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Spdkls
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:19 am: | 
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we need more laws like the europeans have. if you hit a cyclist or a motorcycle/moped. its over for you. i'm not exactly sure about the details of each offense, but i remember my uncle in italy telling me about one of my friends that was killed while training up in the mountains in cycling. he was doing a downhill run after a brutal climb to the top. he was moving at about 45-50 mph on a tight road. the driver was going up to the top doing the speed limit or slower because its tight up there in northern italy. the driver never saw him coming around the corner and my friend was not in his lane, which a road that small can have any lanes. anyways the driver got 10 years for failing to yield and of course loss of license. technically it was my friends fault for trying to fly down the mountain, but because it was a known training climb area "motorist are supposed to be aware and attentive." apparently at sentencing the judge told the driver that he possibly could have killed the next champion. my friend was 17 at the time. this was 20 years ago. thats how seriously the italians take cycling.
i felt bad for the driver cause he was doing everything right, but since that accident there has only been 2 more since. so i guess it got peoples attention. maybe we should do that here. more attention getting
sorry for the long story, but it seemed pertinent! |
Lost_in_ohio
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:36 am: |
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old....I was referring to the post that started the thread. There is no indication it was anything other than an accident.
Drunks.....there should be no quarter for them. I personally believe they should never be permitted to get a license, insurance or register a vehicle. Furthermore anyone who allows them gets the same penalty.
How many of us are accessory's to the crime? Friends, coworkers or family members who drink and drive, whose problem is it? It is a tough and very unpopular question. It is easy to be righteous on the internet, and all but impossible at the bar or party.
Personal responsibility. |
Court
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:39 am: |
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Personal responsibility should be. |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 01:05 am: |
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Sometimes shit just happens. Was this lady speeding? Yep. Absolutely.
Was he? Don't know.
Do you speed? I do/have.
Have you done more than 60 over the speed limit? I have.
Based upon the facts of the case and based upon federal sentencing guidelines, the guilty plea of involuntary manslaughter is correct:
http://www.ussc.gov/2001guid/2a1_4.htm
We may not like the sentence handed down, but it met the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
This lady will have to report on every application for every job, every contract, every line of credit that she is a convicted felon. Does not equal the life of the rider, but it also seeks to reduce the impact to the children of the mother.
There are no winners here.
My uncle is a great guy. There is not a person on this board who wouldn't like him. He was traveling on a dark country back road. He came around a curve and hit and killed a motorcycle rider who was pushing his bike and walking on the edge of the road surface. He didn't see him until it was too late.
He wasn't drunk. He wasn't driving recklessly. He didn't fall asleep. Shit just happened.
He also had the misfortune to accidentally kill his friend with a baseball bat. He was playing in a softball league. While at bat, he swung and broke his wooden bat. The bat end shard shot down the baseline and impacted his friend in the neck. His friend bled out while my uncle watched. Shit just happens.
He carries both of these events with him to this day.
Harsher penalties wouldn't have changed any of the events of this story. If she had served 7-10 years, would anyone feel better? Would we really feel that justice had been served? Would anyone else's behavior have been changed?
I guess I just don't see a perpetrator and a victim but rather a group of survivors around a tragic decision and outcome with no winners and lot of losers.
Lastly, if a motorcycle rider killed a family in a minivan, would we feel that stiffer laws for motorcycle riders are needed? Caps on horsepower? Caps on displacement? |
Igneroid
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 11:26 am: |
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There is justice and there is revenge. The line between the two can get blurred when you are personally involved. The revenge thing can ruin your life if you let it. No one goes "after" the big rock that broke loose above the highway and killed your loved one, but they do go "after" the idiot behind the wheel who did the same thing. I know this sounds simplistic but working towards fixing the situation that caused the death/injury as in "removing loose rocks above the highway" or "giving your drunk buddie a ride home" is much better for the injured soul then personal venndettas against rocks or bad ass drivers.
Just my opinion... |
Knotrider
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 05, 2008 - 07:37 pm: |
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If the founding fathers could see this sniveling mess of a country, they would be sick to their stomachs. The one thing freedom isn't is free. As for the drunk drivers killing people...what about the sober ones...what's their excuse ? |
Mr_gto
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 03:02 am: |
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The kids here in East Tn who tossed the rock of a bridge for "a little redneck fun" are pretty much getting off scott free for killing a lady. Know why? Some scumbag lawyer is pleading the case that the rock is not considered a destructive devise. Ask the police officer who arrived first on the scene or the family in the ladies van that couldnt figure out where her head was to give her cpr because her it was unrecognizable if a rock is a destructive devise. Whatever happened to right and wrong? People say, O both families are affected, i say i dont give a f@#% about the kids that tossed that rock or their families. They gave their rights when they had their "redneck fun". You say, well the kids have to live with this forever, i say let them live with it forever in jail! |
Buellerandy
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 08:53 am: |
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Ever see the movie "sleepers"? |
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