wow, this is crap!
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 310
Likes: 0
From: Northampton
I got stopped at a DUI checkpoint coming home from work one night last summer. I'm 36 and it was actually the first check point I had ever seen in person in my life. I was on my bike so of course I was told to stop so they could check me out.
I don't drink at all so I was clean. My parting words were "I hope you catch some ******** tonight" and the cop responded with, "I always do." That was on a podunk cornfield road outside of Nazareth Pa! Cant imagine how bad it is in a highly populated area.
I have zero love or respect for anyone caught with a DUI. My wife goes out and has a few drinks once in a while. I told her not to call me if she ever gets popped for it. It's a completely avoidable crime and we've lost too many people due to it.
I don't drink at all so I was clean. My parting words were "I hope you catch some ******** tonight" and the cop responded with, "I always do." That was on a podunk cornfield road outside of Nazareth Pa! Cant imagine how bad it is in a highly populated area.
I have zero love or respect for anyone caught with a DUI. My wife goes out and has a few drinks once in a while. I told her not to call me if she ever gets popped for it. It's a completely avoidable crime and we've lost too many people due to it.
It is sad how the judges and politicians work the system. I am in law enforcement and I do a lot of DWI arrests, its what I enjoy the most. I see it so much when I go to court. The defendant blew a BAC of .200 or .250 or .134 etc and when he goes to court, they reduce the BAC to a lower number, therefore allowing him to avoid jail time, and then give him 180 days, suspends 173 of them and then the final 7 are unsupervised probation. If you dont know, based on your BAC determines what length of jail sentence you will face. Hence why they reduce the BAC. Its sad. They do this for first and second offense. In Louisiana 3rd offense is a Felony. I have yet to go to court for a Felony one, but I will not be surprised when I do go and they reduce it like they do for 1st and 2nd. It's the same thing for so many other crimes. They reduce the crime down and then that allows a lesser sentence and in return less or no jail time. As a police man, it can be discouraging to make the arrests and then have the judge slap you (the cop) in the face by reducing the crime so the defendant can avoid jail time. I dont let it discourage me because I know by me arresting them for the night, they will not kill once of my fellow officers sitting at the red light, my family or some innocent person coming home from work. On the other hand, I know of many officers that have made DWI arrests, gone to court and seen the outcome and get discouraged and say why waste my time when its not going to go anywhere when it gets to court. As we all know, the drunk driver walks away without a scratch and the innocent person leaves in a body bag. If they start sticking to what the criminal code books tell you, these crimes that are committed by everyday people would go down. People would reconsider driving a vehicle when they know they cant walk straight, are tripping over themselves, etc when they know if they get caught, they WILL face jail time. I know that some people will still do it regardless and have the mentality of you have to catch me, but I believe it will reduce a lot. My personal opinion is 1stOffense, your jail time is the time you spend in booking and processing and you will have the classes and community services that goes along with the suspended sentence. Everybody deserves a chance to redeem themselves because we all make mistakes. Second offense you are spending some nights in jail plus the fines, fees and community service. It amazes me when I arrest people for 4th or 5th offense and their drivers license is still valid. Sorry for my rant, but its just something that I take very personal and I wish more people would understand how serious of a crime DWI is. I have been lucky and have not had to deal with the loss of a family member from a drunk driver, but I have seen the damage that is done when somebody is drunk or intoxicated and driving on several occasions. All it will take is for a judge or politician to have their family member killed by a drunk driver for them to start throwing the books at them. Rank is over!
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,308
Likes: 9
i totally agree that texting while driving should be classified as a DUI...just like alcohol or pot. the fact remains that the guy would have probably gotten the same sentence if he had been drunk and smoking dope when he killed the rider. the laws are not going to change unless a hell of a lot of peopled get off their butts and raise hell or vote out their elected officials, and elect someone that is willing to pass some laws with teeth in them.
so, let's start right here...form a political action group from the members of this forum. elect some officers and charge dues. all funds will go toward getting more meaningful laws and punishments implemented. find some candidates that think like we do and back them in their run for public office. yes, i know about abate and the ama. HOG and the moco need to join this fight...we need to demand more from them. a few bucks from every membership and a few bucks from every new harley sold goes to the political action committee. obviously this will have to be run thru some other organization than this forum...maybe some sort of spin-off. HDForums does a lot for us now, and they would need to be left out of this. they have a business to run and sponsors to keep happy. taking back our country has to start somewhere.
so, let's start right here...form a political action group from the members of this forum. elect some officers and charge dues. all funds will go toward getting more meaningful laws and punishments implemented. find some candidates that think like we do and back them in their run for public office. yes, i know about abate and the ama. HOG and the moco need to join this fight...we need to demand more from them. a few bucks from every membership and a few bucks from every new harley sold goes to the political action committee. obviously this will have to be run thru some other organization than this forum...maybe some sort of spin-off. HDForums does a lot for us now, and they would need to be left out of this. they have a business to run and sponsors to keep happy. taking back our country has to start somewhere.
Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 203
Likes: 0
From: Livingston, La.
Motorcycle Death
It is obviously a situation that hits home with riders. But I agree with you overall that it should come as no surprise that people are going to die out there on the road while riding their bikes. I think people get upset because they think the government can someone guarantee there safety when riding a motorcycle by doing something to pass more laws. But this stuff will continue to happen as long as people ride bikes. I am all for stiffer penalties for distracted drviving and such, but the only way to guarantee your safety is to not ride a motorcycle.
Also, motorcycle accidents or fatalities always get sensationalized in the news. Drivers of autos are also killed by texters or distracted drivers all the time. But motorcycle wrecks just make for more 'juicy' reading than the typical car wreck or vehicular fatality. They are more likely to make the front page of many local papers. If there is a motorcycle wreck in your area you are a lot more likely to hear or read about it, especially if it is a fatality. Motorcycle wreck=blood and gore in the publics mind. A car wreck is too common to be interesting. Riders who are killed usually get an article wheras a car wreck will usually be a one-liner n the odds-and-ends sections -- "Driver killed in Route XYZ collision."
Also, motorcycle accidents or fatalities always get sensationalized in the news. Drivers of autos are also killed by texters or distracted drivers all the time. But motorcycle wrecks just make for more 'juicy' reading than the typical car wreck or vehicular fatality. They are more likely to make the front page of many local papers. If there is a motorcycle wreck in your area you are a lot more likely to hear or read about it, especially if it is a fatality. Motorcycle wreck=blood and gore in the publics mind. A car wreck is too common to be interesting. Riders who are killed usually get an article wheras a car wreck will usually be a one-liner n the odds-and-ends sections -- "Driver killed in Route XYZ collision."
Club Member
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 6,905
Likes: 4,877
From: Midwest
As a rider who has been riding since 1960 (Cushman Husky) and a former LEO who worked many an accident what you say along with the posting by another member made me have to post this answer.Yes it is true that the practice of riding a motorcycle is many times more dangerous than driving a large truck or auto. Almost everything we do in these modern times carries some danger. An elderly lady is robbed and killed while walking home from store. Does that mean that we should not feel terrible about it, should we not feel like we want to kill the persons who did this tragic crime. Should we just turn our heads as many do and just say; well that is life today. I don't think so! Just because I choose to ride on 2 wheels does not make the jerk who drives like a moron a person who should not receive hard punishment or be brought to bear in the PUBLIC EYE. Every bike accident should be noticed by those who don't ride and they should be taught about sharing the road. If we who ride take a Polly Anna attitude about our fellow riders being taken down by inconsiderate morons who feel that a text is more important than a human life then this world has gone to s..t. Lift a fellow rider onto a gurney and go tell his kin that he has been killed but he should of known that might happen. You would not leave my home in the same shape that you came in with. Later Fairshake
Unfortunately, mobile computing and communications have become so much a part of society and the daily lives of people that no laws or penalties will stop the distractions. Motorcycle manufactuers have added touchscreens and infotainment menus to the consoles on their bikes. It's hard to even walk down a grocery isle these days without someone with a phone in their face bashing you with their cart. I see riders checking their phones at stoplights. I have even seen a rider checking his phone in his hand while on the highway. With all the new gagdgets and GPS and infotainments on bikes now, it's only a matter of time before we read a story about a distracted riders causing an accident. It's coming. Wait for it. A lot of riders think they we all have the moral high ground over drivers. I don't see it. A lot of riders act like they own the roads and behave like toolbags. As just stated, it is not uncommon today to see distracted riding either. The problem is everywhere today.
Last edited by MiniWolf; Mar 5, 2014 at 12:29 PM.
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 410
Likes: 2
From: New Orleans, LA
O the irony. As I was reading the updates to this thread I get dispatched to a female that crashed her vehicle into a pole. She totaled her car and she was drunk and had BAC of .254. Limit in LA is .08. Just imagine if that was a biker, think it would have been a different outcome. Biker would be leaving in a body bag and she woud be sitting in jail for the next 15-30 years compeared to the next couple hours in jail. Its sad how lightly people take DWI.
Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 249
Likes: 0
From: New Yawk
So now we know what a life is worth there...
It is disgusting, but many things at into sentencing. On the up side, at least the kid stepped up and did the right thing and pled guilty because he was. Not many people these days who take responsibility for their actions.
As for manslaughter and it being considered an accident, that's insane. There are ad campaigns all over the country about speed kills, texting and electronic device usage while driving kills, arrive alive - don't drink and drive, etc...
The way I see things, anything that is preventable by not doing something illegal (after all, that may be one of the many reasons it is illegal in the first place) is not an accident!
It is disgusting, but many things at into sentencing. On the up side, at least the kid stepped up and did the right thing and pled guilty because he was. Not many people these days who take responsibility for their actions.
As for manslaughter and it being considered an accident, that's insane. There are ad campaigns all over the country about speed kills, texting and electronic device usage while driving kills, arrive alive - don't drink and drive, etc...
The way I see things, anything that is preventable by not doing something illegal (after all, that may be one of the many reasons it is illegal in the first place) is not an accident!
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 5,282
Likes: 2
From: Northwestern Nevada
Imagine how hard it is for them to say, yeah this guy killed two people and we have a solid case for 1st degree manslaughter but he'll plea to 2nd degree manslaughter and still get 5-15 rather than 25 to life. If we do that, we'll have enough cash left to put the recidivous baby raper away.
Hell, even if we could afford to prosecute and convict everyone that caused unjustifiable suffering to an innocent person (forgetting all other crimes...I.e. drugs, property, fraud/scams...etc.) for a length of time that most of the population would consider "just" where would we put all those people for that long and how much would "justice" cost us?
Life is about choices, and nobody said you'd like any of them.
Be safe out there, life is dangerous...not fair.
Last edited by Glockmeister; Mar 7, 2014 at 12:02 AM.
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