I just found out that Patrick appeared on the Dr. Phil show recently.
In November of 2005, Patrick was the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a member of BikeForums.net. That member went by the username of sydney. Yes, lowercase “s”. His real name was Jim Price, and he was known not just for his knowledge, but for being something of a cranky old man with not much patience for fools. I mean that in the nicest way. His harshest insult was to call a shop employee a “nosepicker”. While we didn’t always see eye to eye, he was a kind person, and had helped out several members with parts, and if I recall correctly, even a complete bike.
Needless to say, Patrick was vilified for his selfish actions (texting on his phone) that led to Jim’s death. But Jim’s family forgave him, and he has devoted a great deal of (court-ordered) time to speaking out to his peers about the dangers of distractions while driving. Nothing he can do will bring Jim back, but as he goes forward in his own life, Patrick has the potential to help spare more families from the anguish of the loss of a loved one.
I think sydney would have approved.
sydney was awesome and his senseless death was a real loss to a lot of people. He was crotchety at times, but he was honest and knew bikes.
I’m crotchety too at times BTW, so I don’t mean it as a real insult, and we’ve all met a few “nosepickers” at the LBS.
I guess it was good that the responsible person went on Dr. Full of Himself, but if it is court ordered it’s like buying one of those dolled up Walmart bikes.
Paul, I don’t disagree. But I think that this kid is pretty earnest in getting his message across. He could have been ended up picking up trash like Boy George, but instead he’s doing something that will hopefully bring positive results. I’m not sure if he has fulfilled his legal obligation, but I got the impression that he has, and this was outside of that. And I’m pretty sure that plenty of parents made their teens sit down and watch that show.
While most teens think they’re invincible, perhaps some will see themselves differently now, and realize they don’t want to end up like Patrick.
I am Patrick’s aunt and I just wanted to let you know that Patrick has fulfilled his court obligations before he went to the Dr. Phil show. He continues to speak at schools and such for no fee or any type of court ordered necessity. He takes what happen very seriously and it is very important to him that other teens hear his message and do not make the same mistake he did.