Georgia Trooper not indicted in biker's death

[RandyR]

In yesterday's Dahlonega, GA newspaper, The Nugget.

 

"Trooper not indicted in biker's death".

 

A local motorcyclist was recently killed as he returned from a friend's funeral by a GA State Patrol car making a U-turn on Hwy 129 to go after a speeder.

 

The DA said "He was doing his job, he turned on his lights, he made the Uturn, he didn't see the individual".

[a1bummer]

Why does it seem that so many "authority figures" get to live by a whole different set of standards than the general public does?

[ediddy]

The family still needs to sue the GA State Patrol.

[Guest seuadr]

Why does it seem that so many "authority figures" get to live by a whole different set of standards than the general public does?

oh no, " i didn't see him " are the legal magic words for not getting in serious trouble for killing someone on a motorcycle.

 

doesn't matter if you were painting your toenails while eating with one hand, plucking your eyebrows between bites and talking on a cell phone while texting on your blackberry.. as long as you didn't see them, you will get a BS ticket like " failure to yield " or " failure to slow down to prevent an accident "

 

meanwhile one of us is injured or worse. it's absolute BS.

 

i've read 5 or 6 articles in the last few weeks alone where drivers obviously in the wrong got off fatal accidents by saying " oops ".

 

like the fellow in canada that crossed the median and killed a rider comming the other way.. his response? he was mucking with the radio and didn't mean to. boom, not even manslaughter.

 

i don't know why as motorcyclists we've lost the right to legal charges against those who would injure or kill us, but it sure seems that way these days.

[juggler]

I didn't see the pedestrian as I sped off with my lights an sirens!!! No difference - the office is still criminally liable. At least they would be in MN. Here is it no excuse or safe guard to say you had your lights and sirens on. It is still the officers responsibility to make sure he is driving safely and does not hit anyone!

 

[BoomerCPO]

Last year a friend of mine was hit from behind while stopped at a red light. The gal was chatting on her cell phone of course! His scoot was totaled and he spent weeks in a Hospital recovering. The cage driver was given a minor citation and drove home while the rider was being transported to the Hospital via ambulance.

 

He got himself a good lawyer and sued the hell out her. Ended up with a brand new Goldwing and all Hospital bills and Doctor fees paid in full. Her Insurance Co. is now pressuring him for a final settlement....and he's telling them to pound sand. His medical problems could last for years and it is very doubtful that a final settlement would come close to covering all his medical expenses,loss of wages,and suffering.

 

Bikers seem to have little interest in staging mass rally's to lobby Legislators for tough laws in holding cage drivers accountable for their own stupidity on the road.

 

Boomer........who wonders how most folks lose their common sense when they drive a vehicle.......and how many bikers have to die before the stupid are held accountable.

[chabicheka]

:The DA said "He was doing his job, he turned on his lights, he made the Uturn, he didn't see the individual".

 

 

 

let me see here.....if a bus driver who is "doing his job" driving the bus causes an accident....he is not liable for it. hmmmmmm :bang head:

 

oh...forgot a little technicality...he has to have his lights on!

 

anyone know where i can buy those flashing lights?

Edited May 28, 2009 by chabicheka

[Lobo Hurfiano]

If m/c's were required to carry a case of dynomite,cagers would pay a little more attention.

[dynodon]

death due to traffic accidents lead to some of the most unfair results in court.

 

A friend of mine had his son killed by a DRUNK driver going the WRONG WAY on an interstate at high speed.

 

This person ALMOST got away without any jail time, and has tried to blame the poor kid on the accident. The victim was sober, driving legally in all respects, did nothing wrong. He was about to graduate college, had a great future, was about to have his first kid (was married, not just sleeping around) and had a great family to support him on both sides. He was cut down by a REPEAT DUI offender, and still she spent only a few months in jail. I hear she will be getting out this summer after less than a year in jail for killing someone!

 

And again, she is still blaming the victim. Sad. Not motorcycle related, but still I needed to vent some after hearing she is getting out. She should have been charged with manslaughter or worse. She is complaining about how my friends son ruined her life! How can this person exist? She KILLED this person who was going to contribute in a very positive way to life in this world. She is a stripper or something, that is a drunk and repeat DUI offender. Now a murderer. She will be out on the roads ready to kill more people if we don't do something about laws for drivers.

 

Sorry, rant mode off.

[Snarley Bill]

i think the key word here is accident. the officer was doing his job and made a mistake which i'm sure he deeply regrets. we all make mistakes it's called human error. i doubt if he was on the phone or eating a burger. i have made a few misjudgements in my life that could have killed someone. it is a shame that fatal accidents happen. some are do to neglegence, and some are do to the fact that we are not machines and are capable of error that can often times cause a major disaster. just my 2 cents. bill

[CdnDave77]

I had to chime in due to an event that happened to me on my way into work this morning:

 

I was approaching an intersection in my cage (raining lightly) where only my direction had the stop signs. The cross road is a very busy two-lane country road at that time of the morning. As I get within 50 feet of the stop sign, I notice a driver on the cross-road from my right slowing and signalling for a left turn (thus turning onto my road right in front of me). I continue to slow as I approach the stop. The oncoming vehicle begins to turn onto my road.. cuts it way too sharp, enters MY lane and head right for my grill ! At the last second, the driver pulls hard to her right, and sends the SUV she was driving into the ditch on the opposite side of the road.

 

I put on my 4-ways, get out, approach her vehicle, and ask if she is ok. She is... and really no damage to the vehicle.

 

The first words out of her mouth ? "I didn't see you !"

 

Ok. Time for more information : I was driving my truck, a black Dodge Ram Quad Cab 4x4, with the headlights and fog lights on (therefore 4 very bright lights). The truck also has 35" tires, so it sits fairly high. Nothing but very low crops in fields on either side of me. How could she not see a vehicle easily twice the size of hers that had 4 bright lights...

 

Within 5 minutes a passing cop stops, radios for a tow truck, takes my statement. My truck was still parked where it had been, about 10 feet back from the stop sign. He even shakes his head at her comment about not seeing me... but when I ask if she is going to be cited for anything, he says "No... why ?".

 

I simply stated "I just as easily could have been on my motorcycle, and you'd be lifting that SUV off my body and informing my widow. That's why". He still didn't get it. I just walked away and went to work.

 

If they would simply apply the laws that we have in place, maybe it would be a little safer out there.

[Pic]

This is one reason to join an organization like the AMA or ABATE. They and other motorcycle organizations are working on getting legislation passed at State levels as well as National levels to make stiffer penalties for incidents like these. They also work on issues such as motorcycle awareness to the public and education. Even though I might not agree with everything they do or stand for the majority is very important to me.

 

There is strentgh in numbers.

[chabicheka]

i think the key word here is accident. the officer was doing his job and made a mistake which i'm sure he deeply regrets. we all make mistakes it's called human error. i doubt if he was on the phone or eating a burger. i have made a few misjudgements in my life that could have killed someone. it is a shame that fatal accidents happen. some are do to neglegence, and some are do to the fact that we are not machines and are capable of error that can often times cause a major disaster. just my 2 cents. bill

 

agree with every word you saying bill....but us ornery folks face consequences when WE do it. try using the above argument when you cause an ACCIDENT and see if the judge sympathizes with your argument.

[juggler]

In MN they are starting to treat death by drunk drive as 2nd degree murder. There has been one case I know of that they did this in. They also made it a felony for your 3rd DUI in 10 years. The trick is keeping the DA from pleading the case down to something other than a DUI.

 

The general mentality in this Nation seems to be this:

 

Being drunk is a valid excuse for killing someone with your car.

Killing a motorcyclist is just fine as long as you didn't see them.

Killing a puppy is 15 years in jail mandatory.

[juggler]

agree with every word you saying bill....but us ornery folks face consequences when WE do it. try using the above argument when you cause an ACCIDENT and see if the judge sympathizes with your argument.

 

The fact is this wasn't just an accident. The trooper made a u-turn in traffic and killed someone. U-Turns by default put you at fault if there is an accident. Having lights and sirens makes no difference other than the trooper MUST be even more careful since he will most likely be driving in a way that is illegal for the rest of us.

[dave_wells]

I found this today after reading this post

 

http://www.wimp.com/cooltest/

[loehring]

I found this today after reading this post

 

http://www.wimp.com/cooltest/

I wish that would make it on US TV.

[MiCarl]

i think the key word here is accident. the officer was doing his job and made a mistake which i'm sure he deeply regrets. we all make mistakes it's called human error. i doubt if he was on the phone or eating a burger. i have made a few misjudgements in my life that could have killed someone. it is a shame that fatal accidents happen. some are do to neglegence, and some are do to the fact that we are not machines and are capable of error that can often times cause a major disaster. just my 2 cents. bill

 

Agreed. He quite possibly is civilly liable. That doesn't mean a crime was committed.

 

We all make mistakes, that doesn't make us liable for a crime.

 

Some of you know a 16 year old girl ran a stop sign four weeks ago and I hit her on my Venture at about 40mph. Fortunately my injuries were minor, and the Venture will be back on the road day after tomorrow.

 

A week after the crash I was speaking on the telephone with the girls mother (who paid for my damages even though under Michigan law she is only liable for the first $500). She told me that her daughter was very upset, and burst into tears when she realized it was me on the phone. The daughter had sworn to never drive again.

 

I asked to speak to the daughter. I explained to her that just a week earlier I was in a strange place, lost (as she was) and ran a red light. I wouldn't even know I did it if my wife wasn't with me to give me hell. As I explained to her, the only difference between what she did and I did is in my case there wasn't someone coming the other way.

 

None of us is perfect. We make mistakes and accidents happen.

 

BTW, driving drunk (which I bet most of us have done at least once) is an entirely different matter.

[Venturous Randy]

I am trying to be nice here, but I am one of those people that does not believe in accidents. To imply someone had a crash due to them not being diligent enough to observe what is going on around them is not an accident, no matter how much they did not mean to do it. If a cop does a u-turn into a motorcycle and said sorry, I was obeying state laws and the laws of physics do not apply to me, something is really wrong. I am not trying to bash LEO's, but I have seen many cases of "target fascination" where all their focus is on the person they are going after, and they rely on their lights and sirens to take care of getting everyone out of the way, whether these people are able to or not.

We had a case locally a couple of years ago where an ambulance went thru a red light with lights and sirens on and t-boned a car in the intersection. The driver of the ambulance was convicted of manslaughter due to the crash.

RandyA

[juggler]

I wish that would make it on US TV.

 

 

This commercial IS running in MN.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xMfk1msw9A]YouTube - Look twice for motorcycles US version[/ame]

Edited May 30, 2009 by juggler

[SapperMedic]

Here in San Antonio, they had a fire truck that was leaving a restaraunt to respond to a call. When they got to the scene there was a wheelchair imbedded in the front of the fire truck....They said they didn't see anything or hear anything. dead handicapped lady

 

New Year's Eve got off to a tragic start. Police tell News 4 San Antonio firefighters ran over and killed a woman in a wheelchair. It happened as night fell Monday night at the intersection of Marbach and Horel - just outside of Loop 410.

News 4 has learned that the fire department brush truck was on its way to a call. The truck pulled out onto Marbach, and when it got to Loop 410 and Highway 90, firefighters noticed sparks coming from under the truck.

They pulled over and realized they were dragging a wheelchair. About that time, a call came in for a woman who had been hit at the intersection they'd just left.

That's when everybody put two and two together, realizing the fire truck had hit that woman in a wheelchair. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her name has not been released

[a1bummer]

Killing a puppy is 15 years in jail mandatory.

 

I ended up in court years ago for simply swatting a cat while it was tearing up one my plants. $138.00 for improper discipline!

 

I asked the judge where they had been when my dad was beating the snot out of me and my mother all those years while growing up.

Edited June 2, 2009 by a1bummer

[pegscraper]

This commercial IS running in MN.

 

 

That commercial should be running everywhere.

[kenw]

Good commercial, wish they showed it in Georgia!!!!

[starman]

Doing your job and doing .your job safely are two different things. He was being unsafe being in to much a hurry to catch some one going 6mph over speed limit its not that important . A persons lifeis not worth a speeding ticket