R.I.P. Jim Price (aka. "biker_billy", "sydney", "Boudreaux")

"Paul Cassel" wrote:
Derk wrote:
CEarly wrote:

and he chose to fool with his cell phone will driving.
It's *STRICTLY* forbidden here and huge fines are given. Only hands free
calling is allowed here. I'm amazed this is considered to be normal in
the
US.

Study after study have shown that driving with a cell phone, hands free or
not, increases your risk of a mishap as much as driving drunk. Hands free
units make NO difference.

-paul

I would generally agree that that is the case. I embarrasingly admit that I
have caused an accident where I was chatting intently with my friend SITTING
NEXT TO ME with my eyes on the road, but somehow distracted enough in
conversation not to see what was happening. Yes, autopilot driving can
happen even with eyes on the road! After the accident, my first thought
was, "How the heck did that happen?" Thankfully, the accident was a minor
one with only minor damages. I am now very aware of how even minor
distractions affect driving and feel that I am a safer driver from the
experience.

But in this particular case, the driver was TEXT MESSAGING on a cell phone.
Eyes were most certainly drawn away from on the road for an extended period
by the gadget.

Well.. In this uncivilized state (NY) or perhaps just our county, we
have mandatory hands free driving. Seldom enforced, as the moronic
manhattanites that take over our streets all summer drive, talk on cell
phones, eat, and do makeup all at the same time... It's a good thing
that they buy the biggest SUV they can find, so they feel nice and
safe......yeah.

What do I think about this??
1- The kid CHOSE to drive. The kid CHOSE to text message. Any
reasonable person should believe that a-This requires use of at least 1
hand, b- This requires use of most of your brain. (Being 17 it's a
pretty safe bet what was on the rest of his brain..) In my book, this
is murder, or at the very least manslaughter..

But let's look at the real issue here. Lack of country wide intelligent
laws. Do people in the US really think it impinges on their
constitutional rights/freedoms to have to use a hands free?? Can the
country REALLY not pass legislation across the board to ban cell phone
use while driving?? Christ, they can't even mandate day time running
lights for cars, something that is proven to reduce accidents
drastically... Got to save the big 3 43cents a car you know... Second
issue.. What does a hands free REALLY cost?? Nokia can probably build
one for about 50cents. Can anyone think of a REAL reson they don't
include one in each phone box you buy?? Even if they jack you 5$ for
the thing that cost them 50cents... Everyone WOULD buy a phone still,
and they woul dhav ea hands free already. I think they would be way
more inclined to use something they didn't have to go out and find the
right one, and purchase, adn use, and blah bla blah.. .Throw the book
at the *******.. rip jim

myles

bikeguy11968 wrote:
Can the
country REALLY not pass legislation across the board to ban cell phone
use while driving??

Legislation will do nothing. It's already illegal to kill folks. The
problem is behavior. I have to agree 100% with the folks on this thread
that this is a manslaughter issue just as if the kid shot a gun at Jim
as a joke, but ended up killing him by bad aim.

I admire Jim's wife not being loaded down with vengeance because that
won't bring the man back. However, what we have in our country is
supposed to be a system where the law takes over for personal vengeance.
Here, Jim's wife is behaving properly, but the law isn't.

-paul

The kid is being charged with a misdemeanor. IMHO he should be charged
with vehicular manslaughter, but then I'm not involved in the
situation. It's too bad that your life means less to the law when
you're riding your bike.

peter wrote:

Some individual states in the US have similar laws, but personally I
think they miss the main message of the safety studies that have been
done.

The Police do not enforce the laws and are unwilling to do so.
Chicago has such a law. The other day I was driving (in a car) on a
major expressway. A rental truck was wandering back and forth across
the lanes. I had the other person in the car (OPIC) use a cell phone
to call the police. The OPIC reported to the police about the truck
and suggested that the driver might be drunk. Suddenly the driving
improved (while the OPIC was on the phone) and told this to the Police
as well. They responded (according to the OPIC) "oh, he must just have
been on a cell phone and he has hung it up". The OPIC asked about the
law about driving with a cell phone, and the police said its a Chicago
law and not enforced by the state police (the people who enforce the
expressway system withint the City limits).

Tim McNamara wrote:
The kid is being charged with a misdemeanor. IMHO he should be charged
with vehicular manslaughter, but then I'm not involved in the
situation. It's too bad that your life means less to the law when
you're riding your bike.

This may have some truth to it, but motorists who kill other motorists
are often charged with merely a misdemeanor as well.

Wayne