Last Friday, a 31-year-old man pleaded guilty in Davidson County Superior Court to a pair of charges in the death of a man who was struck and killed on a bicycle one year ago on Old N.C. Highway 109.
Superior Court Judge Richard Stone sentenced the man to between 1 year, 10 months and 2 years, 3 months in prison. He will receive credit for 366 days spent in jail since turning himself in Nov. 2, 2011.
The man pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run resulting in serious injury/death and misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.
The crash happened around 7:10 p.m. Nov. 1, 2011, on Old N.C. Highway 109 near Jolly Road, about a mile from Silver Valley Elementary School. The now deceased bicyclist was riding south when a vehicle approached him from behind and struck him. The bicyclist was thrown from his bike and landed in a ditch.
The man who hit the bicyclist expressed remorse about the accident to family and friends of the victim.
The rate of traffic deaths that happen after dark are three times higher than those that occur during the day. Night driving presents an entirely new set of hazards that many drivers may not be aware of or don’t know effective ways to deal with them. The most obvious reason for this is the fact that it is dark. In fact, an alarming ninety percent of a driver’s reaction depends on vision, which is severely limited at night. After sundown, depth perception, peripheral vision, and color recognition are all compromised. If you are involved in a serious accident, you need competent attorneys guide you on your most successful path to recovery. Call the Accident Attorneys of Reeves, Aiken, and Hightower at 704-499-9000 or 877-374-5999 toll-free.