I-Like-To-Bike

I am commenting on the over-the-top hysterical responses on A&S to an inflated rhetorical headline.

Rollfast

I hope this thread has led you to the obvious truth that the article is Yahoo! Journalism.

The 'joyous season' always seems to make man into a drunken, mixed-up animal and hit and runs, domestic violence, ARSON AND MURDER, robberies and special this year, playing with police in the streets, phony studio hacks and not being able to play your video games are the results.

I hardly had the time to watch those old Rankin-Bass specials and ponder if the digital remastering or my advancing age had suddenly revealed what a hottie Mrs. Claus really was!

Happens every year, you were just able to gloss over it before.

rydabent

Read the thread about the drunk Bishop killing a cyclist. She had beem arrested before drunk driving and a pot pipe in her car.

genec

Can't help but wonder if she would have been caught if she had not returned to the scene.

Still can't help but wonder if she will be charged.

photogravity

I doubt she'll get charged, but if she does, it'll probably just be a slap on the wrist.

Dave Cutter

Most crimes of all sorts go unresolved. Even most outright murders... are unresolved (no conviction) at about the rate as hit and runs (involving a cyclist or not). I think people that expect arrests and convictions.... have maybe watched a little too much CSI (or other TV programs). I don't really understand what some people expect from the justice system. Or for that matter... what they think justice is.

I for one... if I am ran-over and killed while cycling. Won't rest better is some young drunken "lady" is imprisoned for a decade. While her children drift from home to home thru the child welfare system. It isn't that I don't want justice. It is I can't imagine what "justice" would look like. I do understand revenge... and I know what it looks like. But I don't carry that much fear or hatred around with me. I wouldn't want to live that way.

unterhausen

she was chased down by cyclists and told to return to the scene. She didn't do it on her own

genec

My personal opinion... I somewhat agree... I don't really want to see someone in jail, unless it is a flagrant hate style crime... you know, some jerk that hates cyclists just plowing into and killing some cyclist. That guy gets jail time.

But for anyone else... IMHO, if you kill while driving, you have lost forever the privilege of being able to drive. It's that simple. You've shown you can't "play with others." Game over.

The notion that driving a motor vehicle is a privilege, is too often lost on the general driving public.

genec

She needs some serious counseling about her role as a community leader... and needs to lose that privilege to drive a motor vehicle. And the family needs to be compensated for their loss. If I were a judge on her case I think I would "award" her some serious time as a community speaker with the goal of preaching about the dangers of alcohol and the responsibilities of driving a car.

unterhausen

alcoholism is a serious disease with very poor chances of successful treatment. She needs to serve time

FBinNY 

There was no mention in any of the articles about her being drunk, or anything about alcohol in this incident. Unless you're privy to other information your post is misleading.

Yes, she was charged in a prior incident in 2010, and given a conditional discharge (probation before trial, or whatever they call is in MD), but nothing between then and now.

Am I saying she's a nice person who's totally innocent, of course not, but we need to stay on point.

unterhausen

this isn't a court of law so we can speculate all we want. She clearly drove with reckless indifference. Speed limit on that road is 35, and it's huge and straight. No excuses. My guess is that she is fairly good at hiding how drunk she is given that the previous arrest involved blowing a number that would have left most of us unconscious. So maybe the cops didn't think of getting a blood level.
scene of the crime, look at the street view and note the total lack of traffic:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/57...18f173407e3b37

Dave Cutter

I agree with that! Far too often people are back behind the wheel way too soon. Banning people from the roads would be a great idea. I am not against jail time ether. But in most cases the threat of jail-time is empty. No one really supports long jail sentences.... for a mistake in judgment.

Dave Cutter

So... if she has an accident when having a heart attack.... should she go to jail?

genec

I would apply jail time to repeat offenses... even just to DUI while driving without a license. At some point some folks just need to be locked up.

But heck, I am not a judge... so my opinion is just that... my opinion.

rydabent

Claiming alcoholism is a disease in pure BS. Somehow society has been brain washed to think this. It probably came from some defense lawyer trying to get another drunk off. If it is a disease show me the germ or the virus. It is a personal weakness and lack of personal responsibility. When it affects others it is a crime.

I say since this is her second offense the judge should throw the book at her!!!!!!

Dave Cutter

So I'd guess heart failure and maybe cancer don't meet your "disease" requirements ether? I am all for personal responsibility too!!! But that also means accepting the plain fact that no one gets out of here alive. And traffic is a dangerous place to play. Our roadways are... and always will be... chock full of mentally, emotionally, and chemically impaired and/or distracted drivers. Laws, and jails can't change human nature.

Spend time on the roads... and you WILL be in an accident.

02Giant 

The damage to her vehicle would be quite difficult to have repaired without the cause of it being questioned (if she had been able to get away without being witnessed).

02Giant 

I wouldn't pretend to know the answers but losing the privilege to drive does not keep all of those convicted from getting behind the wheel. Some end up back behind the wheel sans a license and insurance. The Bishop as a pretty high profile Community Leader would likely be a success story.

bicyclelove

This is not true. An accident is not a sure thing! This is the sort of thinking that has made cars so "safe" with driver aids that people have forgotten how to drive. I know several people who have never had any kind of accident in 30 or more years of driving. ( I wish I could say that was me but I did crash when I was 17, and I have been tapped by a car on my bike. )

Dave Cutter

So do I. And if we really search hard enough we might find a person or two with 50 years on the road without an accident. But that really doesn't change the odds does it?

Saving Hawaii

My grandmother. Never been in an accident. Never even got a ticket. But the road behind her looks like Star Trek. https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1...9/Wolf_359.jpg

Dave Cutter

LOL (love the pic). But... bicyclelove is completely correct... that statistical odds are only true for populations... and not necessarily correct for every individual. But betting that you will be the exception... is a long bet.

And not being caught in being in an accident..... doesn't mean one wasn't a part of an accident.

wphamilton

Insurance industry estimates are that an average driver will have an accident every 17.9 years. As a better than average driver (it's been much more than 17.9 years since I had one, nor any other blemish on my record) it's not only conceivable but very likely that I'll now never have another.

It seems odd but a quick internet search turned up nothing about the distribution of time intervals between crashes. But, given that risky but easily avoidable behavior (such as driving impaired) is a factor in a large percentage of accidents, it's very reasonable to expect much longer periods between crashes. So I have to strongly disagree with the idea that if you drive long enough you will be involved in an accident, notwithstanding the fact that a very few of them are unavoidable.

I-Like-To-Bike

51+ years driving in both the U.S. and Europe, no accidents or "crashes" yet. Guess I better prepare to meet my maker, eh?