Dear John:

I'm writing you as my daughter; Brittany Brindley is a fellow cyclist in Missoula.  Brittany loves to mountain bike and road bike.   

On Friday April 22, 2005 at 10:45 AM she was riding along the river bottom part of Big Flat Road, when a young driver named Lawrence Goodsell cut the corner at the ninety-degree turn and struck Brittany head on with his pickup truck.

Mr. Goodsell then fled the scene, leaving Brittany lying in the road, and dragging the bicycle for 2.4 miles before he stopped and threw the bike off the side of the road.  He then proceeded on to the vocational school where he was apprehended.  Mr. Goodsell stated that he knew he had hit something with a blue helmet but didn't know if it was a man or a woman, never looked back, and was going to call for assistance after he went to class.

            Luckily a passing motorist stopped to render aide and saved Brittany's life.  She spent the next day and night in intensive care with a concussion, broken elbow, deep cuts on her knees and face.  Her head, knee, and elbow bent the hood, shattered the left headlight, and dented the front bumper of a full size 1988 pickup truck.  Britt is truly lucky to be alive.  Later she developed neck and back problems, and blood clot in her calf from the trauma.  She continues to recover, and is now on blood thinners for next six months in order to treat the clot that she developed.

Mr. Goodsell was charged criminally for his conduct, but as hard as it is to believe, it turns out that hitting someone and leaving the scene with an obviously injured victim lying in the road is only a misdemeanor.  I know Mr. Goodsell is sorry for the poor choices he made, and would not make those same mistakes again. 

I am writing to you to request the assistance of Brittany's fellow cyclists in trying to prevent something like this from happening to another cyclist.  First, we should make sure that motorists know that if they cause an accident and then leave the scene of that accident when someone is obviously and severely injured, they will be punished severely.  Such a crime should be a felony, not a misdemeanor.  Accidents happen, but choosing to leave someone in the road to die is something that must be discouraged by imposing the harshest penalties reserved for such intolerable behavior.  This is a matter of state legislation, and I encourage you to write to your state representatives and senators to request they increase the penalties for such conduct.

Second, the physical conditions that contributed to the accident in the first place should be fixed.  It is my understanding that this part of Big Flat Road is one of the most popular road rides in Missoula.  Regardless, the road is apparently several feet narrower than the minimum road width required by Missoula County.  Not only should a road so often used by cyclists meet or exceed minimum road width requirements, it should have a bike lane.  Requests for action on this issue should be addressed to your Missoula County Commissioners.

Brittany and I would like to thank the Missoula cycling community for supporting our efforts to see something good come of Brittany's tragic experience.  I would appreciate you passing this letter on to your members and encourage them to call, fax or email their state senators and representatives, and their county commissioners.  Please help us prevent something like this from happening again.  

Sincerely,

Bob Brindley