During the legislative session that just ended in Olympia, the story of Kevin Black was told at committee hearings as an example of why Washington State needed a new law protecting cyclists. Black, 39, was riding to work in Ballard on February 4, 2009, when a van made a sudden U-turn in front of him. He collided with the van, and then the van rolled over him. He died, leaving behind a wife and two daughters, ages 10 and 13.
“This case, and many cases like it, were an incentive to get the bill passed,” says Sue Evans, a spokesperson for Black’s family.
In response, lawmakers approved Senate Bill 5326, the “Vulnerable User Bill,” which increases the penalty for negligent driving in the second degree in Washington State (formerly just a $250 fine). Under the new law, which was signed by Governor Chris Gregoire on May 16, courts can levy a fine of up to $5,000 against negligent drivers who cause the death or “great bodily harm” of a biker or other vulnerable roadway user—a designation that includes everyone from pedestrians to drivers of farm tractors. These negligent drivers can also have their driver’s licenses suspended for 90 days.
The new law comes too late to have a direct impact on Black’s case, but his family has found legal resolution through a different route. In a complaint filed in 2009, Seattle attorney James S. Rogers argued that the driver failed to stay in one lane, keep a proper lookout for the cyclist, or exercise appropriate care. The death was “solely and proximately caused by defendant[‘s]… negligent operation of her vehicle,” he told the court. On May 31, Black’s family announced a $1.5 million settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit they’d brought against the van operator, Ambient Control Co.
“This was a preventable tragedy,” says Rogers, who represented the family. “Kevin was an experienced cyclist and commuted daily on his bicycle. It’s clear that the driver of the van did not see Kevin. But as more and more people choose to commute by bicycle, it is critical that drivers understand they share our roadways with cyclists.” 
The sad part about sueing a business is that the owners pay out of their pocket for the negligence of the driver who was their employee. Thankfully we now have laws making the employee liable for his own fuck-up.
In the future we can just get on with arresting people who are negligent and kill people as a consequence. Before this law was passed the only recourse was sueing the business owner which is not fair to anyone involved.
Actually the owner’s insurer pays.
@1&2
The insurer might pay, but it has a huge problem for the business owner as well. They get dropped from their insurance and then end up paying through the nose to get anyone to cover them.
I try to see all sides of it, and I sympathize. That said, please don’t run me over as I bike to work. Thank you.
As pitiful spits go this was a big issue before the city spent gobs of money to make bike riding in heavy traffic “safer”.
Tossing in a “bike rider” in a negligent homicide is a real twist for some plot starved legal worms who want to take the same plate of cold poop to a new level.
If a city cant keep its streets from becoming a giant Ice skating rink and dose not even have the salt to sprinkle on the ice then Drivers and Businesses and Insurance companies can all just dry up and become extinct by the Poop De jure Du jore new law made this week to fit in with the 22 million on the books already.
Both are at fault… and the city too, for promoting this nonsense on streets that are not safe. Get rid of those stupid sharrows on bus and truck routes!!! Where are the priorities in this city? A rich sadomasochistic suicidal bicyclist is somehow has more priority on the road than a miserable crowded bus or a minimum wage delivery driver… And what the F… are those sharrows?! There is no such word in a dictionary. It’s a sadomasochistic dream… Instead of separating bikes and vehicles so there can be no conflict, the city is even making harder for vehicles to pass a by separating vehicular lanes from each other by bulbs and textured lanes, so passing a bicyclist becomes much harder or can even damage a vehicle. The logic says that those protective/warning dividing methods need to be between bikes and vehicles, not between vehicles and vehicles, but in Seattle we like sadomasochism I guess…