Rest In Peace Kimmy Chapman
Member Of Biker Community Killed; Friends Want Action
PHOENIX -- A fatal motorcycle accident over the weekend has sparked controversy in the biker community.
Kimmy Chapman, 55, died and her boyfriend, who was driving the bike, was seriously injured after police said a car failed to yield at an intersection and struck them.
Bikers around the Valley are joining in a familiar refrain: People in cars aren't looking out for motorcycles.
Ross Rutherford is a recreational rider and president of ABATE, a motorcycle education group in Arizona.
"Safety. Safety is one of our major things," Rutherford said.
Safety was also an issue for Chapman.
Chapman was well known in the biker community. She was an advocate who started "The Biker's Information Guide" on the Internet.
"It tore a hole in my heart. She was one of the great ones," Rutherford said.
Rutherford said Chapman's accident sounds all too familiar.
"Seventy- five percent of the accidents with motorcyclist are cars entering their right-of-way," he said.
It's such an issue a statute was introduced into Arizona law last year to give stiffer penalties to those found guilty of right-of-way crashes.
"I have never seen it happen yet," Rutherford said.
Punishment, Rutherford said might work, if it actually happened.
"Look what drunk driving laws did. I mean, if people think that something is gonna happen to them they're gonna think twice," he said.
But Rutherford said he knows bikers aren't perfect, either.
"I wish I could say that we didn't have idiots on two wheels, but we do. But the problem is, usually if it's one of our idiots, they just take themselves out," he said.
Steve Martos with the Phoenix Police Department said officials are still looking into what charges to file in Chapman's crash and that it's still under investigation.
Martos also said if there's criminal intent, or the crash breaks the law, police will always do their part to make sure the person responsible pays for the crime.
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