Charge Against Student Upgraded in Bicyclist’s Death

Raleigh, N.C. — A North Carolina State University junior now faces a felony death by motor vehicle charge in connection with a fatal a fatal accident involving a bicyclist.

Nancy Antoine Leidy, 60, died Wednesday evening after she was struck by a Ford F-150 pickup truck that Brian Anthony Reid, 21, was driving, police said.

Reid, a junior from Graham, was charged Wednesday afternoon with one count each of driving while impaired, felony assault by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed.

The felony assault by motor vehicle charge was dropped Thursday with the understanding that a more serious charge was pending.

Reid, who was out of jail on a $10,000 bond, surrendered to authorities Thursday. He was released that afternoon on a $25,000 bond. He is expected to be in court at 9 a.m. Friday.

According to court records, Reid, registered a .12 in an alcohol breath test and admitted to police that he had been drinking when he struck Leidy at the intersection of Nazareth Street and Crusader Drive. Authorities said he had been celebrating his 21st birthday.

Leidy was taken to WakeMed shortly after 11 a.m. with serious injuries and died 7:45 p.m..

Friends said Leidy was a runner and had recently started biking. Police said she was obeying traffic laws.

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In response to a previous post about the dangerous bike path crossing at the intersection of Western, Nazareth, and Crusader....It IS very dangerous, but this accident did NOT happen at the intersection. It happened about halfway between Centennial and Crusader/Western on Nazareth. It was just past the crest of the small hill on Nazareth. This is just straight roadway...No difficult intersections. The orange paint the police put down is still on the road, and it shows the place of impact, and the place the truck stopped afterwards.

I'm not sure why WRAL doesn't know this? It is directly outside their studios!

micah
April 25, 2008 2:52 p.m.

Bicyclists have the same rights on the road as cars (except on limited access highways). Drivers need to be more respectful of bicyclists especially since a lot more of us will be riding bikes as gas prices go up.

Maybe if he wasn't driving a huge gas-guzzler he may have been able to avoid hitting her. Large vehicles are harder to control during evasive maneuvers. They don't have tight, precise handling, and they're top heavy. That may have contributed to what happened on top of everything else.

robertofthecats
April 25, 2008 11:35 a.m.

"Stop congratulating yourself on your sober driving while cruising I40 at 80mph on your cell phone."

You're right, independent_thinker! There are a lot of self-righteous comments posted...

You're also right, hurley_girle13. I do not know this kid and I know from my own experience that it's easy to get and drink alcohol when you're underage, so he very well could have had an addiction. But nevertheless, that is still not the point, as many of the people making comments have made it out to be.

This is very tragic for the victim, her family, and even the kid...I hope that some good will come out of this devastating tragedy.

iluvwilmy
April 25, 2008 10:54 a.m.

why is this still open for comment

tiredofgovtwaste
April 25, 2008 10:42 a.m.

LongWolf72... yes, I know that speed is a greater killer than alcohol on NC roads; however, the central issue of the to which these posts are directed was not speed but alcohol. Speed was apparently not a factor in this tragedy (except to consider that the young man should NOT have been moving). There are many related causative factors in highway deaths and injury... speed, alcohol, other drugs (some legal), inexperienced new teens, diminished capacity elders, "multi-tasking" while driving... talking on phone, texting, reading, personal hygiene activity, etc., etc., etc. My focus was on alcohol because that was the prime causative factor of the death in the news story. I agree that alcohol is far from being the "lone culprit"... I very much "understand the data". NC laws are "tough", but all laws including NC's could be "tougher"... yet laws are not the panacea for this problem. That is why I state that our best minds must work to find a solution... and it must be multi-faceted.