Poor Bob  Cruiser riders are some of the more responsible (well, except for lack of gear) people on the road.

The judge was wrong to say that motorcycles shouldn't be on the roads.  They are motor vehicles just like cars, and should be allowed to have a piece of the road.

But, to play devil's advocate here... What if that girl turned in front of a car driver that had no seat belt and the driver died?  Would the punishment be any more or less?  True, seatbelt use is mandatory, but it is a safety device just like a helmet.  Both greatly reduce the risk of dying due to head injuries, and freedom or not, should be worn at all times whether or not the law allows.  Bob might still be alive  

Suspended 90 day sentence is not going to solve anything.  Her mommy and daddy are probably angry about the damage the bike did to the car, rather than the fact that their precious daughter took someone's life due to her negligence.  And the mom... well she is a stupid cow.  moo

today following church svc, myself and about 4 others helpedput back onto its wheels a honda goldwing towing a trailer. he came outta il. to go to our church,? dont know why, but evidently hes not much on riding rather narrow gravel roads sharp turns etc. and laid the bike down. bike was very slightly rashed, but the man and his wife were fine. what i am getting at is it will take many, many small good deeds to overshadow the bad ones to change general opinions about riders  

Quote from: Turkina...And the mom... well she is a stupid cow.  moo

:lol:  :lol:

she should have been charged with a minimum of involintary vehicular manslaughter

The more I think about this the more outrageous it gets. We can debate sentencing forever, so many perspectives but leaving that aside the Judge and Ma seem to have really behaved badly, perhaps something can be done about that. Unfortunatly nothing can be done about the tradgedy.

When the guys demonstrate, I can understand how angry they may get but please keep any demonstration quiet and dignified, make sure traffic gets stopped or no-one will know and if people don't know there's no point in demonstrating. If you have enough troops slow riding en-mass in busy areas usually makes someone take notice.

no one else said it, so i will. WEAR A HELMET!

not even knowing what happened, i'm going to say he had a much better chance of surviving if he would have been wearing a helmet.

since we don't know what actually happened i the accident, there is a chance he did die because he wasn't wearing his helmet. for example, what if it was a 15 mph accident and he went head first into tree? should the girl be charged with involuntary manslughter for that? maybe not.

Well said Zoltan.

You know its not just teenagers and cell phones.. teenagers with their friends, the radio..blah blah blah. Some people just SUCK and should never be allowed to drive!

My mother and I were hit head on (I was like 6-8 months or something) by a girl who they suspect was trying to get a kitten out from under her feet.  My mother says the girl was all over the road (nice curvey wooded road) so she pulled over as far as she could and stopped the car.  The girl then hit us "Blam".  My mom had the adrenalin rush going and ripped my car seat right out of the car without ever undoing the seatbelt.  She was bumped and bruised but generally ok.  She took me into the woods a bit incase the cars blew up or soemthing.  This was like 1969- so the cars were made a bit different than today.  

The family of the girl took my mom to (Civil) court for manslaughter.. they lost (thank God).  My mother had to deal with the fact that girl didn't make it even though it was not her fault.  

This kid is getting off with nothing!  I hope Bobs family goes the same route and WINS!!!!  It may only end up being $$ but punish the girl!  Make her pay one way or another.  

Grrrrr!

Actually, Turkina did mention the helmet thing...

Quote from: Turkina...True, seatbelt use is mandatory, but it is a safety device just like a helmet.  Both greatly reduce the risk of dying due to head injuries, and freedom or not, should be worn at all times whether or not the law allows.  Bob might still be alive   ...

Quote from: CrisActually, Turkina did mention the helmet thing...

Quote from: Turkina...True, seatbelt use is mandatory, but it is a safety device just like a helmet.  Both greatly reduce the risk of dying due to head injuries, and freedom or not, should be worn at all times whether or not the law allows.  Bob might still be alive   ...

actually, i was trying to bring up that maybe the girl shouldn't be charged with manslaughter because he wasn't wearing a helmet.

Oh...ok.

That judge has his head up his arse.... And After all the publicity, post 9/11 Leno auctioning off his bike to give to charity, the many millions raised by Love ride, and other charities that have been pushed further than anyone ever imagined by bikers and celebrities and making big national headlines... How dare that illeterate cow of a mother say that. However ... Remember Carl Koella-Terry Barnard, and many others... There is too many of these happening too often over the years.. .inspite of the good name we are so deservedly getting from some parts of the world... Education should be mandatory, no one should be allowed to get into a car wihtout learning to ride and using a motorcycle for a minimum of 2-3 years sorta like in europe, cars should be much more $$$ than bikes like asia, and fines should be much more severe... I'd say the driver should be never given a car license ... ever and the mother needs to be thrown in jail for stupidity.
And helmet law??? I cannot imagine how they even keep their eyes open at anything over 25mph without a helmet... cos I sure as hell cant...
Cool.
Srinath.

Gotta just say this...

The original post is hearsay.  What was the actual court transcript?  Where is the documentation of the mother's comments?  The truth is that all we really know is:  there was an accident between a car and a bike, and the motorcyclist died.  Actually, we don't even know that.  The entire thing could be an urban legend.

An incident can be spun to any perspective, or entirely fabricated.  Before we all get whipped into a frenzy, what are the facts?

"She doen't know people like Bob, who qwned a soccer field and would do anything for anybody, so we need to get this out and hope something can be done in the future to stop this kind of prejudice and foul use of
justice against bikers. I hope you guys read this and get it out,
forward it to anyone and print it off and post it on bulletin
bouards something has to be done. Thank you...... Michael Estes
Covington KY."

So we have a signature (supposedly), an unnamed defendent, and a mysterious philanthropist named Bob, no specific dates or places, no links to news stories, and an appeal to paper the world with this story.  Sounds like the same kind of thing as the spam virus warnings...Some people just want to make a splash.

Trev

Quote from: tmckayGotta just say this...

The original post is hearsay.  

Quite correct, tmckay.  I've said before (to paraphrase Marvin G) I tend to believe half of what I read and none of what I hear.  My original post on this matter stated only that the story appeared on another motorcycling board. Period.  And, I am highly skeptical of "stories" hearsay" and "rumors"..I like to get it right, even if my position is unpopular.

Accordingly, a gentleman who I have come to regard as reliable, and who has a law-enforcement background,  is attempting to get a copy of the court transcript via the freedom of information act (as any citizen has a right to public documents and proceedings).  I will keep this board informed as information becomes available.

The heart of the matter still remains: with a few changes in circumstances and location, the basic story has been repeated far too many times.  For a variety of reasons (all of them unfair) motorcyclists are second-class citizens when it comes to traffic violations and accidents.  Our blood is cheap.  All I can say is set a good example, which benefits all of us who ride, RIDE DEFENSIVELY, and speak up when you can.