The Springfield driver who killed bicyclist Kevin Bresler last Saturday may have been on his cell phone at the time, police say.
More from the Eugene Register-Guard article:
Kevin Cecil Bresler, 55, of Springfield was killed [December 9] as he rode his bicycle to work on Gateway Street south of Belt Line Road. Evidence and witness statements show that Bresler was in the northbound bike lane, obeying all traffic laws, when he was struck from behind about 9 p.m. by a full-sized Chevrolet pickup truck, Springfield police Sgt. Dick Jones said….
[The driver] stated that he may have been paying attention to a cell phone instead of the road at the time.
“This is the kind of thing that will finally get laws passed to eliminate (cell phones) as a factor in crashes,” Jones said. “You get on that phone, and it’s worse than drinking and driving.”
After fleeing, [the driver] parked his truck at a business on International Way, a few blocks north of the crash, Jones said. Oregon law requires that a driver involved in a crash stop as soon as reasonably possible and notify police. [The driver's] eventual surrender may not be enough for him to avoid hit-and-run charges, although that will be the district attorney’s decision, Jones said…
Bresler worked for Brothers Cleaning Services in Springfield. He was riding his bicycle to a job site when he was hit near the Super 8 Motel on Gateway. Bresler was born in Eugene and served in the Coast Guard. He leaves behind a brother and two sisters.
I am Kevin’s niece….he lived with me and my family (my mom-his sister- and my 3 sisters) for 16 years….not everything reported in the media was correct. We are still waiting to see if the DA will do anything about the guy who hit him. It’s been almost 4 months now, and they are still telling us that they are waiting on a toxicology report on Kevin (my uncle). He never drank let alone did any drugs. He ALWAYS wore a helmet, a bright reflective orange vest, had reflective lights and flashing lights all over him and his bike,-including on his fanny pack-and reflective wraps around his ankles to keep his pants away from the bike….he leaves behind more than just a brother and two sisters….Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him and miss him so much that it’s almost unbareable. This is about more than just “cell phone laws”