Action News 5 - Memphis, TennesseeMemphis man receives $25 fine for striking jogger

(WMC-TV) - A Memphis jogger is outraged at the sentence levied against the man who struck him with his car before crashing into a house.

For Austin Selby it's been a long road to recovery.

"It's been real painful," he said. "I wasn't on my feet for three months. I was in a wheelchair until March."
 
The driver of the car that struck Selby, Joshua Woods, has since been slapped with a $25 dollar fine in court for failure to exercise due care, and had his license suspended in connection with the accident. But Shelby doesn't believe that punishment is enough.

"He's out walking around now without much punishment really," Selby said. "He just needs to realize that he needs to take the opportunity by the horns and use it and not do something stupid like this again."

The incident happened on Dec. 9th, 2010, while Selby was taking his usual six-mile run around Central Avenue. According to police, Woods was going nearly 70 miles per hour when he struck Selby, and then crashed his car into the porch of a nearby home.  

Selby broke several bones in one of his legs and shoulder. Investigators believe Woods may have been texting at the time of the crash.

"You start thinking okay, maybe he was just texting or maybe he did fail to exercise due care," Selby said. "Well, what does that tell you about how the city of Memphis and District Attorney feel about the safety level of pedestrians in this city?"
 
According to Selby, Woods appeared to be drunk during the accident, however the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office says the case for DUI fell short after Wood's blood test was negative for intoxicants.
 
While Selby's love and passion for running has been put on hold, he hopes to be back on his feet soon.
 
"We're not angry at the actual individual," he said. "That time has passed, but am pretty upset that justice didn't seem to be really just this time."

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