DnvrFox

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/n...yclist_b1.html

slvoid

"Both cyclists were wearing helmets, King said."
Well now that gets rid of THAT excuse. Good to see responsible reporting.
Regardless, these drunk sons of b*tches p*ss me off!

AndrewP

It is to avoid drivers like this that I wear a Third Eye mirror.

Chris L

Doesn't always work. A friend of mine was sitting in his lounge room watching TV when a drunk driver literally tried to drive right through it a few years back.

madpogue 

Gotta wonder who put up the $30K bail to spring this souse. If a member of your family had done something like this, would you bail her/him out?

purple hayes

Nope. They could rot in a cell right along with their liver.

Gojohnnygo.

My prayers go out to Alan Liu and his family.



DnvrFox, Have you heard anything on the condition of the female cyclist?

SteveE

The two cyclists (neither of whom I know personally) are from my area, so I have been following this fairly closely.

Mr. Hereford is apparently an attorney and member of the California Bar according to reports. He had the $6K required to make the $30K bail. Incredibly, he was given a temporary driving permit so as not to be inconvenienced prior to his trial!?!?!?! I am absolutely speechless that this is allowed!

From a posting I received on another list from someone who knew Alan Liu:

"Jill is in critical condition in a Santa Rosa hospital with a severed spine and severe head trauma."

Let's all hope and pray for her recovery.

ChezJfrey

How thoughtful of our legal system - protecting the conveniences of those who can afford the price

bac

UFB!

vixen2yall

two words, "firing squad!"

kat

forum*rider

Thats D*** right! My grandfather was killed when my mom was 7 as a result of a drunk driver. I think our legal system should be ALOT harder on drunk drivers.

vixen2yall

that and *******, but that's a personal wish.

cheers
kat

supcom

Unblievable, if indeed this is the case. This is the kind of situation where you read later that the same guy kills someone else driving drunk while awaiting trial.

Remember how Ken Kifer was killed by a drunk who had just been released from jail on a DWI arrest?

Drunk drivers should have their cars crushed - with them inside.

Poguemahone

While I'm not one for the draconian justice proposed by some (a nice long rot in a jail cell sounds just fine to me; of course, it will be a dry rot), I am stunned that the driver in this case has been granted a temporary driving permit.

Driving is not a right. Taking away the ability to drive does not constitute punishment (sorry) although it may seem do in our society. There are alternative means of transport, as those of us on this board are well aware. Let the SOB ride a bike in traffic for awhile; he can certainly afford to take a cab if he can make that bail, should he not care to risk being run over by fools like his own self. No way, being charged with a crime like this, should he be behind the wheel right now.

slvoid

The problem with society is that the whole infrastructure's designed so that people think/expect driving to be a right. Mass transit + biking would still get you between the suburbs and the city for a lot of people if the automobile industry didn't completely destroy billions of dollars worth of railway industry.

I've said this before and I will continue to say it, the easiest way to get away with murder in this country is to premeditate an "accident" and use the "sun was in my eyes" excuse.

Chris L

It also helps if you use the "I was drunk so I wasn't in control of my actions" excuse. To be honest, it doesn't particularly surprise me that he got the old "can still drive while awaiting trial" provision. Did you know that in some states of Australia, you can actually "drive for work-related purposes" even after having your licence cancelled for drink driving?

To be honest I'm really not concerned with the "punishment" aspect of it. All I really care about is that he's taken off the road by whatever means possible so that he can't do it again. I really don't see why things like this don't attract a mandatory car confiscation at the very least.

"All I preach is extinction" -- Manic Street Preachers.

slvoid

I think in NYC when mayor guillani was still in office, there was a rule saying if you were caught driving drunk on a major holiday, your car or not, the car is taken away, no if's and's or but's about it. THAT I liked.

It's absolutely ridiculous and there's no sense in saying, "oh don't worry, the 2 people I killed were while I was driving, and I'm not driving anymore, I'm JUST AWAITING TRIAL [GOING TO WORK]".

supcom

In the US, the 'I was drunk' excuse no longer works. In fact, being drunk is sufficient grounds for a felony indictment in connection with a fatal accident. Same goes for being high on drugs.

Revenig

How can this person sleep at nights knowing that he ended one life and permanently damaged another life?

Chris L

Sadly, I have so little faith in human nature these days, that I don't expect they'll even care.

supcom

With great difficulty, I imagine.

madpogue 

If they had remanded, or set his bail such that he wouldn't have been able to pay it, he would have gotten free transportation from the jail to the courthouse (probably across the street, or thru some tunnel, or just down an elevator).

A drunk attorney struck a car here and killed one child and injured another a year or so back. It was his seventh DUI conviction. His BAC was .193, almost twice the legal limit at the time, over twice the new legal limit set just recently, and almost ten times the level he was allowed as a repeat convicted drunk driver. He also fled the scene. His car only got a few blocks before it broke down, so he ran several blocks after that. At the time, if he had not been caught in time for the BAC test, and instead sobered up before being found, the charge of leaving the scene of a death crash would have been less than the charge of DUI in a death crash. The two now are equally severe charges, removing the incentive for DUI killers to leave the scene.

The driver of the other car did not have the kids properly restrained. Yeah, that was stupid, but the attorney had the gall to try to get the charges against him dropped/reduced on that basis. The judge would have nothing of it. The perp then changed his plea to guilty, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Attorneys I've talked to about this case tell me that alcoholism is common in their profession.

daffodil

Alan was my swim coach and Jill a teammate... our team has been following this closely, but we had not heard about the temporary driving permit. Where/how did you get this information?

BeTheChange

The beginning of this semester (late december) a car ran into the business above my apartment. Condemned the building and I had to find a new place. It was some older guy with alzhiemers who found his keys (how hard is it to hide keys from someone with alzhiemers?). There need to be much harder test for driving in this country. Jesus, I remember mine. I drove a total of maybe 1/8 of a mile, turned around and then parked, that was it. That's one thing that would help everyone. Peace.