EAGLE, Idaho — An Eagle driver who struck and killed a woman on a bicycle last year pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.
Mary A. Curtis, 71, is set for sentencing in January.
Investigators say Curtis was driving south on Edgewood Drive on the morning of Aug. 13, 2018 when she hit the cyclist, 71-year-old Joann Baker of Eagle. Baker had been riding across Edgewood near the crosswalk at Iron Eagle Drive when she was struck.
Baker, who was wearing a helmet, was rushed to a nearby hospital but died from her injuries later that day. The Ada County Coroner's Office determined that she had died from blunt force trauma, and ruled the death an accident.
Curtis told investigators that she had been looking at a school bus stopped on Iron Eagle Drive, and did not see Baker crossing the road until it was too late.
Cyclist hit by car on Edgewood Lane in Eagle
She was charged with vehicular manslaughter in November 2018. The charge is a misdemeanor because prosecutors determined that although Curtis had been driving in an inattentive or careless manner when the collision happened, she did so “without gross negligence and without malice.”
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Misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
