Motorcyclist crashes in helmet law protest, dies

[coyotes_geek]

Just cir stancial bias because it 'fit the bill' for people in his age group...

Because it happened on the weekend, after midnight, and he was driving home from the "Pool Joint"... On top of that the police didn't administer a breathalizer test until several hours after the fact... (which came back negative as did the bloodwork conducted several hours later), and since the police never administered a field sobriety test the judge and jury assumed and decided to fill in the gaps.

I wasn't there but I could vouch for the fact that he was simply there playing pool (a passion of his since childhood). The guy, doesn't consume alcohol, period... of course no one believed him because the mother of the victim pandered to the emotional side of the jury (obviously she was emotionally distraught... and understandedly so)... Still, there was no proof my friend was drinking and everyone assumed as much despite the lack of evidence.

So did they get him on DWI or on vehicular manslaughter? I can't see how it could have been DWI if there wasn't a field sobriety test and he passed blood & breathalyzer. If it's vehicular manslaughter, then that's a crime you can commit drunk or sober, so it doesn't matter whether he was drunk or not.

All that nightmare would have turned out differently if the motorcyclist had simply worn a helmet.

Differently as in instead of getting charged with veh. manslaughter he gets charged with veh. assault? Or differently as in he doesn't get charged at all? If there was enough there to file manslaughter charges it seems like a reach to think that they wouldn't have gone after him on a different charge had the guy been wearing a helmet and survived.

[ALVAREZ6]

Helmet laws are unnecessary. If someone wants to ride without a helmet, let them. Its not my brain thats going all over the pavement.

Also, people who ride motorcycles often are certainly aware of the dangers they face every single crazy ass time hopping on. I wouldn't trust people enough as I'm zipping around on my bike to avoid doing stupid things behind the wheel, because in many cases it would be who pays the price with my life. Any small lapse in concentration, any time a car driver is not fully alert of his surroundings (which is clearly often for most drivers), motorcyclists are in danger. Any stupid ass mistake, whether it's the driver or other drivers, could easily result in death on a bike.

The world is in no need of population, clearly it could use a large decrease, so deaths like these don't discourage/down me. At least that ex-biker isn't a vegetable in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, requiring millions of dollars in healthcare that he may or may not be able to pay. TBH, helmets.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Helmet laws are unnecessary. If someone wants to ride without a helmet, let them. Its not my brain thats going all over the pavement.

That.

I think the seat belt law is mainly for the youngins. No sense in making a law that is aged based to require who should wear a seat belt or not. And I know there are aged based laws regarding alcohol and smoking but you're not eating or smoking your seat belt.

[cantthinkofanything]

That.

I think the seat belt law is mainly for the youngins. No sense in making a law that is aged based to require who should wear a seat belt or not. And I know there are aged based laws regarding alcohol and smoking but you're not eating or smoking your seat belt.

Not that I condone it but I remember going on long trips with my parents when I was little and laying above the backseat under the window.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Not that I condone it but I remember going on long trips with my parents when I was little and laying above the backseat under the window.

me too. My Mom hated that. My Dad would just laugh at her

[MannyIsGod]

Best place to sleep, IMO.

[4>0rings]

At least he died looking cool!

[Phenomanul]

you all are as judgemental as the jury that "hung him out to dry"...

Yes, he did appeal... and won (after inclusion of a polygraph test was accepted as evidence... a test the first judge didn't even want to administer)...

Of course that won't recover the year and a half he spent in jail waiting for the appeal to be processed... BTW Manny, the same lawyer saw him through the second trial as well... You all are acting as if our judicial system was impervious to bias and wrongful accusation...

Remember this is South Texas where most judges have been desensitized to the less mundane activities in light of the drug war that has crept into the area...

Geesh... all this because I said that 'accidentally' running over a motorcyclist could turn up bad for the driver... overreaction?

[Wild Cobra]

you all are as judgemental as the jury that "hung him out to dry"...

Yes, he did appeal... and won (after inclusion of a polygraph test was accepted as evidence... a test the first judge didn't even want to administer)...

Of course that won't recover the year and a half he spent in jail waiting for the appeal to be processed... BTW Manny, the same lawyer saw him through the second trial as well... You all are acting as if our judicial system was impervious to bias and wrongful accusation...

Remember this is South Texas where most judges have been desensitized to the less mundane activities in light of the drug war that has crept into the area...

Geesh... all this because I said that 'accidentally' running over a motorcyclist could turn up bad for the driver... overreaction?

Most so-called accidents are preventable.

What are the details of the accident?

[MannyIsGod]

you all are as judgemental as the jury that "hung him out to dry"...

Yes, he did appeal... and won (after inclusion of a polygraph test was accepted as evidence... a test the first judge didn't even want to administer)...

Of course that won't recover the year and a half he spent in jail waiting for the appeal to be processed... BTW Manny, the same lawyer saw him through the second trial as well... You all are acting as if our judicial system was impervious to bias and wrongful accusation...

Remember this is South Texas where most judges have been desensitized to the less mundane activities in light of the drug war that has crept into the area...

Geesh... all this because I said that 'accidentally' running over a motorcyclist could turn up bad for the driver... overreaction?

Question: Why do you keep saying there is an overreaction? Do you want no one to respond to your posts? I mean seriously, I addressed this above but this is some of the oddest ever. When you are talking face to face with someone, and they respond to a statement that you made, do you all of a sudden freak out and ask them why they're over reacting?

Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and go on the record and say that it sucks that your friend lost that time and of course the judicial system s up. No one here ever said it didn't but you kept providing incomplete information and you expect everyone to somehow know what happened. Your communication in this thread has been emotional and piss poor, to be quite honest.

Yeah - it turned out bad for the driver but accidents usually do in some way shape or form. Your example is an extreme is by no means the norm. I really have no reason to suspect that judicial competence would somehow magically increase through the required use of helmets.

I don't think anyone has overreacted in any way to what you have posted in your thread. Your basic line of logic has been that helmets should be worn because your friend went to jail wrongfully for a period of time. That just isn't logical at all.

[silverblk mystix]

Hate to make light of a serious subject....but this song here cranked up all the way...
makes me want to ride WITHOUT a helmet....

[Blake]

you all are as judgemental as the jury that "hung him out to dry"...

Yes, he did appeal... and won (after inclusion of a polygraph test was accepted as evidence... a test the first judge didn't even want to administer)...

Of course that won't recover the year and a half he spent in jail waiting for the appeal to be processed... BTW Manny, the same lawyer saw him through the second trial as well... You all are acting as if our judicial system was impervious to bias and wrongful accusation...

Remember this is South Texas where most judges have been desensitized to the less mundane activities in light of the drug war that has crept into the area...

Geesh... all this because I said that 'accidentally' running over a motorcyclist could turn up bad for the driver... overreaction?

lol hung him out to dry

so you're judging the jury yourself based on some rather fuzzy details.

you still haven't stated what he was charged with.

[Wild Cobra]

lol hung him out to dry

so you're judging the jury yourself based on some rather fuzzy details.

you still haven't stated what he was charged with.

I'm beginning to think his friend, is him, and embarrassed to tell us the details.

[Booharv]

I got a motorcycle (Yamaha FZR 600) when I was in college because the law in florida was that if you wore a helmet you didn't have to have insurance. Saved me a load of money what with gas and no car insurance. Combine that with the fact that I was able to rent my own place for $250 a month (a run down mobile home, but still) and myself and my gf at the time could live on next to nothing. Even got a Pell Grant and some food stamps so I was making due on like $600 a month.

A couple of guys I knew would just not wear a helmet even if they didn't have insurance and just say they lost it or whatever when they were pulled over iirc.

[Booharv]

best years of my life

[Blake]

I'm beginning to think his friend, is him, and embarrassed to tell us the details.

I'm thinking he heard bits and pieces of his friend's case and is simply talking out of his ass.

[silverblk mystix]

I'm thinking he heard bits and pieces of his friend's case and is simply talking out of his ass.

Blake,

ever since that chick you had...or maybe still have...got some extracurricular schlong...

you have been a pretty uptight asshole...almost dumpster-like a-hole...

or maybe you ARE dumpster.

[Blake]

Blake,

ever since that chick you had...or maybe still have...got some extracurricular schlong...

you have been a pretty uptight asshole...almost dumpster-like a-hole...

or maybe you ARE dumpster.

the irony in this post is rather thick. Maybe you should just unclench your cheeks and vent it out in your attention whoring "I'm w@sted" thread.

lol pretty uptight asshole

[Bill_Brasky]

you all are as judgemental as the jury that "hung him out to dry"...

Yes, he did appeal... and won (after inclusion of a polygraph test was accepted as evidence... a test the first judge didn't even want to administer)...

Of course that won't recover the year and a half he spent in jail waiting for the appeal to be processed... BTW Manny, the same lawyer saw him through the second trial as well... You all are acting as if our judicial system was impervious to bias and wrongful accusation...

Remember this is South Texas where most judges have been desensitized to the less mundane activities in light of the drug war that has crept into the area...

Geesh... all this because I said that 'accidentally' running over a motorcyclist could turn up bad for the driver... overreaction?

There was a young(16 year old) girl hit and killed by a driver while crossing a very busy highway at night in Round Rock a few years ago and it would have been easy to charge the driver based on emotions/how young the girl was, but they didn't.....they don't just hand those kinds of charges out like candy....sucks what happened to your friend but they had to have had SOMETHING on him to charge him like that....legitimate accidents happen all the time, and the police understand that more than anybody.

[cantthinkofanything]

I got a motorcycle (Yamaha FZR 600) when I was in college because the law in florida was that if you wore a helmet you didn't have to have insurance. Saved me a load of money what with gas and no car insurance. Combine that with the fact that I was able to rent my own place for $250 a month (a run down mobile home, but still) and myself and my gf at the time could live on next to nothing. Even got a Pell Grant and some food stamps so I was making due on like $600 a month.

A couple of guys I knew would just not wear a helmet even if they didn't have insurance and just say they lost it or whatever when they were pulled over iirc.

There's a girl in your sig under the "butts" category but she's facing forward and you really can't see her butt at all. WTF.

[mingus]

it's not my place to tell another guy that he has to wear a helmet while on a cycle. if the guys chooses not to, then that is his choice. it's not affecting me.

now the other month i did see a guy riding with his teenage daughter behind him and she was not wearing a helmet also. i got a problem with that. got to be at least 18 to make that choice, she looked 14, 15 or so.

[DMC]

it's not my place to tell another guy that he has to wear a helmet while on a cycle. if the guys chooses not to, then that is his choice. it's not affecting me.

now the other month i did see a guy riding with his teenage daughter behind him and she was not wearing a helmet also. i got a problem with that. got to be at least 18 to make that choice, she looked 14, 15 or so.

How do you know it was his daughter and not his gf?

[mrsmaalox]

Helmet laws don't have anything to do with the government wanting to take away our personal freedoms or with anyone being concerned about our personal safety; they have to do with insurance companies not wanting to pay for the injuries sustained and taxpayers not wanting to be stuck with the tab.

[DMC]

It would be cheaper to not have helmets. Dead people don't have high hospital bills. Life insurance, sure. Helmets won't stop you from dying. They will make you more identifiable however.

[Phenomanul]

There was a young(16 year old) girl hit and killed by a driver while crossing a very busy highway at night in Round Rock a few years ago and it would have been easy to charge the driver based on emotions/how young the girl was, but they didn't.....they don't just hand those kinds of charges out like candy....sucks what happened to your friend but they had to have had SOMETHING on him to charge him like that....legitimate accidents happen all the time, and the police understand that more than anybody.

Which is why my friend was able to win his appeal... the second judge was more understanding (and the lie detector test was admitted as evidence in the second trial on account of the accident not having any witnesses... the test helped him confirm his statement that he hadn't been drinking or speeding the night of the accident). Like I said, the first trial had the stench of a mis-trial from the get-go...

I called up my friend in light of all the I'm getting here (curiously enough, he's living in NY these days...) I didn't want to bring up the subject (still a touchy subject for him), but he clarified the fact that the officer thought he was drunk simply because he had vomited and had problems standing up (again, despite no formal field sobriety test being administered)... This he said stemmed from the fact that he was pretty shaken up (emotionally) about the whole incident... he couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak or even think properly... I mean, he had just seen another guy's brains splattered all over the asphalt... an image which I'm sure would cause others here to throw up as well...

Question: Why do you keep saying there is an overreaction? Do you want no one to respond to your posts? I mean seriously, I addressed this above but this is some of the oddest ever. When you are talking face to face with someone, and they respond to a statement that you made, do you all of a sudden freak out and ask them why they're over reacting?

Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and go on the record and say that it sucks that your friend lost that time and of course the judicial system s up. No one here ever said it didn't but you kept providing incomplete information and you expect everyone to somehow know what happened. Your communication in this thread has been emotional and piss poor, to be quite honest.

Yeah - it turned out bad for the driver but accidents usually do in some way shape or form. Your example is an extreme is by no means the norm. I really have no reason to suspect that judicial competence would somehow magically increase through the required use of helmets.

I don't think anyone has overreacted in any way to what you have posted in your thread. Your basic line of logic has been that helmets should be worn because your friend went to jail wrongfully for a period of time. That just isn't logical at all.

Overraction Manny? Yes, you make it sound like an inquisition... Now I'm supposed to provide you all the details of an incident such as this one as the proper preface to a comment that "perhaps a motorcyclist's death can cause more of a legal headache than anyone would want?" Ummm yeah... I didn't get your memo requesting that context specifity for anything we post in the forum...

I know you enjoy arguing for argument's sake, but seriously dude...? My first post was just a comment... I wasn't advocating the need for a helmet law any more than arguing against one... the context of my friend's case, while certainly a data point in my opinion, was only brought out because someone assumed my comment was born out of (far-fetched) paranoia... When I said it had a basis, most everyone on here started assuming (again) that 'if my friend had been convicted that obviously he was in the wrong'... and somehow I was left having to explain the whole incident from scratch...

The problem is not that I don't expect others to disagree with a comment (someone out will always disagree about anything and everything)... the problem is that the initial rebuttals never asked for clarification of any sort; instead they lashed out with unnecessary mockery...

whatever..