The other day I blogged about a car-on-bicycle collision in the Gorham-Rushville NY area. A hit-and-run driver knocked Kevin Royston, an avid cyclists, off his bike and into a ditch where a passing motorist spotted him and called for help. His leg, broken in four places, has now been partially amputated.
The Geneva Bicycle Center along with Kevin’s family and friends are now offering an $11,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run driver. Michaels Bersani Kalabanka now adds $1,000 to that pot of reward money, making the total $12,000. Why?
Some of Kevin’s friends feel that he will get better insurance coverage if the hit-and-run driver is caught, but they are probably wrong. The coverage will probably be the same. So that’s not why we are chipping in. (If you are interested in knowing why the coverage probably won’t change, click and read here).
Here’s my explanation: First, I am a fellow Geneva NY area bicyclist, and I have biked that very road before. There but for the grace of god go I! I feel personally invested in catching this selfish, scum-of-the earth motorist. Getting hit from the rear on my bike is my personal bogyman because, as a lawyer who represents injured bicyclists, I know all too well the lay-of-the land —- distracted drivers texting, navigating, talking on the phone, dialing, reading email — you name it, and I’ve seen it.
Second, there are two aspects to our system of justice: civil (being able to sue for compensation) and criminal (punishing the wrongdoer with, among other things, jail time). We are most concerned about the second kind of justice. What this hit-and-run driver did is a crime deserving of severe punishment. He left Kevin there to die! He did not care that his injuries might have been life threatening, or that no one would have found him in that ditch! All he cared about was saving his own skin. A message must be heard loud and clear in the entire region that reckless motorists who kill and injure cyclists or others, especially cowardly hit-and-run criminals, will be punished. We can’t let this guy get away with it!
So that’s why Michaels Bersani Kalabanka is adding $1,000 to the “pot” of money rewarding anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run driver who cost Kevin his leg. If you have any information at all, call us, or better yet, call the Ontario County sheriff”s Office at (585) 394-4560.
Mike Bersani
Email me at: bersani@mbk-law.com I’d love to hear from you!
Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
mbk-law.com
Central NY Bicycle Accident Lawyers
Michaels Bersani Kalabanka
1-315-253-3293