According to news articles, a resident of Clarksburg, MD, has been sentenced to eight years following his conviction for the 2010 death of a Gaithersburg bicyclist who was killed in a fatal bike-car crash in Germantown, Maryland. The accident took place on June evening when 48-year-old Stanton Miller Jr. was hit by Quinzy Fraser while riding his bike along Ridge Road.
According to news reports, police said that Fraser, 34, was driving under the influence of alcohol and traveling about 68mph when his vehicle struck and critically injured Miller, who was riding on the shoulder of the roadway. Based on court records, Montgomery County police stated that Fraser’s blood-alcohol content (BAC) was 0.19 percent on the evening of the traffic accident.
As a Baltimore bicycle and pedestrian accident attorneys and personal injury lawyers, we’ve seen the tragic results of drivers who attempt to operate passenger cars and commercial trucks while under the influence of alcohol or prescription drugs. As with many traffic accidents, the human toll can be measured in terms of broken bones, head and neck injuries, spinal damage and traumatic brain injury. Pain and suffering, not only of the victim, but also his or her family is always a factor.
In the case of this accident, the defendant was reportedly driving an SUV northbound on Ridge Road around 7pm when for some reason the truck departed from the traffic lane and hit the bicyclist who was riding on the paved shoulder. Police determined the vehicle’s speed at 68mph and the force of the crash caused Miller to be thrown more than 110 feet in the air where he struck a nearby fence.
Although the rider was wearing a helmet, according to police, Miller sustained life-threatening injuries in the crash. Emergency responders attended to the injured rider at the scene and then transported him to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD. Unfortunately, doctors could not save the cyclist and he died from his extensive injuries not long after his admission.
Court records indicate that police officer responding to the crash that evening detected the scent of alcohol on the defendant. Fraser reportedly refused a breath test at the scene; police subsequently took the man to the hospital for a blood sample.
Clarksburg man who killed cyclist on Germantown road sentenced to eight years, Gazette.net, January 14, 2011
Clarksburg man pleads guilty to killing Gaithersburg bicyclist on Germantown road, Gazette.net, December 15, 2010