Jack Hartley

from Bike Jax:

On February 3rd, 77 Year old Jack B. Hartley was
stuck from behind in the 100 block of Chaffee Rd. North. He died six
day later of the injuries sustained from the collision.

According to the Times-Union,
"The driver didn't see Hartley because he was wearing dark clothing
and didn't have any lights on his bike." No information is
available if the driver was cited or not. I'm going to go out on limb
here guess not. We (Bike Jax) have put in a request for a copy of the
Accident report once available.

So yes, Mr.
Hartley bared a certain amount of responsibility for the actions that
lead up to his death by not having lights. But last I checked with the
State of Florida bicycle and traffic laws, I failed to find any law or
statute governing clothing color.

The thing
that is so bother-some about Mr. Hartley's accident is the location and
the statement, "The driver didn't see Hartley." Abhishek and I didn't
make it out to place the bike until just before sunset. By the time we
had determined where to place the Ghost Bike and made it back to our
vehicle it was well after dark. We did however notice on the walk back
how well lighted the stretch of Chaffee Rd. from I-10 to Beaver St. is.

Chaffee is so well lighted that if Mr. Hartley had
been dressed as a Ninja there is no reason that the driver should not
have seen him other that of inattentiveness.

Divers
of motor vehicles have one job to do when driving. That is to simply
not hit anything. Is that really asking too much?