Cycle News

IN THE WIND P28 TEXAS DRIVER COULD GET 40 YEARS A Texas driver who allegedly swerved his car into the path of an overtaking motorcyclist in Granbury, Texas, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted. The offence was caught on video, recorded by another motorcyclist, and has since gone viral, in which a car, allegedly driven by 68-year-old Wil- liam Crum, dramatically swerves left and collides with a passing motorcycle, knocking the rider and passenger to the ground who were illegally pass- ing over double yellow lines. When questioned by the filming motorcyclist as to whether Crum was aware he'd taken the bike out, he simply replied, "I don't care." Eric Saunders, the rider of the stricken ma- chine, suffered minor injuries, however his pas- senger, Debra Simpson, remains hospitalized with a broken wrist and deep lacerations to her arm. Saunders was cited for crossing the double yellow line. Crum has maintained the crash was the result of a reaction to being bit by a spider in his car. Crum has so far been unapologetic to Saunders and Simpson and remains in the Hood County Jail with a $150,000 bond. The video can be viewed above. CN TT WORLD SERIES ON HOLD T he long-proposed Isle of Man TT World Series has been put on indefinite hold, following a statement released by the Isle of Man Department of Infrastructure, via Economic Development Minister, Laurence Skelly. A TT World Series has been on the table for some time with the idea of TT-style races across the globe culminating in the final at the traditional TT races on the Isle of Man, but such a move has been dubbed "high risk" by Skelly. "[The TT World Series] has always been a relatively high risk idea—indeed, some people have voiced concerns that the series might fail or might dilute focus on the Isle of Man events, either of which could harm the TT and the island's economy," Skelly said. "My department therefore considered very carefully the bids to see whether we could be confident we could deliver the proposed TT series while manag- ing the risks. If we were a private business, then I think we may have been prepared to take the risks associated in pursuit of the substantial benefits offered in at least one of the bids. However, government must be mindful of the importance of the TT to many other stakeholders including local businesses, so my depart- ment has applied a higher thresh- old of risk than say a private organization would apply. "We have therefore decided that the best way forward is to focus on growing the home events and making them more appealing. In a few years we can then reconsider the TT series idea with a stronger proposition to take the global motorsport market." CN

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