not really. it would be like sticking your leg out while somebody trips over it kinda. Except I'd use a stick. kidding. But seriously. People who ride that fast usually kill themselves by not paying attention and hitting a rock or something in the road or even something as simple as brushing a tire or bumper of a vehicle. I've seen things like that happen alot. say a slower car happens to change lanes but right when they do so they clip a biker. (happens all the time) and that's usually because these bikers are naive and ride like a bat outta hell and think street laws don't much apply to them.
But think of how fast this car was going, the kid might not have time to dodge and got hit by the car anyways.
The guy didn't intentionally kill the kid, that's why he was convicted of manslaughter instead of murder. It was a deadly accident brought about by two stupid choices - the kid choosing to be in the road when cars were coming, and the driver choosing to speed. The driver should have known better, but so should have the kid, and teaching common sense road safety was a duty of the kid's parents. So the guy kinda has a point...and he IS already paying for his crime, so its not like he got off or something. But I think it would have been a better choice to sue the agency that was SUPPOSED to take his license away after his last conviction because had THEY done their job he wouldn't have been on the road at all (well, unless he decided to drive illegally, of course). --Moony
Yeah. What I'm wondering is what the kid was doing (he could have just been crossing the road on his bike).
Very much agreed. Car and motorcycle drivers are supposed to learn situational awareness and practice it constantly...but I see bikers all the time that don't stay aware of what's going on around them and don't seem to care that others are forced to react to their mistakes. I've grown to hate seeing out-of-town bikers in my area because they're the least attentive and familiar with the windy, high speed, blind corner roads, and no matter how careful I've been in passing them (slowing down, going wide if I can), inevitably there's at least one Numbnuts who wanders slowly across the white line when I get close. The locals, even the teenagers, aren't that stupid, and if their parents get wind of them being that stupid, there's hell to pay. --Moony
Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light...But seriously, upon reading the headline, I'd hope the judge would throw the case out; after reading the whole article, however, I feel intrigued as there are two sides to this whole deal. .
He could have been. He could have stopped on the side of the road, looked both ways, judged that the cars were far enough away that he could make it and went, not expecting that the car behind the other would suddenly swerve out to pass at twice the speed limit. We'd have to see the court papers with their witness testimony to know what he was doing, tho. --Moony
I see both parties are at fault.. The kid should be smart enough not to be playing in the street and to be wearing a helmet. He might have survived albeit with serious injuries. But yeah the guy was excessively speeding and passing another car. edit: He alleges Matthew and some friends were jumping their bikes off a ramp at the end of a friend's driveway and landing in the middle of the two-lane road.
A helmet does not protect again internal injuries on the body. Even if the kids are jump into the street, when passing, on should proceed when its safe. I wasn't there, I can see lots of scenarios, but of Prosecutors state he was doing 37 mph over the speed limit, and he got convicted, there's enough "evidence" to convict him. He's probably driving faster than he or anyone could react.
For a civil suit in the US, is it usually a private attorney, or can it be someone from the public defender's office?
Hmm, do you really think its possible to do 80ish MPH on a Bicycle? Kid was on a pedal bike, not a motorbike 'crotchrocket'.
America... *facepalm* I managed to hit 76kmph on a bicycle once. But that was when I was in top form, with a good long flat section to speed up, followed by a long super steep descent in a full tuck position. There's no way this kid was doing more than 30kmph given the facts provided in the article. Isn't this whole argument about the kid going 80mph moot anyway? The article clearly says The kid was not and could not have been doing 80mph.
I don't know the answer to your question but my guess is that he's not really defending himself since he is the one suing (albeit countersuing) so I don't think he can get a public defender. Also from another article on the story the guy in jail is representing himself on his countersuit. No lawyer.
I think this guy deserves a mandatory life sentance without the possiblity with no parole. Poor kid, I feel bad for the boy's family.
A helmet is completely irrelevant. People really need to stop thinking that they're some kind of magical shield of +10 invincibility, or something. They're designed for very low speed fall overs, and their ability to protect against that is questionable. Once any kind of speed becomes a factor, rotational forces to the head become a problem. That's where the really nasty neurological injuries come from. Bicycle helmets have been shown to increase both the chances of receiving that kind of injury, and the severity of them. There's no way in hell that any helmet would have saved that kid from getting nailed by a car moving at 80+ miles per hour. The helmet would have failed instantly, and I have a hard time believing that the kid didn't suffer life threatening (probably life ending) injuries to other parts of his body. No head protection is going to save your life, when your torso gets jellied by some drunken speed freak. I hope the judge not only throws this out, but also awards damages to the family, for the extra anguish. Wonder if somebody will let "Bubba" in cell block three know that this asshat killed a kid.
Next he'll sue the local police for not taking his license from him on earlier offences: "if ah couldn't drive, ah would not of killed that boy *hic*"