What do you think?
If the passing car hit it, it’s likely that it would break and be forced into your leg. Not a pretty picture.
In addition there have been studies of folks sticking a flag out to the side and the cars instead of giving the rider more room, just barely clipped it, using it instead as the maximum space required.