Cop said sun was in his eyes, as he kills tourist

[alaskyn66]

All speculation... but the guy could have been cycling down the middle of the road if there was not alot of traffic.
I could see that happening .... Car comes over hill/around corner... still doesnt explain hit/run statement.

" The odds are good... But the goods are odd "

[pbmaise]

Sunrise is given as the time the sun will rise at sea level. To know exactly when sunrise was at the point of the crash you need to know the elevation.

This on-line calculator allows you to plug in variables.

Now this calculator doesn't know if there is a mountain in the way. So actual rise past the ridge of the mountain is more complex.

[dmbwest]

Lifelong ( Unleashed child/Commuter/Racer/Daily Commuter) Cyclist here .... Love of riding and British cars made me this.

I have not ridden this road but it does NOT look like anything freakishly unusual so want to add my opinion.

My first and only question would be, was the rider hard of hearing or wearing headphones ?

Does not matter other than legal ramifications,,,,, IMO,,,, he got himself killed.

Apparently, the guy had some miles down so this was NOT a child wobbling down the road.

But he still failed at the number one rule. Riding defensively and to protect himself as he rode this skinny road,,, "ahem" before sunrise. Unfortunately, (for) the driver was a police officer.

Now if its proven the driver was distracted or simply off the road ( where the RIDER should have been given the LOCATION AND TIME just to let the car pass safely while self preserving ) then maybe the driver could be faulted .....

My gut feeling is we will never know ... My gut feeling also is, the rider was in the path of the car but did not react, nor did the driver ever expect a cyclist to be "there" at this time of day. So again, the experienced rider will know and ASSume this and get WAY out of the way upon hearing an upcoming car given the conditions. I know I would.

SYOTR,
pog

[TomK]

pbmaise - sunrise was at 06:33 at the summit of Mauna kea that morning. Given the summit's altitude, the sun could not have risen earlier than that at the location of the collision. All evidence in the news suggests the collision was quite a few minutes before sunrise.

[dmbwest]

Was Whitman making an "Official" statement ? Or did he just get a mic shoved in front of him ? Somebody please tell me.

For now, I would opine he was thinking out loud based on his years of experience just as anyone who is in this field would.

He probably did not have all the 'solar' facts in yet and again, was going on what he has seen over the years that us plebs have NOT !

[TomK]

Agreed, Pog, but the hit-and-run statement still needs an explanation. That can't be explained by sunrise times.

[dmbwest]

Claiming ignorance just as above with Whitman, I truly don't care, the guy got himself killed .... The rest is what everyone wants to make of it.

[Jeffhale]

doesn't look like much of a hill here. In fact It's not a hill at all, it's a long incline. And by the way the scene is, that Officer had to be doing the "I'm a cop" driving technique. Translation: We break traffic rules, speeding, passing stop signs, over taking traffic, racing to lunch, cause we're cops doing supposedly important things. So, traffic laws do not apply to our team.

Killed the bike rider on a clear open straight-away. Video coverage of the crime scene here: http://khon2.com/2015/03/01/visiting-cyc...oa-road-2/

[leilanidude]

Did the cyclist have a light on the bicycle? He was riding before sunrise?

[VancouverIslander]

Blaming the cyclist for being hit is nonsense. The sun was alleged to be in both their eyes, which implies being hit from behind. If you hit someone from behind because the sun is in your eyes, you were driving with undue care and attention - you need to slow down to match the driving conditions to avoid recklessly running someone down because you can't see. The only mitigating circumstance I could imagine would be if the cyclist suddenly darted out in front of the path of the vehicle. Jeff's video link shows a surprisingly straight section of road. The driver was released pending investigation so we really don't know what the official story is going to be.

Just call me Mike