Demand Justice for Russian Woman Struck Down, Ignored by Mason County Officials

[XLFD]

Just after midnight on July 8, 2012, Alisa Aleksandrovana Sidorenko, 21, of Yekaterinberg, Russia was riding westbound on the side of US 10, when she got struck from behind by a tow truck.  The story was put in the City of Ludington Dalily News (COLDNews) the next day, and the next day the Ludington Torch placed a story in the BUMPS group analyzing the whole situation and gave the COLDNews report:    russian-woman-denied-the-right-to-the-road-in-mason-county

 

In the COLDNews article it says:

" (she) was riding westbound on US 10 in the roadway near a line of fog"

"According to the report, the shoulder is paved in that area but Sidorenko was riding on the roadway."

 

The 'line of fog' referred to is what's commonly called a 'fog line', the white line at the side of the road, just in case you didn't follow the crack (smoking) COLDNews writer.  But they also say the Russian cyclist was 'in the roadway' and the report said she was 'on the roadway'.  I will not quibble prepositions, but I will quibble what is 'the roadway'.  The place to find the definition of roadway is the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code.

MCL 257.55: “Roadway” means that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.

Let's take a look at the police report on this accident  Bicycle-Tow Truck Accident

The outside of a 'fog line' is not ordinarily used for vehicle travel, and hence is not the "roadway".  The police report says:  "In my opinion, the bicyclist was riding between the fog line and the rounded curb.  I based this on the bicycle skid mark that was made after impact.  The red paint transfer on the left handgrip leads me to believe that the tow truck sideswiped the bicycle causing her to fall."  The skid mark and paint transfer are discussed in the report, and the rounded curb, if you have not known or  guessed, was outside the fog line.

Furthermore, the tow truck driver stopped and dialed 911 and reported the incident, to his credit.  "He advises that he never saw the bicycle until his truck sideswiped her".  He was "visibly upset and repeated that he never saw her."

That defense may have played out effectively if she was bicycling in the roadway without proper equipment for that time of night, as she would have been traveling unlawfully on the roadway; but since she wasn't in the roadway she didn't need lights or reflectors on her bicycle  MCL 257.662(1).  That section says:  (A bicycle) being operated on a roadway between 1/2 hour after sunset and 1/2 hour before sunrise shall be equipped with a lamp on the front..."

 

This seemingly minor detail makes this collision the fault of the tow truck driver who struck a bicyclist traveling legally off the side of the roadway.  He saw nothing, even though the illumination there is sufficient to see pedestrians and bicyclists, even at 12:15 AM.  Was his cell phone and other devices checked?  No.  Was he tested for sobriety?  No.  Was he given any citations?  Nope.

There is some other blame to go around.  Alisa could have had her bicycle more well equipped for night riding, could have wore reflective material herself, could have rode further away from the road because of that.  The road engineers of the area have made it impossible to travel by bicycle on the elevated areas to the side of the road, because almost each driveway/private road you pass (and there are many) have full blown curbs on both sides.  But these are could haves, and this does not absolve the tow truck driver from hitting someone off the road because he didn't see them. 

 

So why didn't the tow truck driver get the full treatment from Officer Jeremy King?  Was it because the Sheriff's Office uses Quinn's Towing often and did not want to offend them by checking to see why the driver did not see the Russian cyclist traveling off the roadway?  One has to wonder, since protocol seemed to have been thrown out with the bathwater in this incident.  No accident reconstruction, no empathy for the serious injuries that made the woman have to be airlifted out and have serious hip surgery, misinformation given to the COLDNews about her being in the roadway when she was hit, closing the incident so quickly, no road tests, no repercussions for the driver at fault.

Could these revelations trigger an international incident between the USA and Russia?  Probably not, but we here in Mason County should have our officials treat our international guests better than we have with Lingyan Zou and Alisa Sidorenko this year.

[Dave]

I believe I drove by the scene of the accident shortly after it happened that night. I"m a bit surprised that there wasn't more investigation considering how many vehicles responded to the scene... when I drove back by (had went to Burger King after work) there was a total of 7 police vehicles on scene. To me it seemed a bit much as I could see the victim sitting upright so I was under the impression that the person wasn't seriously injured being they were moving around a little. I was a bit surprised that an ambulance had yet to arrive at the scene considering the number of other vehicles there.

[XLFD]

Dave,

Thanks for you being on the spot once again-- this guy has a homing beacon for news as it happens.  Now that you mention it, the police report never mentions when the ambulance came or actions of paramedics, just that it eventually took her away.  The absence of paramedics right away, when their base is just a couple of blocks away on First Street, could only mean they were out on another call-- one would think.

Can you tell me about where exactly you saw the girl on the side of the road?  I couldn't exactly tell from the police report.

[XLFD]

Darius Vanbrook.  Here was our BUMPS story and analysis on that accident:  local-corrections-officer-vehicle-hits-and-kills-teen-pedestrian-.  That investigation went to the MSP, and they are awfully difficult to work with and correspond with as far as getting info.  I saw something fishy there too, and it wasn't dealing with Aquaman (who was in Florida at the time).

[Dave]

When I was heading west, she was setting upright on the shoulder of the road, I believe fairly close to the Fairgrounds entrance. I believe there was at least one person if not 2 tending to her at the time.

On a different accident note, I think there was what I'm assuming was a car accident last Saturday night by the stoplight by Walmart.. there were police there and I thought I could hear a helicopter taking off from the airport and did see some sort of aircraft heading south when I got on the freeway to head home. I didn't happen to check the LDN to see if they had any info, did anyone happen to catch if there was a story in the LDN?

[XLFD]

For those of you discussing Cole and Fiers on another post or two, I would suggest you take a closer look at this post.  One of the road patrol MCSO deputies, one who is supposedly under Cole's direction, seems to have flubbed this accident investigation as per protocol.  He did look at the evidence and formed an opinion that the bicyclist was off the roadway. But he felt there was no need for accident reconstruction.    He didn't try to find out whether the driver was distracted or operating under the influence, even when he repeated over and over again that he didn't see her.  She, who was off the roadway.  According to Dave, seven police vehicles (with different jurisdictions I'm sure) were there. 

Why was the tow truck driver given a pass by law enforcement, when he didn't pass properly?

[Dave]

A few notes...

I said that when I drove by the 2nd time that there were 7 police/sheriff vehicles on scene  that varied between, city and state police as well as the sheriff dept. I did not say there were 7 different jurisdictions.. not sure where you got that from.

As far as an ambulance goes, with all those police there, common sense would dictate that being it was serious enough to bring out at least 7 police/sheriff vehicles that it would be serious enough to bring out an ambulance and that an ambulance wasn't already there by the time I drove by the 2nd time seems odd. I've seen less police response to accidents that had ambulances brought in. Even if a person refuses to go to the hospital, do they not typically at least have an EMT take a look just for the sake that a person couldn't then go home and claim an injury that might not of happened at the scene?

[Dave]

This is a bit of a nit pick but there is obviously a difference between 7 different jurisdictions and 7 different police vehicles coming from different jurisdictions.

As far as the ambulance goes, if a person refuses treatment that may be their right to do but most lawyers suggest always getting checked out as the insurance should cover it in most cases. If you can not afford a doctor, many people have other ways of paying assuming they don't quailfy for some sort of grant/donation etc.

[Dave]

I just wanted it to be clear exactly what was said as to not confuse anyone else that might read this thread.

[Dave]

When I first drove up on the scene, I didn't know what had happened.

I live south of town and the freeway is the route I take... sure, I could drove down to Shell and went that way to the freeway but given the time of night and that the scene appeared to be well taken care of, I didn't see a reason to go that route. I stayed as far to the south side of the road as I could and drove past the 2nd time in safe manor. Not real hard to count vehicles as you drive by.

There was no traffic to bunge up by the way. Keep in mind that it was later in the evening, not midday. Vehicles were few and far between.

[XLFD]

Let's not forget, Ronald, that this was a relatively attractive young Russian lady.  The officers, other than King, were likely not investigating the accident. 

[XLFD]

Having worked for convention security before when I was younger with a bunch of guys, I can tell you that if I broadcast over the radio that an 80 year old woman fell down and I needed some help, I would be lucky to get one or two to help lift her.  If I said it was an 18 year old woman, I'd have just about everyone responding.  Rent-a-cops are alot like regular cops.

[XLFD]

To turn a phrase, and adapt it:  A policeman's job is hard enough with out looky loos and other LEOs driving by making their job more dangerous.  This could only be done by having a lot more (straight) women officers, but then they'd be clamoring to get to accidents involving Phil Masse.