Article about motorcycle fatality in Wayne county Ohio.

My mother put me on to this:

Article

I feel for the guy in the SUV. Seems like he's being hung out to dry.

 

Wow ugly story. have to agree with you Carl.

 

Wow. Lots of idiots in Ohio, apparently.

None of the commenters - nor the author of the article - said anything about what sort of intersection it was or what the speed limit was there. They did say that the (dead) rider skidded for 74' in a straight line before crashing.

Well holy crap! If you can see an accident coming from over 70' away and still skid the entire distance only to crash anyway, how fast was he going?

I'm not a fan of SUVs turning left in front of me, but I agree with most of the commenters on this one. The rider was at fault, and they're trying to nail the SUV driver with a technicality. Blah.

 

i was going to say.... theres only one person on the jury with half a brain thinking, "wait a minute....."

 

I hear what you guys are saying, and in this case I completely agree. The bikers reaction time was slowed by his drinking, giving him no chance to stop or avoid.

We had a similar case around here (sort of) A drunk driver hit and killed a 5 year old who was riding his bike. The problem, the dd got off because the PROSECUTION evidence showed that (given all the circumstances - lay of the land, where the kid came from etc) That even sober there just wasn't enough time to react and avoid the crash. So the guy takes his drunk driving charge and gets off on the vehicular manslaughter. It was hard to swallow, but the law is the law.

I think the defense in this Ohio case is trying for the same tactic -> guy on bike has the right of way, so SUV is at fault. Although, the facts as set out don't seem to be as open and shut as the case from where I live. Reaction time sounds like it could of been a factor here. Which, although the SUV is technically at fault, should mitigate against finding him at fault for the death.

Well I've rambled on enough, but thats just the opinion of one humble law student- take it or leave it :S

 

From how I read it,and I even quickly sketched it out,the biker passed on the right side of the guy turning left on a 1 lane road.I know people do it all the time,but (here in Canada at least) that's illegal.

 

That's how sober people get killed here. The only judgement impaired was the rider not thinking the SUV was going to pull out in front of him.

Every intersection I approach I almost always assume that a car or in this case an SUV will pull out in front of me. Harley riders or at least the ones I know hardly ever use their front brakes which is most of the stopping power but they are not aggressive drivers so its not hard to have a skid that long.

I don't know the details but I believe the letter of the law was followed but justice might or might not have been served. I think the SUV pulling out in front of some one is a no-no regardless of the condition of the approaching driver.

Watch out! Here it comes.

 

Part of what's in question is whether or not the Harley driver passing the other motorcycle driver on the right in order to enter the intersection in the first place is legal. "Riding two abreast" is one thing, but "passing within an intersection" is explicitly *illegal* in Ohio, as is driving at all when completely pi55 drunk. Combine that with the fact that two drivers facing each other, both making left turns happens all the time.

I think the preponderance of circumstances leads any reasonable person to the conclusion that the ONLY thing the SUV driver MIGHT be guilty of is failing to yield to oncoming traffic. But elevating it to vehicular manslaughter doesn't make sense in this case, due to the NUMBER of things caused by the OTHER driver that lead to his own demise. And because of that, I'd personally be inclined to let the "failure to yield" citation go as well, to prevent its being construed as total responsibility for the entire incident.

SUV drivers tend not to be my best pals on the road, but skewering someone JUST BECAUSE he's in an SUV makes me part of the problem. "Reverse discrimination," if you will. I'd prefer justice on the road, not revenge. They should let the guy go.

 

simple DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE/here in scotland the roads are crammed up with cars i got 2 but the xj 650 max h 81' sends them rubber neckin..........roll on the spring so i can get her out again.NO sobriety test 2 drinks or xcess of 100mph BANNED......... MY XJ ONLY DOES SHUUUUUU

 

Wow billy lane was drunk and killed a guy on a motorcycle and he is out and free! Go figure!

 

Yeah, but this is different. The guy on the motorcycle in Ohio was the one who was drunk.

 

rhys, you speak my mind. The fact that the motorcyclist was drunk is irrelevant (although I do believe that Ohio law considers "Contributory Negligence). What seals the deal for me is that the rider passed on the right, in an intersection, both illegal. I'm not sure it's reasonable to hold the SUV responsible to anticipate a stupid and unlawful move by the cyclist.

 

Wow, 13 1/2 beers in 3 hours and its not an important factor? If he had killed someone else, would the prosecuter have argued that 13 1/2 beers in 3 hours was not an important factor?

Sounds like the guy in the SUV is getting the SHAFT...

 

Mine was nt a comment on blame or fault.

It is on the justice system :wink: , its strange how it works some times!

 

Excess speed was a factor.
When I was in Maine last summer there was a case people were talking about.
The cycle rider was going an estimated 95mph in a 30mph zone.
The road dipped in between the car and cycle so line of site was lost.
When the cager turned in front of the cycle it was determined that if the cycle had been doing the speed limit there would have been plenty of time for the cage to make the turn.
So the driver was not charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Same thing applies here.
It can be really hard to determine the speed of a vehicle at a distance.

Last fall I was making a left in the cage.
This left is in the middle of a long sweeping turn, I would be turning to the outside of the curve.
I looked ahead of me no one there, looked up the road I was turning onto.
Started to turn when I caught this cycle flying around the turn in the oppisite direction.
He was hanginig off the side, going so fast, that he could do nothing but hang on at that point.
A split second from looking forward, to looking to the side and this guy was on top of me already.
If I hadn't been right on the ball he would of eatin' my front end.

 

I came across the aftermath of an idiot doing something like that in Heber Springs, AR last year. Was doing 100+ across the dam on a turbo sport bike. Gear? Neg. Has some, but was at home on the counter. Kids? Yup. Two.

Had I been in your seat and seen that rider do that, I'd have followed him and kicked his bike over. Maybe I'm getting mean in my old age, but it kinda ticks me off when someone recklessly endangers me AND himself.
</soapbox>

 

Darwinism in full effect!

 

We all have our days, some call them track days.
Ride only to your ability. I am against drinking & riding, but if you DO...at least ride slower than speedlimit.
Come on guys, testosterone is great and all. But then you end up getting a chance to talk to your maker...??
I bet once you get to the other side, looking cool really doesn't matter.
You live once, live free/live wild/live awesome, but just LIVE.

SUV guy COULD be getting the shaft, he could have been issued a traffic ticket, but WE really dont know.
Drunk biker was PROB doing some serious speed, SUV PROB thought BOTH bikes were turning left....WHO KNOWS.
Tough to point fingers without ALL the facts.
The other motorcyclist said SUV was not-at-fault, but what does he know.

I am leaning towards SUV's favor from the available info.

~.2000 BAC is not interfearing of operation of a Motor Vehicle. HAHAHA!!
Freakin retards in the OHIO Judicial System. I envy the DUI ticketees there!

 

In Florida, you can overtake a stopped car or bike on the right side, provided you don't leave the pavement. Also, you can not get the blood without someone's permission- in Florida. ( I know, it didn't happen here.)

Comparative negligence comes into play: they were both at fault.
How much of the road ahead of my motorcycle do I "own" with regards to right-of-way? I'd like to think 2 seconds at the posted speed limit.

 

I have a friend that drinks like a fish and has no common sense, when I am with him I have to disable his sled so he can't ride. ( i am a non drinker so I can move faster without falling over) the last 3 times he went sledding he went with others and crashed his sled 3 times in 1 week yet still trys to win that darwin award. what can you do?