Drunk driver kills two cyclist, only gets two years in prison

that's so re-gosh-darn-diculous i can't even.....wow. Seriously? I would've had to be restrained and i probably would've gotten kicked out of the courtroom if i was there. Are we sure the judge wasn't drinking and smoking pot before the trial?

That is unbelieveable and outrageous.  We just had a situation in Chicago where two gangbangers were ramming their cars into each other and one of them took out a cyclist.  Will be interested to see what kind of sentence they get, especially since the one they charged so far is out on probabtion and ran after he hit the cyclist.   

Welcome to my world....  see this kinda stuff every day.  Sometimes I wonder why I keep going to work.  That's just a bunch of bull$#!t only two years.  makes me sick, and scared... I just did my first night run...

What kind of sentence would he have gotten if he shot both of them? Even if he pleaded guilty?

Who is Roy west?  we need to have him defeated!

so sad.. same thing happens around here.. bus driver smokes a cyclist and nothing happens..

Read this comment by one reader...

"...'how can ANYONE cycle down a road not meant for cyclist with vehicles passing at 60MPH or more?'..."

I wasn't aware that there were roads that were not meant for cyclists...aren't we (as cyclists) afforded the same opportunities as a motorist? I understand that we can't take our bikes out on the interstate, but his reader is referring to a farm road (FM).

Kevin

Yes, you are afforded the same opportunities as a motorist. You are also afforded the opportunity to possibly get smashed by a ton and a half of car while on your 20lb bike.

As for myself, I dont think the fact that I was riding my bike within the law will be much comfort to my family and friends. So, I choose where I ride carefully. As my father used to say, "You'd be in the right, but you'd be dead right!"

That being said, I think the sentence is a f%&king joke. Ive always thought drunk drivers who kill people should be charged with pre-meditated murder. They knew they were drunk when they got in the car, that takes care of the pre-meditated part. They may not have planned on killing someone, I dunno, is the a pre-meditated manslaughter charge?

Edited by nhunter344 2009-12-18 9:07 AM

The new thing in Oregon is the courts saying if we have probable cause to ask a person to do field sobriety tests, then we should have to get a search warrant as we are gaining evidence against the person.  It really seems like they keep trying to make it harder for us to take impaired drivers off the road....

What does a Texas first-time drunk driver typcially get if he kills someone who is in a car?  I'm assuming he's a first-timer since previous incidents weren't mentioned.  Isn't two years a fairly normal sentence around here?  I really don't know...

Regardless, we need to do something more serious about drunk driving in this country.

Brian 

Since moving to the US, I've probably rode my bike on the asphalt >15 times in 2 years, that weren't big group rides or closed road events...  This is a perfect example of the reason why.
I love living in America, but the car is king and cycling as a mode of transport or for recreation will allways be insignificant to the masses.

Condolances to the families.

And when you are in your 3,500 lbs. car you are afforded the opportunity to possibly get smashed by a 40-ton tractor trailer rig whose stopping distances are 50% longer than your car, manuevarability is virtually nil, etc.  Would your family and friends feel the same way?  I mean, you were operating your car within the law when that 18-wheeler ran through the stop light and smashed your car flat.  Would they say, 'Well, he should have been driving a dump truck, then he wouldn't be dead right...'

I am not trying to be argumentative, but I think we should be able to ride our bikes with the expectation that people aren't going to run us over or at least that the chances are so slim as to make it a reasonably safe activity.  Nevertheless, I get your point.  And I agree, the sentence is laughable.

As far as the premeditation and murder charge, etc. it isn't going to happen.  The 'murder' wasn't premeditated, only the drinking.  The difference here is between malice and negligence.  You must have malice for murder, and here you have only negligence.

Greg

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/members/dist23/dist23.htm

Here is Royce West's website.  Leave him a message.  I did.  I'm not in his district but will do every thing I can to make sure he's not re-elected.  Dallas Co.'s judicial system is a joke. 

This user's post has been ignored.

Edited by trotpntbll 2009-12-18 10:06 AM

Comparatively, that's a pretty long sentence...

A Santa Clara County (CA) deputy fell asleep and killed 2 cyclists and injured a 3rd.  He got 4 months house arrest and a demotion - he still works for the sheriff...
http://cbs5.com/local/cyclist.death.lawsuit.2.1067574.html

I agree...I'm not saying it is any consolation to the family if you get squished. But, I guess the point I was trying to make was the posted said (without saying so) that the cyclist had no business being on that road. So, it was the cyclists fault for putting himself in that position?

I completely agree and I wish things werent as they are. Then again, if it were up to me, I probably wouldnt give drivers licenses to 75% of the people who currently have them. We have law after law for guns, yet 20x more people are killed by cars and we still hand out licenses to anyone that has a pulse and is of age.

Sorry for the rant, its just a pet peeve of mine.

Besides that, had they been driving in a car instead of on bikes, they would have been hit and killed just the same.  I take a risk every time I ride on the road, but I trust that these 60 mph cars are operating LEGALLY.

My wife's parents were both killed by a drunk driver. The guy got six months probation and killed someone else about 18 months later in an accident he caused while drunk. He just got out of prison after about 15 years.

Horrible, ugly situation.

Mike