Bicyclist killed on River Road

Ok, I have stood by and watched people making all of these inaccurate accusations about Mr. Whitley. Jordan was an upstanding member of both Port City Community Church and Myrtle Grove Presbyterian Church and just recently received the honor of completing his Eagle Scout, he was also a very exceptional competitive surfer. See, this is what doesnt get told, Mr. Whitley was the only one at the scene who knew how to perform CPR and began CPR until others were able to get to him, and if you don't want to take my word for it ask the other 15 people who were there that day and saw the look in that young mans face and his parents. I do know the pastor of his church comes to see him a lot and everyone I've talked to says he has learned from his mistakes and began a new life walking with Christ... and not to mention, this young man was a straight A student, brilliant young man, with a lot of good things ahead of him. You are defining this young man by one minute of his entire life, look at the big picture here people. Everyone makes mistakes, EVERYONE, and have you seen the size of the bike lane on river road, well i took the liberty to measure it and it is 16 inches at the place of impact, that is shoulder length on an already narrow and dangerous road. The first person there said the bike actually swerved into the back of his car, he did not hit Mr. Tidmarsh head on. All of this media is so wrong and over hyped, again, I know this young man and no one may judge him except God. My condolences go out to the Tidmarsh family and everyone involved, and I can tell you, Mr. Whitley is not the same person he was before this wreck, he's in counseling once a week, and probably will never fully recover from such a trauma at a young age, and I have heard through the grapevine that all is not as seems in his toxicology report. THC stays in the system fro 30 days at least, but we'll have to wait and see what becomes of the morphine.

Phil touched each of us in a profound way. Should we not use this place to pay our respects? We're all deeply saddened by his loss. Would he really want us to pre-judge anybody? I think not. Phil was a good person. A man of reason. Thoughtful and had one hell of a spirit. I always felt we had meaningful, heartfelt conversations. His sense of humor will always stay with me. His sense of timing? Priceless! I thank God for allowing our paths to meet and even if it was just for a time, I'm glad he was part of my journey. My heart will always be filled with the many happy moments we shared and remains enriched by it. Thank you Phil. Until we meet again.

As I read all of the blogs on this page, I am astounded. So often, we are so quick to judge if you only stop and think...I am sure each and everyone of you have something in your past. Based on what has been published and on the news, NOTHING has been confirmed in reference to Jordan being impaired. All sources clearly state he was thought to be IMPAIRED, and they are awaiting the toxicology report. This is an extremly unfortuante event. I am extremely saddened for the family of Phil Tidmarsh. However, you should not be so quick to judge. Think of how quickly this young teenagers life was changed. I am praying for the family of Mr. Tidmarsh. We should all keep everyone involved in the accident in our prayers.

Oh yea, Mr. Whitley is a true winner. He has been charged with underage drinking a few times, a number of speeding tickets and reckless driving. Lock him away where he can't hurt another innocent person.

Similar to the deaths of "Kuntry & Kayla". The young man has a court date for 9/25 I see. That accident is aleady forgotten in our local news I guess.

Phil Tidmarsh was the name of the bicyclist killed by the teenage driver under the influence. Phil was a great friend and one heck of a talented rock drummer. I know because he was my bandmate in Jacob's Ladder, a tribute to the music of Rush. You can hear samples of his music at the websites listed here. He will be missed by all who knew him. www.myspace.com/jladdernc www.ncrushtribute.com

This man was my Uncle! My mother and my aunties youngest brother and my Nana's youngest son. One of six siblings he has been snatched from this world by someone who is self centered and neglects everything and everyone other than himself. This has resulted in the death of a kind hardworking considerate man and has caused significant grief to several families. Throw the book at this guy and it still isn't enough, we can never bring Phillip back as easy as this stupid boy took him away. God bless your soul Phillip Nigel x

I have been following this story, and there really hasn't been anything mentioned about any drug or what caused his impairedness. Did I miss something?? Why are some so qiuck to judge. The truth is he was impaired while driving don't really know what he was on, but he took someones life when he shouldn't have if he would have been a responceable young teenager. Truly there are few responceable teenagers out there I not saying that there are none just very few. When we all turned 18 we thought freedom from rules we are all grown up. Luckly some of the stuff I did as a responceable teenager (LOL) never gotten anyone hurt. I hope that WWAYtv3 keeps us up to date on this story, my guess is he will get a lite sentence.

Ok, for all of those who think it is a good idea to lower the drinking age back to 18 because these teenagers are so responsibile, just reference the story above. He is so responsible, that he drank alcohol, even though it is illegal at his age, and then he drove afterward, even though it is illegal and his judgement was impaired, and he killed a man. I am sure everyone in favor of lowering the age can give me numerous examples of why eightteen years olds should be able to drink legally, but it is cases like this that caused the movement to get the age raised in the first place. For the same reason that the insurances rates are higher until they turn 25, statistics bore out the facts that teenagers were getting drunk, driving, and killing themselves and others. When the drinking age was raised, these numbers dropped. Even though there are still examples like this one, if the age is lowered there would be even more. I'm old enough to remember when it was legal to drink at eightteen. It was all of the same arguments then, about being old enough to go to war, old enough to vote, etc. I remember the decrease in the number of bars and nightclubs in town, due to losing the below 21 crowd. The biggest thing I remember about teenagers who drank though was the fact that very few if any were responsible. For the most part, they were just drunk.