Memorial services are listed for Mark Maness in today's paper. Tomorrow,
Tuesday, at 7 pm at the Unity Church on Unity Drive near Hillcroft between
Richmond and Westheimer.





Justin
McMurtry To: BH Announcements List
<justin@bikeho
<bikehouston-announce@yahoogroups.com>, BH
uston.org> Discussion List
<bikehouston@yahoogroups.com>
cc: <jpulliam@...>,
06/30/02 10:43 <lilibeth.andre@...>,
AM <upperman@...>,
<ridemore@...>,
Please respond <RolfLaub@...>,
<preston@...>,
to BrainTrust
<bikehouston-braintrust@yahoogroups.com>
bikehouston-br Subject: [BrainTrust] 2nd
hit-and-run victim
aintrust dies; memorial/protest planned






[NOTE: Please make sure that all the cyclists you know read this message.
Please forward it to them if they haven't already received a copy.]
__________

Dear friends and fellow cyclists,

I am very sorry to report that the bicyclist who initially survived being
struck from behind Thursday night by a hit-and-run motorist, in a collision
in which his riding companion was killed instantly, is reported to have
died
at Ben Taub Hospital. This raises the death count in this incident to two.

I feel I should point something out here. As you may recall, there was a
tragic incident June 12 near Baton Rouge in which a truck crossed the
centerline on a leftward-curving narrow rural road and slammed into a group
of cyclists coming the other way. News of this incident was immediately
broadcast by email across the country, and even now (three weeks later) it
remains the second bulletin shown on the home page of the League of
American
Bicyclists. What I want to point out is that (1) although there were
several injured survivors, "only" one cyclist was killed, and (2) by all
evidence the collision was not an intentional act by the motorist.

By comparison, in the tragedy that occurred right here on our own Houston
streets (indeed, in a designated bike lane) last Thursday night, there were
TWO cyclists killed, and news reports give suspicious indications that the
collision was an INTENTIONAL malicious act by the driver of the vehicle
that
struck the cyclists from behind.

Therefore I think Thursday night's incident is not just a tragedy -- it's
an
egregious OUTRAGE.

This is all extremely upsetting. We must not remain silent.

We -- the entire community of all bicyclists in Houston -- must hold a
public memorial-and-protest event within the next few days. I suggest that
we call it "BAMM" -- Bicyclists Against Malicious (or Murderous) Motorists.
Plans are in the works; stay tuned for more info coming soon (see below).

=== IMPORTANT ===
If you are reading this message and you're not already subscribed to either
the BikeHouston announcements email list or the BikeHouston discussion
email
list, I STRONGLY encourage you to join one or both:

- To join "bikehouston-announce", send a blank email to:
<mailto:bikehouston-announce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com>

- To join "bikehouston" (the dicussion list), send a blank email to:
<mailto:bikehouston-subscribe@yahoogroups.com>

Announcements about the BAMM event will be posted to the
"bikehouston-announce" list -- so if you want to know what's going on, I
highly recommend that you subscribe to that list right now. Email
discussion for quick-planning the BAMM event will take place on the
"bikehouston" discussion list. If you want to participate in the
discussion, please join that list right away. See the subscription
instructions above.

I hope that, by working and grieving together, we will be able to salvage
something good out of this most recent cycling tragedy. Remember: It
could've happened to any of us -- so in a very real sense, it happened to
all of us. If you are a cyclist, the bell tolls for thee.

--
Justin McMurtry
BikeHouston board member
[Speaking solely for myself, not in any official capacity]



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