[MichaelApproved]

Yes.

Deputy who killed former Napster COO after drifting into the bike lane while distracted by his laptop will not face charges because he was answering a work-related email

- Milton Olin Jr, 65, was fatally struck by a Los Angeles county sheriff's patrol car December 8, 2013, as he rode in the bike lane in Calabasas

- Deputy Anthony Wood was returning from a fire call when he took his eyes off the road to type a work-related message on an electronic device

- Olin was director of operations for Napster between 2000 and 2002 and was a prominent entertainment lawyer

- The victim's wife and sons have filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming Wood was negligent

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2736376/Deputy-kille...

[jacquesm]

> while distracted by his laptop will not face charges because he was answering a work-related email

Somehow I feel that if I struck a cyclist while answering a work related email (not that I'd ever do such a thing) that I would not be getting off that lightly.

[x0x0]

eh, in sf, you get a ticket for killing cyclists. Sometimes not even that. It's really not a big deal. So it isn't as if the cop got a special deal.

   "We do not know of a single case of a cyclist fatality in which the driver 
   was prosecuted, except for D.U.I. or hit-and-run," Leah Shahum, the 
   executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, told me. [1]

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/is-it-ok-to...

[khc]

Do people get prosecuted anywhere for fatal traffic accidents, except when they are severely breaking the law?

[jacquesm]

In NL if you hit a cyclist as a motor vehicle driver you're in deep trouble.

[untog]

In conclusion: yes, they do it, and yes, it's a bad idea.