Disabled Plymouth Cyclist Killed in North Carolina Truck Accident
Albert Arnott is dead. The Plymouth local, who couldn’t walk but was able to ride a bicycle across the US, sustained fatal injuries when he was struck by a pickup truck while riding his recumbent machine on US Highway 61. The North Carolina truck accident happened on July 31.
Arnott, 60, became disabled during a work accident nearly two decades ago when he fell from a tree while landscaping. He sustained a traumatic brain injury and lost his ability to walk. However, that didn’t stop him from training himself to walking on crutches and cycle.
The driver of the pickup truck, 30-year-old Justin Mark Keaton, says he did not see Arnott. This week, Keaton was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.
North Carolina Pedalcyclist Accidents
It is so important for drivers to remember that they share the road with pedalcyclists. North Carolina bicycle accidents do claim lives and often, the motorist that struck the rider can be charged with a crime even though he/she never intended to hurt anyone. He/she can also become the defendant of a North Carolina personal injury case.
In another recent North Carolina bicycle accident, Linda Sink is charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed because she accidentally struck two cyclists with her car last month in Stokes County. Police say that she wasn’t paying attention—an allegation that she disputes.
Killed in this North Carolina traffic crash was 62-year-old Donald Sunday. The other rider, 62-year-old Barry Leonard, suffered a broken pelvis.
How drivers can avoid hitting bicyclists:
• Obey traffic laws
• Don’t speed
• Don’t drive drunk
• Don’t talk text while driving
• Watch out for cyclists
• Be carefully when passing a bicyclist
Truck driver is charged in cyclist’s death on U.S. 601, Winston-Salem Journal, August 6, 2010
Native cyclist killed in N.C. wreck, Citizens Voice, August 4, 2010
Driver Charged In Fatal Wreck Involving Bicyclists, Digitriad, July 28, 2010
A bicyclist’s death, Winston-Salem Journal, July 28, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation, North Carolina Department of Transportation
Bicycle Safety and Access, University of NC Highway Safety Research Center
