A North Carolina Bicycle Accident Puts a Dean’s List Student in Critical Condition
Last week, North Carolina State University was rocked by a violent bicycle accident that put a senior Dean’s List student, Steven Otto, in WakeMed Hospital with critical injuries. According to campus police reports, Otto had gone for a bike ride early in the morning on Dan Allen Drive, when he was struck by a fellow student, Ross Everett Chapman, and thrown up onto the windshield.
Otto’s body hit the windshield so hard that the glass shattered.
Chapman preliminarily tested positive for driving under the influence; he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.12%, which is 0.04% over the North Carolina state limit for DUI. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation will conduct a further analysis. Police have obtained a search warrant to determine whether Chapman had other substances in his blood. Hopefully, Otto will recover fully from this serious accident. Sounds like a terrifying and sudden ordeal.
Lessons for Campus Safety?
Any single North Carolina bicycle accident – particularly heart-rendering tragedies like this one, in which a promising young student suffers grievously at the hands of a fellow classmate – touches us on a deep level and inspires us to take action.
The question, however, is: What action(s) SHOULD we be taking? How common are campus tragedies like these? What are their causes? What are the causes of those causes? What has been tried on other campuses that has worked, in terms of bicycle safety and general accident prevention? What methods have NOT worked?
These questions may all sound dry and somewhat scientific. Indeed, to answer them in a complete way, you need to collect significant data and catalog various accidents and methods to correct problems. In other words, it takes a lot of work to answer these questions properly and thoroughly – and then to apply their lessons to real world situations on campus and elsewhere.
Thus, we face a very interesting challenge. On the one hand, our emotions and the sad facts of accidents like these inspire us to want to “do something, anything…. Now!” But our better judgment tells us that if we really want to “do something that works,” we need to have a sober long view assessment of what works and what doesn’t.
Separating Theory from Practice
If you have been hurt or injured in a bicycle accident in North Carolina or elsewhere, the debate over the theory of prevention and punishment in some ways is irrelevant to you. You just want to get your life back and collect fair and equitable compensation for your injuries. There may not be a one-size-fits-all solution for your problems, but you can begin to wrangle them by connecting immediately with a North Carolina bicycle accident law firm.
More Web Resources:
Raleigh N.C. State Student Critically Hurt in Bicycle Accident
The Science of Accident Prevention
