Torrin has created a new organization,
Off the Back
to turn his tragedy into help for all cyclists.
Summary of incident from Justin Pyatt:
Torrin was riding on the shoulder of 4th street in san rafael, near where it turns into sir francis drake blvd.
it's a tricky intersection, and in order to go straight onto SFD on a bike, you need to get to one of the center
lanes, or the far left lane. Torrin changed to the center lane when it was clear, and a short time later, when he
looked over his shoulder to change lanes again, noticed a truck just off his rear wheel. He estimates he was
going about 30mph at this point Torrin got frustrated with the motorist and signalled for him to get off his back.
Torrin got into the left lane and the motorist pulled up alongside him and then swerved directly into him,
knocking him off his bike.
One witness said in the police report that he was surprised the driver of the truck kept control of his vehicle
through the violent swerve. Witnesses then chased down the driver and blocked him from getting away and forced
him to turn himself in.
The back of Torrin's helmet shattered, and he sustained a concussion, and brain and eye injuries. I'm not sure
what it's called but the eye injury that he sustained was where the goo inside the eye separates from the retina,
creating blurred vision and "floaters." His eyesight has progressively gotten worse. A month after the accident,
we went on a ride through Oakland and he said he could see most things, but everything was a little blurry. A
week later, we rode up in the Berkeley hills, and I had to point out simple things like the edge of the road. A
week after that, he couldn't see well enough to walk down the street on his own, without a cane.
Torrin has legal counsel for a civil trial, and has spoken with Bob Moinske, the lawyer/cyclist who writes the
column 'Legally Speaking' for velonews.com. Bob has graciously offered his services in whatever capacity might be
useful.
NEWS ARTICLES:
-
Friends urge DA to act in bike accident
. BCLU comments: the term "accident" is a biased term and implies no fault. The term "crash," or "collision," on the other hand, is much more factual. It is irresponsible at best for the MIJ to put the term "accident" in the headline of such an article and the MIJ has been repeatedly notified about this issue in the past.
Action bulletin from Sean Daniels (adapted to past tense after the fact):
May 25th 2005
Torrin Arnold, a local bike shop employee, was run down on purpose by a driver in a hit and run incident on February 26th.
As a result, he has permanently lost his vision. Because of his injuries, he has had to stop attending college, and is
currently unable to work. All proceeds from this benefit will go towards medical and other living expenses. Torrin has
been an avid local biker for years and has participated in the Aids/LifeCycle ride (on a fixed gear, no less). He is
also a member of the United States Cycling Federation.
The District Attorney of Marin County is considering reducing the charges against the violator. This is not acceptable
as the driver intentionally hit Torrin and fled the scene of the crime.
On May 25, 2005,
Cyclists hand delivered
letters to D.A. Edward Berberian stating that the driver should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The group gathered at 3:45pm on May25th at:
---> The flyer for the event.
Afterwards, they rode to the evening benefit at 19 Broadway in Fairfax. There was a raffle and an auction to raise
money for this cyclist in need.
Back to the BCLU
