GoFundMe page created for cyclist killed in hit-and-run
Ignacio “Nacho” Kirzner
(CNS: Police have now identified the man who was killed when he was knocked off his bicycle on North Church Street in George Town early yesterday morning. Ignacio “Nacho” Kirzner (21), an Argentinian national, was riding to work at the Kimpton when he was hit by a vehicle and left in road at around 5:30am. Friends of the young man have now set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of returning Kirzner’s body to his home country. Police have already arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the incident. He is understood to still be in custody though no charges have yet been filed against him.
Category: Local News
For a country that is calls itself Christian and proudly talks about Cayman kindness, sure does not act that way.
Sorry, what is the airline… to fly to argentina. please write at the face to fly without cost
Jamaican drivers are uneducated and dangerous
OH! OH! 10:03am this one is “CAYMANIAN”, sorry to disappoint you. Good try though.
10:03am, crazy drivers. They bring their bad habits with them and are allowed to drive here as Taxis or Bus drivers. That’s one reason we have such a mess on the roads.
Well said 10.03 driving as well as social standards have gone to hell in the last few years of mass immigration from Jamaica .
And yet, 7;10am, most of the accidents are cause by young “CAYMANIANS” who do do even know the road code or cannot properly handle a motor vehicle. I am in a position to know this,trust me. You must not make statements when you don’t have the facts.
OMG?! Why is this about a Caymanian/Expat topic right now? It’s about a human being (who lost his life) heading to work on his bicycle XXXX. How heartless can someone be? An persons on here commenting about charity laws and all the BS. Clearly its not your loved one that’s why all this means nothing to you. Didn’t your parents teach you, ” if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”?
Condolences to Ignacio’s Family, Friends and work colleagues. RIP.
Re: “Anonymous says:
17/04/2019 at 8:22 am”
Expand your mind…if everyone just lost the ability to think rationally like you or like how you are suggesting….what a nightmare that would be…sorry friend…but society will always need problem solvers even if you think we just need emotional beings.
If you read all of the comments you will clearly see the outpouring of condolences and sympathy and justification for the topical and relevant questions and comments.
In regard to those criticizing that this is a expat vs. Cayman thing…welcome to reality in Cayman…it is always such an issue not just when it is convenient for expats….and I have news for you…the way Caymanians, Caymanian culture, the physical Cayman Islands are poorly treated there will be more outspoken Caymanians and less passive Caymanians to come!!!!
Unless and until Expat people learn to respect Caymanians and our country Caymanians should increasingly stand tall and oppose foreign or local oppression and disrespect.
For the record this Caymanian knows quite well that their are Caymanians who fight other Caymanians or act immorally. Caymanians are not perfect by any strech of the imagination or by virtue of being Caymanian but rest assured that as long as this Caymanian is breathing I will speak my mind freely when I see fit with the most respect I can.
The fact is there is a prevalence of racist expats making comments online on a daily basis and I will call it out without fear. Likewise I know Caymanians are guilty of it too. My hope is that both parties will stop using racism to attack people. If you disagree with an opinion just say it and justify it if you are capble of doing so…don’t resort to labeling Caymanians as stupid or members of a banana republic.
Once again R.I.P. to the young man and God bless his family and friends.
P.S. ***CNS*** Why is the Governor making yet more statements of opinion as per today’s Cayman Compass article in regard to the same sex marriage case. I don’t expect you to answer for him but perhaps you can explore the issue in regard to how appropriate it is in his position to appear to interfere or sway public and possibly officials’ opinion while such a high level case and national debate is going on???
Sincerely,
A concerned Caymanian
12.11pm I admire you for recognizing the expat v Cayman “thing” and I must admit it is becoming an ever increasing problem which we could all do without.
Having said this we must recognize that hit and run is far too common here and Caymanians are mostly involved, maybe because they are the majority, but this type of crime is particularly loathsome.
Re: “Say it like it is”
Thanks. I agree with you that we can all do without the racial or nationality conflict and hit and run offences are certainly horrible.
I suppose the reason people leave the scene is the fear of serious punishment especially when the victim is thought to be dead or dying.
As such situations leave alot of the responsibility on the driver who likely won’t think responsibly better road cameras may be needed on major roads for use retrospectively in regard to specific accidents while respecting other people’s right to privacy.
Aside from the above suggestion…it’s a complex issue which the community needs to decide how serious we are willing to get to avoid these tragic incidents.
Sincerely,
A concerned Caymanian
Condolences to the family,friends and coworkers of this young man, may he r,i,p. I think it is time that the Government and the A,G consider charging people who hit, run and cause death with murder as a deterrent.
The insensitive and uncaring comments featured here fills me with deep sadness. Grief is common to everyone … the one thing that brings us all to our kness. An atomic bomb has gone off in this young mans families lives and everything reduced to ashes. To speak in this manner without sympathy, to reduce the value of his life to nothing because he is an expat is shockingly cold and empty of all compassion. I pray that the Lord confort these people in the long confusing and lonely days and nights to come and heal their brokenness. For those who have no compassion.. be careful. Grief comes to all of us… sometine or another….. One day you will understand how they feel
dangerous driving is the problem.
solution: fit all cop cars with dash cams. and fine offenders in the post.(i know some laws need to be tweaked to do this…but get it done yesterday).
my dash cams records 100’s of incidents of careless / dangerous driving every day
Sending fines in the post will never work. The best way and bullet proof system is put outstanding traffic fines on DVLC system so next time you pay license fees..outstanding fines must paid first otherwise you can’t drive your car on the road. Otherwise they can argue with the judge at courthouse!
You couldn’t be more wrong. Automatic fines by mail do work. Providence Rhode Island raised $1.8mln in just 5 months after they automated tickets. If you are not paid up (with interest), your car doesn’t get relicensed. People learn quick when there is an inescapable deterrent. We’ve already got the RFID plates.
the Mail service here is shoty at best.
My condolences go out to his family, friends and colleagues.
On a related matter, this isn’t the first cyclist knocked down. There need to be more bike lanes, and perhaps a dedicated bike route from West Bay to at least Savannah, to try & separate space for bikes, from space for motorized vehicles. But the bike lanes need rules and regulations.
They need to be identified as a bike lane, with the internationally-recognized bike symbol painted on the road; bike lanes should be used in one direction – I’ve seen cyclists passing each other in the same lane; bike lanes are not for joggers or hash runners – yes, I’ve seen you on the Crewe Road bypass; bike lanes are not for pulling over your car to answer the phone, picking up someone from a nearby home, or for changing a tire, especially when there are better spaces to do this nearby; bike lanes are not for advertising boards – there’s one not far from the new Agnes Way roundabout, advertising land for sale. What were you thinking ? NRA should confiscate this signboard, or throw it back over the fence. And there are perhaps more ideas which could be put to use, to improve road user safety.
All of these things can be done with a little road-user education, and a lick of paint. With a $99M surplus, the govt can afford a few tins of paint, and some simple driver and cyclist tips in the Compass, to try and save lives. Surely there’s one MLA not on the bandwagon of religious fervor, who can champion road safety ? And to do it before we get to an election year ? They will get my vote when election comes.
I saw a police car pulled over in the cycling lane near the bridge going to west bay…over weekend…the male officer with dark complexion appeared to be on the phone with no emergency lights on and no accident there….it is very near where the poor guy died last year for the same reason…riding probably with head down and crashed into the car parked in the cycling lane…I wish I could have taken a photo but I was driving and phone was dead.
Also on a different note on Sunday this weekend passed 14 April in the afternoon a red Red Cross avalanche truck with a trailor was on the 7mile public beach way past the barriers all the way by the kids toys and cabanas….sadly the male driver drover over the new donated wheel chair pad which I guess is worth thousands of dollars and helps persons in wheel chairs enjoy the beach. There is even a cement monument there honoring the person who donated it. The driver even eventually parked the truck and trailor on half of the wheelchair access. Noone in a wheelchair could have passed at the time if they showed up. And people do actually use it because I saw a man in a wheelchair leave the beach using it before the Red Cross truck showed up. I felt so bad as a Caymanian seeing the blatant disegard for the property donated to help those in need that I finally couldnt take it anymore and I asked the driver if he was from Red Cross and he said yea. I told him with all due respect if someone takes a photo now the Red Cross truck on the wheelchair track it would look really bad…..instead of just being nice that I didnt accuse him of anything him and a female with him angrily disregarded me in a jamaican accent and she claimed she had permission to be there while he was more nervous and said yes thats why they were packing up the tables fast to get out of there. It was oobvious he couldn’t drive the truck good with the trailor and a person passing even said he cant drive. I guess he gave up and after running over the track several times decided to just park on it.
CNS please get some attention to the protection of this wheelchair track before it gets destroyed and all that is left is the monument. There was even a report last week on cayman 27 online of a tourist praising the wheelchair track there.
Sincerely,
A concerned Caymanian
CNS: Next time, could you get a picture and send it to us?
Ok CNS…will do in a safe legal manner…as they say a picture says a thousand words and is usually easier to believe than a comment. Thanks for your concern and interaction CNS. I by no means want to show the police or others in a bad light because there are good people working in such organizations and to be honest even these ones caught in the act may just be having a bad day…but yeh it is what it is…
Sincerely,
A concerned Caymanian
You are a concerned caymanian dingdong for not taking a photo nor calling the police to force him to move. This is why criminals are not caught because you do not do anything about it when you KNOW something.
WHY??? Help us to understand.
Some don’t even stop in the bike lanes to drop off / pick up people, they just stop. I’ve seen it on the bi-pass and just the other day between the DMS and Kings roundabouts where an idiot stopped to drop someone off into the central reservation. Some fool is going to get hurt by an innocent driver.
Please fine these numbnuts when you see them RCIPS.
But when do you actually see a police officer ? They are generally invisible until after an accident.
I never see bike riders riding in Bike Lanes.
Especially by the Kimpton.
Tickets for Bike Riders not using their designated lanes, they hold up traffic and confuse drivers before more lanes are added could be considered.
Probably because they would slam into parked cars in the bike lane… dillweed.
The only way the bike lanes will be safe to use is if there is a solid barrier between them and the road for cars; otherwise the muppet boy-racers just think the bike lane is there to make the road wider for them to cut the corners even finer.
100s of cities around the world have erected rumble bumps, bollards, and other mechanisms to keep people in their lane. We don’t need to pretend there are insurmountable new unique problems in the Cayman Islands, that haven’t already been solved elsewhere. Getting the bike stencil and a can of paint is the first job. The Triathlon Assoc. and other cycling groups should be calling Joey Hew and setting up a proper safety council with urgent action items.
yes, because those pictures of bikes in the lanes really help – have you been down to the Strand or Copper Falls on a Saturday? people seem to think the bike lane is for additional parking
And how many more on bikes are going to get hurt or killed before government and RCIPS actually do something that works? Just driving anytime on this island you see crazy drivers and no patrol cars. I’m sick of it and the traffic cops need to step the fork up.
RIP to this poor young man and sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Caymanians can’t start a GoFundMe though. We’re not listed as one of their distribution points. If you were born here you can’t start a GoFundMe. But anyone else can. Ain’t that some bullshit.
But you can contribute
Don’t worry your probably too lazy to ride a bike anyway. Just had to make it a Cayman-Expat issue didn’t you asswipe.
As a young man I traveled and work around the world and now as a Father and a little older these things hit harder then is use too.
Very sad, rest in peace.
As a person on a permit, isn’t his employer and or insurance responsible for returning him to his home country? Also isn’t it illegal under the Cayman Islands Charity law to solicit funds from the public without a charity license or registration? Guess the RCIPS and diligent cns will look into this and other Gofund me initiatives????
CNS: Actually some good questions. I’ll pass them onto Auntie.
GoFundMe is not a Cayman Charity therefore it is not governed by our Laws. Online businesses are not subject to the same policies.
You and the subsequent commentors are incorrect. The Cayman Islands Charity law covers any entity that wishes to solicit funds from the Cayman Islands public whether online or otherwise. Someone has since suggested a valid point that it is possible the fund isn’t geared towards Cayman residents…however the original comment in regard to this issue was based on the limited information provided in the article. Also as you can see from my post after my original questions…I expressed condolences to the victim’s family and friends. Furthermore if the question of at least insurance coverage was properly addressed by our society and insurance companies and the government these inevitable occurrences could be dealt with in a far better manner which helps the victim’s family. I would guess the unfortunate families would be much better off if mandatory insurance covered this scenario. Cayman has thousands of persons on permits…their families shouldn’t be left with such a financial burden and stress of trying to get their deceased member home. Likewise, adhoc gofundme initiatives are neither efficient nor accountable locally for persons who happen to donate.
Also, Cayman laws deserve no less respect than US laws. Hopefully the negative commentors will do something more positive like launch a request to the Legislative Assembly to address this insurance/immigration issue.
Sincerely,
A concerned Caymanian
Get lost.
Your freaking country has no basic consideration for the lives of expats who can’t afford a car. Your overpaid and underworked government can’t even comprehend that a public bus system is the way to solve many transportation problems.
That’s a strong statement and weird one at that. Are you suggesting we should import foreign labour and ensure the can safely walk and ride all the streets of Cayman?? Quite an expensive solution…may be cheaper to hire Caymanians. Why are persons being granted permits if they can’t afford the cost of living or have to depend on a bicycle for transportation to work or anywhere? I believe in safer roads and better public transport but Caymanians can’t afford to ensure that our roads are perfectly safe fore expats taking jobs locally. At the end of the day the roads need to be safer period but that being said adults have to take responsibility for the choices they make to work here and ride on the road in the current reality that exists. I know Cayman roads currently are not safe therefore I refrain from cycling or limit such road use. Government has done alot lately with pedestrian crossings and cycling lanes. There is only so much CI government can do. The US doesn’t have perfect roads.
These are Insensitive comments and questions and even if the questions are valid, I can’t imagine applying a different standard of sympathy for this tragic loss because he is on a work permit. Just shows where your head is. My heart goes out to the family and friends of this young man. May he Rest In Peace!
Thanks CNS. Respect. R.I.P to the young man. Condolences to his friends and family.
Sincerely,
A concerned Caymanian
A ridiculous, nasty comment. Go Fund Me is “offshore” of this island and couldn’t care less about the Cayman law you mention. It’s funny how what goes around comes around. (I won’t even address the crass comment about his body.)
Your comment made my blood boil.
Unless you contribute why do you care? People can spend, donate their own money the way they pleased. Cayman Islands Charity law has nothing to do with GoFundme.
People from all over the world donate money for a cause of their choice. Cayman has nothing to do with it.
Count money in your own pocket.
Your comment seems to lack compassion. Who is soliciting funds from the public? This is something that as far as I can tell has been put on Facebook and the only way one can see it is if someone you know shares the post. I can’t imagine that an employer would be obligated to cover this expense. Perhaps the fee the employer pays to immigration for repatriation? Regardless, as anyone who has lost a close family member knows, there are many unexpected expenses that can arise and perhaps those who have donated to the cause feel good about their donation and any way it can help with the expenses and difficulties this family faces in light of this terrible tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to all his family and loved ones.
Who said the campaign has started in the Cayman Islands?
People are free to spend/donate their own money the way they pleased. The Cayman Islands Charity law has nothing to do with GoFundme.
Even if his employer would pay the expense, people from all over the world could contribute as much as they want to. It is none of your business 12:58 pm,
unless you want to contribute.
Count money in your own pocket.
If you look on the go fund me page it is made from Brookfield, Wisconsin. Also not sure why it even bothers you that there is people from the public helping someone in a time of such tragedy. Shame on you.
and you can go SAD
Condolences to this young man family and friends.
The standard (aka inadequate) health program that so many expats and service industry folk are on only covers up to $2000 in body repatriation – see Cayman health law 2013. This is totally inadequate. I do hope his employer can step up and assist with some of the costs.
You sad, petty individual…
Its a US based web company so… kick rocks with flip flops.
DART, as owner of the employer, should (a) cover the expatriation costs, and as developer, (b) volunteer to fund and build new public bike lanes in acknowledgement of their cheapness and years of inaction on the Hyatt and tunnel eyesores. We need some bicycle stencils and some paint…how hard is this?!?
There’s stupid, then there’s your special kind of stupid.
shame on you @12:58pm!!!
How can you post such heartless comments? He has friends that care enough to start a fund to help with his return to his family… I have donated to a Gofundme account for a Caymanian as well! Everyone can donate money to any charitable cause! I’m sure the Kimpton will do something to help with this as well, but I can’t stop reading your comment without disgust! Where’s your sense of compassion?
As an expat i believe the govt is responsible to repat him back home? I might be wrong
It is his employer that is financially responsible. Not the Cayman govt.
Government happily collected his work permit fees.
It should be covered in the Death Benefit on required Health Insurance policy. The employer or DRCL might offer to fly his family up to collect him, that would be a nice extra gesture, given the exceptionally bad circumstances. But, don’t hold your breathe on DART doing special Argentine favours any time soon.
10:16am I see what you did there… True!!
I don’t know him personally but I feel such a loss. Poor guy and his family. May he rest in God’s peace. Absolutely ridiculous tragedy. And the one to have been easily avoided
Poor kid. 21 years old, and gone. It’s terrible, I really feel for his family.
He would have taken a bus had there been a reliable bus transportation system that starts at 5 am and runs on schedule.
Many expats would take a bus to and from work. Thousands.
He should also be safe cycling to work. I ride a bike to work, I like the freedom of a bicycle and enjoy the health benefits. The solution is not to remove the cyclists but to ensure their safety
What a senseless tragedy.
May God grant him eternal rest and may light perpetual shine on him. What a tragic situation. I can’t imagine what his family and friends and colleagues are going through right now. May he rest in peace.
Joey Hew: where are the bike lanes that the NRA committed to rolling-out island-wide years ago? How many more cyclists will need to die?
Bike paths son come, soon come…just as soon as I form a committee to study and determine if we need some! Just like the minimum wage committee will study why so many living below the poverty line! Reviews should be completed right before 2021 Elections!