The Cape Cod Times: No charges for driver who hit man on bicycle
October 28, 2009
TRURO — The police have decided not to bring criminal charges against the driver of a sport utility vehicle that hit and critically injured a bicyclist in town Oct. 12.
The driver, Dean Nickerson, 44, of Truro, was driving south at 7 p.m. on Route 6 and slowed to turn left on Whitmanville Road when he hit Provincetown resident John R. Dowd, Truro police Lt. John Lundborn said.
At the time of the crash, it was dark and the area is not lighted, Lundborn said. Nickerson told the police that he did not see Dowd, 38, who was riding his bike on Route 6, Lundborn said.
Lundborn said another mitigating factor was Dowd was dressed in dark clothing with no reflective or safety gear. The bike had one reflector on a front tire, he added.
Dowd was airlifted to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston from a helicopter landing area in front of the Truro police station.
He received severe facial injuries, according to his brother, James, and family friend Bridget Kennedy Badams. He has had one surgery to his jaw and expects at least one more for the injuries to his face, they said. Dowd broke both wrists as well. He is awake, conscious and responding to visitors and doctors, Badams and his brother said. He was listed in good condition yesterday, a hospital spokesman said.
