Tom Palermo-custom frame builder RIP

[abalone]

Originally Posted by thwart

Yeah, I could see how someone driving might not notice that… I mean it's on the passenger's side.

We had a somewhat similar incident in the Madison area recently, an intoxicated bishop striking and killing a runner. Got 13 years in prison, IIRC.

The picture of that windshield is shocking. I can't imagine what her family is going through right now. It has to be utterly devastating to hear Dad say he's going out for a bike ride at 2Pm in the afternoon and never come back. And then for that poor family to get more and more details that their father's death was senseless and should have never happened.

The church had failed Tom Palermo. That lady should have never ascended that high in the Episcopal church system given her past drunk driving record and charges with possession of other drugs.

The legal system failed Tom Palermo. There was never any real punishment for this lady for her past behavior, and as a result the system left a person who should have had her license revoked on the road.

If she gets off this time and is not punished, God help us all. There will be no justice, no fairness. The system has routinely failed riders who have been struck and killed by drivers, and the rider has never had a voice after their own death. Who will speak on behalf of Tom Palermo? The legal system? The church? God himself?

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Not murder but perhaps manslaughter. I would hope she was tested for alcohol/drugs and if positive test, doubt the church can keep her out of court for this but we'll see. Particularly second offense for DUI.

Im worried she was not tested....

[alancw3]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Not murder but perhaps manslaughter. I would hope she was tested for alcohol/drugs and if positive test, doubt the church can keep her out of court for this but we'll see. Particularly second offense for DUI.

yes you are probably correct. manslaughter! i guess for me having had a mother killed by a drunk driver and then getting away with slap on his wrist with no jail time just gets my goat.

[Black Dog]

Hiting him was no accident unless he swerved out in front of her at the last second or she had a mechanical failure of her car. Hitting a cyclist, or pedestrian is a result of not paying attention to your surroundings while driving. Period. No one meant to do it (hitting that is) but people allow themselves to become distracted (for any reason) and that is no accident. The word accident is very much over used to wave away the horrible consequences of poor driving. As a society we have stopped valuing life outside of moving vehicle.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by alancw3

yes you are probably correct. manslaughter! i guess for me having had a mother killed by a drunk driver and then getting away with slap on his wrist with no jail time just gets my goat.

Sorry for your loss.

Considering all that we have seen here(I'm sure there is more to this), it is going to get complicated.

[abalone]

Originally Posted by soulspinner

Im worried she was not tested....

WHAT?! How on earth does a police officer not test a driver who does this? When they ran her license plates and driver's license they should have seen the past DUI. That would be reason enough to field sobriety test her and get a blood alcohol reading. If she wasn't tested, she won't ever be held responsible for this. Does anyone know if she was tested?

[rugbysecondrow]

Neither one of those things impacted this accident. This lady failed Tom and his family.

Originally Posted by abalone

The church had failed Tom Palermo. That lady should have never ascended that high in the Episcopal church system given her past drunk driving record and charges with possession of other drugs.

The legal system failed Tom Palermo. There was never any real punishment for this lady for her past behavior, and as a result the system left a person who should have had her license revoked on the road.

Originally Posted by velomonkey

If anyone is a member of a Episcopal church in Baltimore they should talk to their church leaders and write to the head of the diocese. This is the guy that has released to a letter to the diocese that said

"Bishop Cook did leave the scene initially, but returned after about 20 minutes to take responsibility for her actions,' Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton wrote Sunday in a letter addressed to the Clergy

This is fiction - he might as well said she was 8 feet tall, too. She left the scene and came back only because other witnesses, bikers themselves, chased her down. The other fact is that this woman had a driving record of being drunk and having weed in her car.

This was not an accident, this was the result of a this woman's negligence, possibly even due to intoxication, and she never came back to 'take responsibility for her actions.' First question is, you clearly hit someone and your window is smashed - ��� could you possibly be thinking - oh wait, you were probably drunk.

Let's not give too much credence to what he wrote. As this is an evolving story, who knows what he knew when he originally wrote it. Also, this was an email written to other clergy about the incident...it is not an official record of events. It seems like poor journalism for it to be reported as an account of events.

We can be angry about this, but let's not be fanatical in how we respond to information.

[velomonkey]

Originally Posted by rugbysecondrow

Let's not give too much credence to what he wrote. As this is an evolving story, who knows what he knew when he originally wrote it. Also, this was an email written to other clergy about the incident...it is not an official record of events. It seems like poor journalism for it to be reported as an account of events.

We can be angry about this, but let's not be fanatical in how we respond to information.

Incorrect - this was an official communication by the church to other church leaders. I am being factual. It has been re-published. The letter, if you read it, was to help change the narrative because news agencies were reporting it as a "hit and run" - so the communication went out that it was not a hit run and that she came back to accept responsibility. This is false.

Look, like it or not - churches protect themselves just like any other entity. This lady is a leader of a church and while she may or may not have been driving her car on official church business - the entirety of her life's work is telling people, no, preaching to people, how to live their life. I don't care about words, I care about actions and her actions were in no way christian. FACT.

[OtayBW]

^^ The only things I see going on here that seem overly reactionary or 'fanatical' are 1) that this woman drove off and fled the scene of a fatal accident, 2) the Bishop's sense of what it takes to 'accept responsibility' for such an act.

[bking]

Has it been determined she is the same individual that had the prior dui? i didn't think that had been established yet.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

Hiting him was no accident unless he swerved out in front of her at the last second or she had a mechanical failure of her car. Hitting a cyclist, or pedestrian is a result of not paying attention to your surroundings while driving. Period. No one meant to do it (hitting that is) but people allow themselves to become distracted (for any reason) and that is no accident. The word accident is very much over used to wave away the horrible consequences of poor driving. As a society we have stopped valuing life outside of moving vehicle.

Since we don't have the facts or clear witness testimony, my statement stands.

[abalone]

Originally Posted by rugbysecondrow

Neither one of those things impacted this accident. This lady failed Tom and his family.

We can be angry about this, but let's not be fanatical in how we respond to information.

I agree that the lady failed Tom Palermo, but there is absolutely nothing fanatical in believing that this accident should have never occurred. 1- This lady was never appropriately punished for her past DUI. And 2- The church should have known about her past moral turpitude and she should have never been allowed to attain Bishop status.

Further, her actions of leaving the scene after hitting Tom shows that she was a fraud. in choosing between the righteous values of helping others, she chose to leave a dieing man. That's unconscionable.

[EDS]

Horrible news and my thoughts and condolences go out to Tom's family, friends and loved ones.

Does the episcopal church believe in the eternal flames of hell?

[firerescuefin]

Her conduct was disgusting and abhorrent by any moral or religious measure.

Would be a shame to derail and close this thread because people have an axe to grind.

[StephenCL]

I really have no words. I knew Tom...he was local and this just really, really hurts....

Nothing left to say...