A motorist was involved in a serious collision that left a bicyclist catastrophically injured last Friday. According to authorities, the 23-year-old female driver who hit the bicyclist was intoxicated at the time of the crash. Police also say that she fled the scene of the accident.
Police say that the bicyclist was found lying in the road where the driver allegedly left him. He was rushed to the hospital but tragically, he didn’t survive and doctors pronounced him dead at the medical facility.
Just several miles from the original crash site, police found the motorist who allegedly hit the man. After carrying out a field sobriety tests, police arrested the woman. After the bicyclist died, she was charged with felony death by motor vehicle.
Police say that they may not have found the woman if it weren’t for the fact that she got into a second accident further down the road. When they discovered her vehicle, they say that it was missing a tire, the windshield was cracked and pieces of the victim’s bicycle were found beneath her car.
Being charged with hit-and-run and intoxicated driving, in combination with causing a fatal bicycle accident, means that this young driver will want to take her criminal defense seriously. If she is convicted of felony death by motor vehicle North Carolina, she could spend many years in prison. As such, she and her legal counselor will need to devise a legal strategy to try and get her charges dropped, dismissed or achieve a verdict of not guilty. Alternatively, they may pursue a strategy to reduce her potential punishments if conviction is likely.
Source: wsoctv.com, “Charges upgraded after bicyclist dies in DWI crash, police say,” Mark Barber, June 10, 2017