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I gotta say I'm pretty sick about this...

sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
I got my license at 21. Before that, I rode my bike everywhere, and in my free time, I raced.

I didn't need to challenge myself in a cage, I had already done it 1000 times on two wheels.

I wish kids would take more to bicycles. It is ok to be reckless there, because the only person you hurt is yourself.
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,266
13,383
Portland, OR
dante said:
Well, it will be easy enough to tell if he got a phone call at exactly the time of the accident through cell-phone records. Regardless as to whether that's exactly what set off the chain of events, the fact that the expert has said he was going in excess of 72km/h is pretty damning in and of itself though.

I have to say, I never thought about the positives of living in a small town (pop. 8,000, although it's completely encircled by Madison's 250k population) before buying a house here, but since then I'm reminded about all of the positives on a daily basis. When you have a problem you can go to the city council meetings and raise hell, and they pretty much have to listen to you. There was an issue with speeding in different areas (like, 35mph in a 25mph "speeding") so the police actually went out and bought a small device that records the speeds of everyone passing by (no license plates, but to get a gauge of how fast the overall traffic is). ANYONE can go and request the device be put outside their house and have the speeds of motorists recorded for the day or week.

It just sucks that this issue was brought up repeatedly and it took someone dying for anyone to do anything...
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One of the many things I learned in the Citizens Academy was that you can call the police non-emergency number and tell them people drive too fast in your neighborhood. They will look at the area and do one of 3 things:

Park the "Your speed" trailer that shows you your speed vs the posted limit. This is a 4 or 5 day thing and they look at the speeds gathered over time.

Park the "ghost car" (empty police car) in your area for a half day.

Park the photo speed van that does your speed plus can issue photo speeding tickets.

Depending on the number of requests, the traffic in your area and if they have done things before that don't seem to work. The ghost car and van are on a rotation based on the number of requests and other data. As a volunteer, I can actually deploy all 3, but an officer has to set up the van once parked.

Beaverton isn't a big city, but it's a pretty big suburb. I am glad my wife made me go to those classes. I learned a ton about the cops in town and met more than half including all the top brass.

It sucks that someone usually has to die before traffic laws are looked at, but it's the world we live in. At least now I know what resources I have available to prevent things.
 
Raingauge

Raingauge

Monkey
Apr 3, 2008
692
0
Canadia
He should get criminal negligence just like an impaired driver.

I raced my friends when I was that age but never in town. My dad would have lynched me if he found out we were racing in town. We were ok risking our lives but not others.

The first house I bought had an alley that people drove like Aholes down. Before our daughter was born I built the fence with 6X6 posts 4' apart cemented in the ground across the back. I hoped that if any moron got sideways the posts would stop them. Luckily they never got used
 
MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
not sure how I feel about this.......

Younger driver charged in death of Bianca Leduc acquitted
Youth Court judge clears one of the two drivers involved in accident that claimed toddler's life in Ile Perrot

The Gazette
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Enlarge

The younger of the two men charged in the 2007 death of three-year-old Bianca Leduc was acquitted this morning at the Valleyfield courthouse.

Youth Court Judge Mario Gervais issue his verdict, clearing the accused of charges of criminal negligence causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death in the accident that claimed the toddler's life.

"It's a horrible drama, but there was no criminal responsibility in this case," said Gervais, who noted that he has a daughter Bianca's age.

In the courtroom was Nadine Leduc, Bianca's mother. She sat quietly wiping away tears as she rocked her newborn baby, Sara.

The accused cannot be named because he was a minor when the accident occurredon Oct. 31, 2007.

"Nobody is going to celebrate. It's an ordeal that is over," said Jean-Pierre Sharpe, the accused's lawyer.

His co-accused, Brandon Pardi, who turned 18-years-old on the day of the accident, is being tried as an adult; closing arguments in his trial are scheduled to take place in September at the Valleyfield courthouse.

More to follow.
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dante

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
I'm not ok with sending a 1st offender for negligent homicide to a Federal "pound me in the ass" prison for 2-14 years, either. $30k per year of taxpayer dollars so that a non-violent offender can get raped in the shower and come out on the other side a hardened criminal?

All so we can say "justice was done"?

Seriously?

No, I don't know what the answer is, and I know that my feelings were 100% different when hearing about Robert Schiro... Maybe it's that one was 18 and one was 70. Maybe it's because one showed deep remorse, while the other was described as "callous" and a "danger to the community". I just wonder exactly what the "right" punishment should be.
 
dante

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
MMike said:
Kill a little girl, and you get a "Don't do that again! Now get outta here you little scamp!".......not quite. I think the ass-pounding prison is closer to justice than what he got.
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Pesqueeb said:
:stupid:
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Well, then just be thankful that you've never done anything stupid, never took chances, never did anything dangerous or reckless, never sped or screwed around in HS, never been in an accident, never been in any situation that could have turned out horribly, disastrously different than it did had people not been wearing their seatbelts, or if there'd been a pedestrian along that stretch of road, or...
 
MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
I completely reject that. He killed a little girl. (Which is enough on its own). Then spent 4 years fighting the legal process instead of taking responsibility.

Yup. Teenagers take stupid risks. sometimes they turn out ok. Sometimes they don't. And when they don't, you suffer the consequences. You rolls the dice, you takes your chances. Teenagers (generally) roll the dice more often.

He ****ed up. (He MORE than ****ed up). He should be punished accordingly.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,367
16,854
Riding the baggage carousel.
MMike said:
I completely reject that. He killed a little girl. (Which is enough on its own). Then spent 4 years fighting the legal process instead of taking responsibility.

Yup. Teenagers take stupid risks. sometimes they turn out ok. Sometimes they don't. And when they don't, you suffer the consequences. You rolls the dice, you takes your chances. Teenagers (generally) roll the dice more often.

He ****ed up. (He MORE than ****ed up). He should be punished accordingly.
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:stupid:

Of course I did stupid isht when I was a kid. I assume we all did. The fact that no one ever got killed I recognize as luck/blessings of the FSM. Had I not been so lucky, the book should have been thrown at me because I was doing stupid isht..
 
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MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
and I reiterate. He fought the legal process for 4 years. If he had taken it like an adult and had a life changing epiphany, then I might have some sympathy for him. But over the years since the incident, he had violated terms of his..."parole?" or bail...not sure what you call it. He wasn't supposed to associate with certain people. Not supposed to drive etc etc. And there was the odd report of him being caught violating these conditions.

"Oh kids will be kids" is not an acceptable response. Bianca Leduc should be 8 years old right now finishing grade 2.

ass-pounding.
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,616
9,620
dante said:
Well, then just be thankful that you've never done anything stupid, never took chances, never did anything dangerous or reckless, never sped or screwed around in HS, never been in an accident, never been in any situation that could have turned out horribly, disastrously different than it did had people not been wearing their seatbelts, or if there'd been a pedestrian along that stretch of road, or...
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making excuses for killing children is fun on the internet...
 
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