Kentucky Mom Prevails Against Cops Who Criminalized Her Bike Commute

This week in Kentucky, a judge held up the right of a single mom to ride her bike to work, after she was ticketed three times by local law enforcement for “reckless driving.”

Cherokee Schill was ticketed three times for riding her bike to work in Kentucky. This week a judge ruled in her favor. Image: WKYT
Cherokee Schill was ticketed three times for riding her bike to work in Lexington, Kentucky. This week a judge ruled in her favor. Image: WKYT

The defendant, Cherokee Schill, told Jessamine County Judge Janet Booth that she bike commutes 18 miles to her job at an auto parts manufacturer out of financial necessity. The commute takes her along some of the busiest roads in the Lexington area.

Schill told WKYT she suffers abuse from drivers, but that the commute has helped her lose weight and keep food on the table for her two children.

But the Jessamine County Sheriff’s Office argued Schill’s biking poses a danger to herself and drivers.

“It just creates a very dangerous situation when you’ve got somebody on a bike that’s difficult to see to begin with, on a very highly traveled road, with significant speeds and a lot of people don’t pay attention to what they should be while driving, so it all compounds itself,” Jessamine County Attorney Brian Goettl argued. One police officer said he’d almost hit Schill with his car.

But under Kentucky law, bikes are legal vehicles. Judge Booth has sided with Schill, WKYT reports, and she plans to continue bike commuting.

“I’m just trying to get home like everyone else, and I’m going as fast as I can,” she told the television station. “Some days I can go faster than others. The really big thing is, we all need to share the road.”

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  • GardenGnome

    Shame she was arrested. I know as drivers we get angry over the smallest things sometimes, but because of this case I will never again feel impatience when driving behind a bike. Cars are huge and can kill her easily, but she is following the rules and people just have to slow down, you know with those things called BRAKES. Sorry that it sucks to drive slow when you could be driving faster, but be glad you have a working car to begin with. I admire anyone that bikes 75 minutes to and from work. I can’t imagine the willpower to get up as early as she does and bike that far to work every single day. There are so many single mothers capable of working that resort to welfare, food stamps and drugs, yet this strong, independent lady is now in jail because of this nazi country that prioritizes oil money over human lives. Just because the majority are against something, does not mean it is right.

  • GardenGnome

    Because you are awful. One day you could be hit by a car while driving and have your neck snap. See if that makes your day.

  • Andy Ginger Wilson

    If I’m biking down a road 50,000 cars go down everyday at 60mph and I get hit by a car…. that’s pretty much on me.

  • Andy Ginger Wilson

    That’s right, Cars are huge and can kill her easily. She needs to speed up and go with the flow of traffic or get out of the way. This isn’t a small road, and asking thousands of people to be patient because one person doesn’t want to ride on the shoulder (which many people do) is unreasonable.

  • Bill Davis

    She claims the CA wants to make her an “example during an election year.”
    Truth- The current County Attorney is running unopposed.
    She claims that everyone harasses and bullies her.
    Truth- She bullies and harasses motorists and there is video she recorded showing this.
    She claimed that she had to commute to work. Now that she is no longer working thanks to her GoFundMe account, she claims she is going to school.
    Truth- She is using the GoFundMe account for her own personal expenses. Her Defense Attorneys worked pro-bono, meaning that they would only be paid if she won. Guess what people, she lost and you’re still donating money.
    Local cyclists do not condone the way she has gone about this.This is because local cyclists know her and know the other legal issues she has had outside of the cycling world. Out of town cyclists have made her their poster child for injustice not realizing that they have a con-woman for a representative. Congrats on giving away your hard earned money. She has said repeatedly that she could care less about you supporters. This is about her and only her. She cares about noone but herself.
    Jessamine County is a great place to live. She has stated this herself and she has stated that her children love it here. Get a clue out of state people! There is more to the story than what you see in her smoke and screens, but you are too biased to understand that so keep on sending the money. As long as you do that, she won’t have to work. The only reason she is not one of the motorists that you cyclists hate, is because her license is suspended and she cannot get it back.

  • Cherokee Schill

    Bill Davis is a slanderer put in place by the Assistant County Attorney Eric Wright.

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