Often in the reporting of car accidents they do comment on whether the driver was wearing a seat belt or not. This seems similar to me.

I would go one further even. when you say "person hit by car" you are personalizing the victim but not the perpetrator - the car didn't do it, the distracted woman did.

I like "bicyclist hit by distracted woman" or "distracted driver critically injures three men" because it puts the blame where it is truly due.

either way you are right, "cyclist hit by car" is so impersonal that you can just brush it off after you hear it which is sickening

That's a public service announcement for the benefit of the occasional cyclist or parent of a child. But, point taken....

The more important lesson is to stop your car and hunt for your GPS. I was almost killed by a guy bending down to pick up his garage remote while driving his huge SUV.

-Robert

If you say this: distracted driver critically injures three men, in effect, you're blaming the driver for hitting three real people, with real lives, relationships and loved ones.

If you say this: Three bicyclists hit by car, in effect the entire this is inanimate and it plays on the general North American public's disdain for people on bicycles or those jogging or anyone generally trying to better their health through exercise....damn those exercise junkies, they really do deserve to die and they got what they deserved when they get on the roads and in our way.

She has the right to a fair trial in the US and the media has a responsibility (in theory) not to bias the outcome of the trial. Admittedly or not, saying distracted driver is pretty definitive and damning, as opposed to something like "she is believed to have been driving distracted." You need only look to the Trayvon case to see the craziness that happens when the media puts its own slant on things.

Look, I'm not defending or damning her for her actions and anytime that people get hurt, especially cyclists because I am one too, it's tragic. But it seems like every time these threads pop up it's turn into a rally cry for the damnation of all drivers. See buzz words in earlier posts, such as huge SUV etc. She too probably has a real life with real relationships and real loved ones. They're all people.

That's a public service announcement for the benefit of the occasional cyclist or parent of a child. But, point taken....

Lito, Scott and Brent where riding on a single file on the bike lane near McDowell Rd and Elsworth when an SUV hit Scott, then Brent and then Lito. The driver was distracted either texting or adjusting the GPS. Scott and Brent got hit the hardest. The Brumbies riding group was riding behind them when this occurred. They had a couple of doctors in the group and they pretty much saved Scott's live by opening his breathing airways. Thank you guys!!!!
Lito had an exposed fractured in his wrist, broken collarbone and intense road rash on the knee. He just got out of surgery and he is fine and in high spirits.
Brent broke his neck, his spine, some ribs and his hip. He can move and is conscious. They will do an MRI to see if he needs surgery on the spine, or if he just needs a brace. Scott broke his neck, ribs, had a big cut in his neck and has some bleeding in his brain. He will have surgery to put some plates in his neck and they will wait 24 hours to determine the condition in his brain. He was conscious and he moved all his limps, but because of the brain injury he as sedated.