Redpath

FYI-complete video of the Hess araignment.

This tragedy gets worse and worse. Hopefully Ms. Hess will be tucked away for a long time-with some company even. And maybe, just maybe we will get some new/tougher laws here in New Hampshire. Which really is a fantastic place to ride your bike in spite of this horrible event.

https://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll...11/0/FRONTPAGE

rumrunn6

remains in custody and the court hearing done via video no doubt to avoid her being attacked in transit or in court? surprised Bulger was let out of prison for his trial.

ScottRyder 

uh uh Bulger stayed in jail the whole time. : )

Scott

gabedad

True dat

KD5NRH

It didn't. You're looking at US-1. The wreck happened on NH-1A at Hampton Harbor. Long two-lane bridge with no shoulder.

Metaluna

Sorry for bumping this thread, but there has been an update on this case. The driver has been indicted for allegedly being under the influence of 4 different drugs at the time of the crash:

https://hampton-northhampton.patch.co...of-fatal-crash

10 Wheels

Thanks

dynodonn 

Hell, if one is good, more must be even better.

ScottRyder 

Thanks, I hope the local TV media follows up on this as well.

Scott

rumrunn6

wow, that punk was sky high

Fentanyl - anesthetic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fentanyl

Klonopin (Clonazepam?) - hypnotic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klonopin

Percocet - schedule 2 narcotic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percocet

Benzodiazepines - sleep-inducing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepines

john.b

Is she rich enough to qualify for the affluenza defense? I guess we'll know at sentencing.

atbman

"HAMPTON, N.H. — Police say the driver in a crash that killed two cyclists in New Hampshire did not have a license and had been stopped hours earlier for speeding.

Hampton Deputy Police Chief Richard Sawyer tells the Portsmouth Herald (https://bit.ly/1fc1LnU) 20-year-old Darriean Hess of Seabrook was stopped at 12:46 a.m. Saturday for speeding in the same area where the crash happened eight hours later.

He says she didn't have a license. She was ticketed and ordered to wait for a friend to drive her car away."

In the UK, the car would have been impounded by the police under those circumstances - and driving without a licence is a criminal offence and not an "infraction"

And it wasn't her car, apparently. Don't your police carry out any checks? And did they wait to see if the "friend" turned up?

ScottRyder 

In the U.S. it's up to the individual states how they handle driving without a license issues. If this had happened a mile south in Massachusetts she most likely would have been arrested.

Scott

Metaluna

Highly doubtful. As I recall, her history is kind of a hard luck story. Dad's in prison, mom died suddenly when she was young, and basically was raised by her older brother and sister, who I'm guessing didn't have parenting as a high priority.

mconlonx

1) She's kinda pretty. Bet that played into how things worked out with the cop during the first stop.
2) She was not intoxicated. Which is what cops are really looking for during late-night weekend stops.
3) She was ticketed for speeding and driving w/o a license and released when a licensed driver showed up, per department SOP.
-however-
4) 29 mph over the speed limit is 1mph below automatic arrest speed (30mph, misdemeanor), and although I have absolutely no shred of evidence to back it up, I'd be willing to bet she was going faster and should have been arrested, but the cop used his discretion to tag her for the lesser speed (moving violation/civil infraction).

No one's talking about it locally -- many focus on the unlicensed driver aspect of the whole deal -- but the speeding charge should very much be investigated, as that's the one where I see the most chance of a cop having screwed up a discretion call will lethal results.

atbman

Again, in the UK the licensed owner of the car would have found that s/he would have been (probably) arrested on the grounds of allowing an unqualified driver to use his/her car. That would probably have made them extremely reluctant to lend it to this foolish / reckless /incompetent girl again, even if the police had only issued a caution* for doing so - with a stern warning of the probable consequences of doing so again.

Whatever would have hapened, it is possible / likely / probable that this terrible tragedy would have been avoided.

*A caution results in a criminal record in the UK

mconlonx

It seems that driving and licensing regulations are much tougher in the UK and Eur than they are in the USA, where driving is oft assumed to be a right on par with gun ownership.

ScottRyder 

Again, it depends what state you live in .. At least with a car you need to take a test to get your license and carry auto insurance. My impression is that it's easier and cheaper to own a gun. But that's a debate for some other forum.

I have heard some rumblings that the state of NH is looking to change the law to make it a felony to drive without a valid license .. That would be a positive step.

Scott

john.b

Impounding the car of an unlicensed driver on the spot would be a good start.

ScottRyder 

Keep in mind what it reads on a New Hampshire license plate:

"Live Free or Die"

The driver went free, the women died.

Scott

gabedad

Thanks for the update

mconlonx

Woman indicted on dispensing drug charge in death of bicyclists
By Kimberley Haas, Friday, January 17, 2014

BRENTWOOD — The woman who allegedly distributed the powerful painkiller fentanyl to Darriean Hess just hours before she plowed a vehicle into a group of bicyclists last fall was indicted by a grand jury at Rockingham County Superior Court during its January session.

Cindy Sheppard, 48, of 51 Ocean Blvd, Apt. 5, in Hampton, was indicted on charges of dispensing a controlled drug and possession of fentanyl, cocaine and methadone while on release on bail. She was also indicted on a charge of allowing an improper person to operate a vehicle.

spare_wheel

aren't cars covered by the second amendement too?

mconlonx

Many drivers seem to think it's a right...

rydabent

The driver will probably just get the usual slap on the wrist.

IMO this is where we need mandatory laws. Kill a pedestrian or a cyclist, automatic 20 years in prision. No judge, no jury or no whining defence att could get killer drivers off.