Number of cyclists the driver killed in Davie: 2. Number of days she’ll spend in jail: 0
The driver who told Davie police the morning sun was among the reasons she hit several cyclists, killing two, on a 2018 morning didn’t receive jail time when sentenced Thursday.
Plantation resident Nicole Vanderweit’s punishment after pleading no contest to careless driving: a six-month suspension of license, $1,090 fine and four hours of defensive driving school.
Vanderweit, 34, killed Weston’s Denise Marsh, a 53-year-old office manager and mother of two, and Hollywood 62-year-old Carlos Rodriguez, a father and Walgreens manager, and put three other riders in the hospital on Nov. 25, 2018. As she drove east on State Road 84 near Southwest 148th Avenue, Vanderweit struck several members of the also-eastbound Cycling Family Broward group on their Sunday morning ride.
Marsh died at the scene. Rodriguez died two days later.
Davie police said Vanderweit told them she was distracted by something in the car and blinded by the sun. They quickly ruled out speed or alcohol as factors in the crash.
The 26-page traffic accident report on the Broward County court website has been put being a Confidential wall instead of being part of the easily accessible public record.
In courtroom video posted by WPLG-Channel 10, Rodriguez’s son, Danny Rodriquez, told Broward County Court Criminal Division Judge Olga Levine, “Nothing will ever bring my father back. to us. But, the way it was handled really feels like a slap to our face. Like, the lives didn’t even matter.”
Vanderweit, who was frantic on post-accident 911 calls released by Davie police as reported by Herald news partner WFOR-Channel 4 and several other outlets, left the courthouse Thursday weeping, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”
Vanderweit’s previous driving record was marred only by a $292 ticket for going 45 mpg in a 25 mph zone in Broward County. Her previous criminal record includes only a no contest plea to a petit theft charge from May 2019. She paid a $293 fine and is banned from the Publix at 6921 W. Broward Blvd.
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 10:28 AM.
