Yes it is f'ed up and the one guy is right, it's not an accident, it's negligence, pure and simple.
I just got home from my 3 kids and me visiting my mom in a town 20 miles away.
We are in my ford exployer on a two lane road and im behind a pickup truck doing the speed limit of 55, im a good 5 or six car lengths behind the truck and this car comes flying up on my ***, swerving all over the road riding my tail, wanting to go faster.
He keeps coming up on my bumper and will back off a little, we finally get were he can pass and he doesnt, so next time he comes up on my bumper I stopped in the middle of the road, and waved him around, he punches it and as he goes by I gave him the 1 finger salute.
Well guess what? he get to the traffic light in my town at the exact same time I do, in such a hurry but gettin nowhere.
But most of the time I get dispatched to calls of people having head on collisions because of ******** just like this guy, in a damn hurry to get no where and no regard for other peoples lives.
This guy in this case needs to pay more then what has been handed to him, and until the courts start doing a better job and make examples out of the offenders nothing will change im affraid.

 

To me it's like our society's drunk driving rule enforcement. They don't do enough to curb it on an ongoing basis, but they might hammer somebody when they screw up and kill someone. That's great that you are ruining that dude's life, and his family's future, but how about doing something to keep it from happening as often? If the punishment for the everyday DUI, and DWT had some teeth, then it would make an impact on folks decisions. But if you're only gonna hammer the unlucky ones that actually kill somebody, well, people will think they can avoid killing someone and play the odds. We're all bullet-proof, right? That's how folks think a lot of times. It's always the other guy. He'll screw up and kill someone, but I'll slide by alright- I'll take my chances. Of course this dude should see the inside of a prison, but more should be done to lessen the desire to drink/talk/text while driving on a daily basis. Talk amongst yoselves-

 

Well just goes to show you if you want to kill someone run them down in your car and get a slap on the wrist!

 

If the texing cage killed a cop, or a judge, or a polition,
would it still be an "oh well **** happens" ? The law
should defend a nobody like me the same by imposing
the same punishment on the killer. Maby after a while
dumb asses would be afraid to text and drive

 

Okay, so you want more to be done to lessen the drinking driver?
The police set up checkpoints to get drunks off the road before they hurt or kill someone, people start raising hell that its entrapment, not right, against my constitutional rights.
Also, if the court can prove that you were in a bar and they served you too much and let you drive away they can face criminal charges also, but you never hear of that happening.
You say "hammer the unlucky ones", I say if you drink and drive you should be ready to face any consequences that may arise.
The best thing that could happen is the people of this nation grow up and act responsible instead of having a "im going to do what the hell I want to do no matter what" attitude.
Im tired after 25 plus years of pulling dead people out of vehicles because of some damn drunk driving , texting bastard.

 

has anyone ever been convicted and jailed for years for killing a motorcyclist for texting, illegal left turn, crossing the center line, etc. etc. etc

 

Fireman9513- Yessir, I do want more done to reduce drunk/text/cell talking while driving. All I was saying is that I don't think it's a good idea to hit someone with the full force of the law ONLY when they cause a wreck that kills someone. I think the punishment for drunk/distracted driving ought to be significant to a degree that offenders really take notice, and it curbs behavior. If you get caught drunk behind the wheel, you ought to see some tall fines and lose your license for a few months. Hell, maybe they already do that, I don't know. But the point is that you can't expect people to stop doing something if you only REALLY punish them when they do the worst thing. Hit 'em hard for the first time, and they won't want to have a first time... or most wouldn't.
I'm not going to ever say that a checkpoint is a good idea. This is America- not **** Germany, or Soviet Russia. We have to protect our freedom and we should oppose unwarranted stops. I don't know how you feel about it, but to me it's kind of like the drug war. You give law enforcement too much power and they start to get overly invasive and pretty soon you don't have much privacy or freedom. They may be stopping folks to check on drivers licenses, or insurance, or inebriation, but if they find your gun, or your baseball bat, or any number of other things, don't you think they will prosecute you just the same? It's like a dragnet. "Papers?" I don't support it. And I've got a totally clean criminal record, and wouldn't think about doing drugs. But I understand slippery slopes, and giving away freedoms.
And I'm glad I'm not the guy who has to pull bodies out. There are certain groups in society that end up doing the dirty work so that the rest of us can enjoy safe and tidy lives. Cops, firefighters, ems, military, correctional officers... the list goes on, but those and many others do things that your average car salesman or software writer wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

 

Kill a biker, go to jail! Period!

 

My feeling is if you are talking on your cell phone while operating a motor vehicle you are impaired and should be treated the same as if you were drunk.

 

Maybe in N.C. that is the penalty for vehicular homocide. In N.C. is a motorcycle classified as a motor vehicle. If so, then that is the law and it is screwed up. What is the penalty for texting while driving , $1oo? The citizens must demand stronger laws, good luck with that. Maybe ABATE of N.C. should step up as the go between the motorcycle riders of N.C. and it's lawmakers. We have a law that applies to road workers, "injure or kill, 7 years or $15K in fines", I think the same law should apply to injuring/killing bikers, doubt that will ever happen.