I'd like to see a bill introduced that expands the reckless driving stating 80 mph is reckless regardless of posted speed and 100mph is not only racing (even if single car), but attempted murder of each and every single passenger in a vehicle passed on the roadway. At what point do you stop and say he wasn't just endangering himself but also of everyone around him? The cop was doing his job and trying to protect people who could have innocently died as a result.

Motorcycles speeding and weaving through traffic on the capital beltway (I-495) directly results in several fatal accidents each year because of people slamming on their brakes after being cut off. There was a really bad one this summer that stands out in my mind.

 

Two little old women were killed in Vinton a few years back because of a police officer "chasing a vehicle." Supposedly the officer had consumed alcohol, and from what I was told there was evidence to prove he did not even have his lights on. I saw the accident immediately after it happened and my friends and I were there before paramedics even came. Unfortunately it was too late anyway. It was a friends grandmother and aunt.

Guess what happened to the officer......... Nothing. He was given an extended paid vacation, and he ended up becoming a Sheetz security guard for some time. I don't know what he's doing now, but he did something that caused two women to lose their lives. Did they throw the book at him?

I'm not saying people should be free to do whatever they want without the fear of a chase, but there needs to be some sort of limitation. I agree that it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation because the bike did something to draw attention to himself and was obviously breaking the law if he was being chased for some reason, but all that does is create a minimum of two high speed vehicles which could both prove to be deadly to some innocent bystander. It's not worth it... For what??? A speeding ticket? I'm not saying the motorcyclist is in the right for running, by any means, before you try to say anything about the "typical motorcyclist mentality." I don't condone eluding. I fucked up before, and I'm sure a lot of people on here remember the story. I didn't try to get away. I did what I thought was right and faced the consequences of a bad decision. I don't think it's worth the risk to run, but I also don't think it's worth the risk to chase in most cases either.

Furthermore, what's your point about motorcycles causing accidents? The argument could be made about cell phones, drunk driving, etc. People die walking across the street or eating a BLT sandwich...

 

You're trying to make an argument using exceptions rather than general behavior. No one should drive drunk in the first place. Statistics show that the majority of people who try to outrun police while being stopped were not trying to just escape a broken tail light or simple speeding charge -- it's how many felons, murderers, kidnappers, and drug convoys are caught. There is a reason why they run.

 

I disagree with statistics then. I have nothing to back it up with, but I've known plenty of people who ran just because they didn't want to face the consequences for their actions. When I put myself in a situation, I had to make a split second decision to either run or pull over. I pulled over, but had I ran, I might as well have kept running until I couldn't run anymore. Some people might make a split second decision to run because they're full of adrenaline and not thinking straight, and once you start running, bam.... felony!

 

Bah. That 80 crap is bullshit anyway. It should be case-by-case. Always.

 

This should be a sticky quote for this site.

 

I think you should take a bath with a plugged-in toaster. You do that and we'll see what we can do with your request nerd.