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Barkhamsted man charged in fatal 2017 bicycle crash in New Hartford

I'm surprised he was charged despite not being intoxicated. Who wants to bet he was texting?

http://www.rep-am.com/news/news-local/2018/05/18/barkhamsted-man-charged-in-fatal-2017-bicycle-crash-in-new-hartford/ (requires a login)

NEW HARTFORD — A 22-year-old Barkhamsted man will be arraigned today on charges of negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and failure to grant right of way following a fatal crash last year that killed a 42-year-old bicyclist training for the Ironman World Championship.

Zachary Pillarella turned himself in to state police at Troop B in Canaan on May 7 after a warrant was obtained for his arrest. He later was released on $2,500 bond and will be arraigned in Torrington Superior Court.

The crash happened in New Hartford on June 20, 2017, as Gordon Keller rode toward his home in Canton. State police said he was struck by a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado heading west on Route 44 near the intersection of Route 219.

Keller died at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington of blunt impact trauma, according to the state medical examiner’s office.

State police investigated the crash and determined Pillarella was not intoxicated.

In reply to Carey_Gregory

It would be interesting to see the police report and the basis for the negligent homicide charge. I wonder if it was, in fact, texting or distracted driving, or possibly careless driving, failure to yield, etc. Most of the time (including some of the recent cases in our area), the police are too quick to dismiss bike fatalities as "just an accident."

Also interesting to note both Gordon Keller and Nathan Miller's fatalities involved Chevy Silverados. Anyone else notice that pickup trucks tend to be a disproportionate percentage of vehicles to cause problems on our rides (close calls, buzzing, road rage, etc.)?

Be careful out there.

In reply to DinoSore

> Also interesting to note both Gordon Keller and Nathan Miller's fatalities involved Chevy Silverados. Anyone else notice that pickup trucks tend to be a disproportionate percentage of vehicles to cause problems on our rides (close calls, buzzing, road rage, etc.)?

Yes, I've noticed. Also, Paul Hughes was killed in Bloomfield on route 189 by a pickup in 2014. I never heard what came of that. My guess is the driver got a pass, as usual. Anybody know?