Drunk driving doctor kills runner training for Boston

went to a decent college wrote:

Wrong - doesn't happen very frequently. You don't understand what frequent means.

INCORRECT!

went to a decent college wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

some stupid stuff

https://autos.aol.com/article/number-of-pedestrians-killed-rises-for-first-time-in-five-years/

~13% of car-related deaths are pedestrians. Driving is AT LEAST as dangerous as running on the road.

From this article, around 4,200 pedestrians are killed in traffic accidents each year. What proportion do we think are runners... 1 in 50, 1 in 100? That would give us roughly 40-80 runners killed each year in traffic accidents.

The Sports & Fitness Industry Association says that, in 2012, 51.4 million Americans went running at least once. How many go running on the roads? Conservatively maybe 10%? So roughly 5 million people?

Good thing I am a runner and not a jogger...

Citizen Runner wrote:

A lot of angles to this story. The DUI doctor was awarded $20M in a lawsuit after his own wife was killed in a automobile crash in 2006. The runner/victim's husband is a policeman who does DUI enforcement and outreach.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/local/ashland/mechanicsville-doctor-charged-in-jogger-s-death/article_71bcdbb2-4b32-5add-8d2f-7a7264ea615a.html

I want to get back to this.

This guy actually profited from his wife's death by an auto accident to the tune of $20 million.

Someone was so horribly negligent that he needed $20M to be consoled.

And now his negligence caused the death of someone else.

Does he just hand the money over since he should empathize or does he fight it?

Of course he fights it. Remember, he has $20 million to hire the best lawyer around. That lawyer will defend this grieving widower, single parent, and pillar of the community by claiming Dr. DUI's "medical condition" was to blame. He'll win.

Welcome to the American legal system.

20 million dollars in a wrongful death case. Did he actually get any of that money? Who pays on a settlement so large? This is such a tragic situation. So many lives changed forever.

Doubtful he was working the night shift as a internal medicine physician.

Banjo wrote:

Of course he fights it. Remember, he has $20 million to hire the best lawyer around. That lawyer will defend this grieving widower, single parent, and pillar of the community by claiming Dr. DUI's "medical condition" was to blame. He'll win.

Welcome to the American legal system.

+1

In fact, he will probably sue the deceased for causing him stress and damaging his car

The ' is on purpose.

I actually side with Flagpole on this. I still do most of my running on sidewalks but I go through hoops to stay safe. Won't cross against a light, stops at stop signs, will not proceed unless I have the right-of-way AND I am safe to cross. Even that won't save me from someone going off the road and climbing on top of me.

Here's an example. On Sunday I'm on my long run. Across the street a girl is running same direction, she has headphones on as a bonus. She reaches an intersection, she has the red, cross traffic has the green. She didn't even pause, she went straight across the intersection. Not only that, a 1/2 ton truck was approaching the intersection and had to slow down to avoid her. Part of me wanted to cross the street, tap her on the shoulder and call her stupid.

I'm totally with Flagpole in trying to avoid running near traffic and staying safe.

But this particular case is interesting in that the murdering driver had earlier profited off of another murdering driver.

Worth talking about instead of rehashing the same stuff you always see posted here.

A real man wouldn't hijack a thread for his personal soap box.

Personally, I try to stay off of roads with any sort of traffic all I can.

I've been running for about 35 years now, and know many runners. I have only heard of one runner I personally know who has ever been hit by a car, and it was a minor accident. I can't even remember a news story in our area of a runner being hit by a car.

Cycling is another story. I know far fewer cyclists than runners, but I have had three people I personally know killed by cars when cycling, and 6 more I can think of who have been in accidents with cars.

Too much of a thread hijack... bottom line is you can't blame the runner victim here. The drunk idiot needs to be strung up for this.

So research by Runnersworld of newspaper reports put the number of fatalties in the US in 2009 at 24 (20 per 10 months extrapolated).

http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/collision-course?page=single

Running USA put the number of runners in 2010 at 12.9 million (assuming some growth from 2009, let's call the 2009 number 10 million).

Therefore, your annualized risk of being killed as a runner in 2009 appears to have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 40/10,000,000, or 1/250,000.

As a point of comparison, your chances of being struck by lightning in any given year is about 1/500,000.

Obviously, mitigation efforts would likely bring down both stats significantly, but do not entirely eliminate them.

Also, obviously, a one-year sample is small, it is not broken down by runs (running more exposes you to more risk), etc. But, it's a decent snapshot estimate.

Rather than telling people how to live and what choices to make (which is appropriate in some scenarios where their choices endanger others, but not here where they are making personal choices), the right thing to do is give people information so that they can make informed choices, mitigate risk, and then balance that mitigated risk of being struck against other considerations (availability of other options, time considerations, importance of the training etc.)

Nothing wrong with Flagpole raising the issue, but hyperbole such as "suicide" doesn't help anyone make informed choices.

This doctor is sick. Affluenza is a terrible disease. Time in jail won't cure it. I hope he can get the treatment he needs, like a few years parole.

RationalActor wrote:

Running USA put the number of runners in 2010 at 12.9 million (assuming some growth from 2009, let's call the 2009 number 10 million).

Rational incorporate the runners running regularly on roads removing the rest from your 'rithmetic

Agreed that would be good - not sure if anyone has that stat. That fits with my comment about frequency. You start with the general 1/250,000 and adjust up and down for frequency on roads, time of day, day of week (evidently Friday and evenings are to be avoided), clothing, headphones (really ups your risk), etc. Everyone's risk is individual, and you have to apply some common sense. Running 90% of your runs on Friday night on a highway with a 55 mph speed limit wearing headphones - that's a bit more dangerous than noon with 15 LEDs on a 15 mph private drive. Everyone has to find their comfort point, otherwise people would never leave their homes. The world is a risky place and death is a certainty. Spend it as you choose, but make as informed a choice as possible in any given situation.

From your comment I wonder what you are doing on a running site? Meg was on the shoulder of the road but that doesn't change the fact Richmond lost a great person....

I don't think it's possible to calculate the chances of being struck by lightning in 1 year. Has anyone actually gathered accurate statistics?

If It Works for Guns... wrote:

Oh my God, oh my God. Ban doctors. Ban drinking. Ban cars. They all kill people! People are dying. When will we come to our senses and eliminate these senseless tragedies?!

Thank you for proving gun nuts are d!cks. Grow up.

Meg was an exceptional runner with much bigger goals (and her PR is actually 3:03 with sub 2:45 potential.) But beyond her running, she was an ideal member of our running community. She ran with a smile, no matter how hard the workouts. Never complained about the hilly routes we ran. And pushed those of us who ran with her to be better runners. The running world lost a true gem. For those of us who knew her well, we are focusing all of our energy on supporting her family, and not waste it on the driver.

If others want to show support in light of this tragic situation, feel free to join us on a virtual run this Saturday in her memory,

https://www.facebook.com/events/489458451159627/?source=1

And please, I encourage all of you and your friends to do what you can to prevent drinking and driving.

Yes - the National Weather Service (from their site):

The general odds from the National Weather Service Lightning Safety site (http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/medical.htm)...

Odds of Becoming a Lightning Victim

U.S. 2000 Census population as of 2008 300,000,000

Number of deaths actually reported: 60 Number of injuries reported: 340 (total) 400

Estimated number of actual U.S. deaths: 60 Estimated number of actual injuries: 540 (total) 600

Odds of being struck by lightning in a given year (reported deaths + injuries) 1/750,000

Odds of being struck by lightning in a given year (estimated total deaths + injuries) 1/500,000

Odds of being struck in your lifetime (Est. 80 years) 1/6250

Odds you will be affected by someone being struck (Ten people affected for every one struck) 1/625