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i too must agree with sav. based on the version we have been given the woman is completely at fault for her accident. example, rather than swerve and lose control she could have slammed on the brakes and rearended the other guy. condolences to the family
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"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Originally posted by SAV:
He was wrong for speeding and that's about it. The chick's critical condition/death is her own doing. It was her choice and her choice alone not to take the two seconds of her life to buckle a seatbelt. Moreover, I'm going to assume she's that much more irresponsible if she couldn't even make sure that the children in the rear were buckled. I send my prayers out to her and her family, but I'm not going to seek out the guy in the Talon and hope that he gets sued or thrown in jail for something he had no control over. That's just ridiculous.
-SAV
Wearing a seatbelt is common sense and if you don't, Darwin will rear his ugly head. Not saying I'd wish this accident on anyone, but come on, are we that suprised that she was/is in such bad shape? Also, 80 mph is hardly reckless driving (I imagine the speedlimit is 65?) and a tire blowing out isn't something you can predict, so getting vehicular manslaughter will most likely not happen.
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Originally posted by Pigeon:
If his actions caused the other driver to swerve to avoid a collision he's still responsible, touch or no touch.
Right, but is it manslaughter? Unless witnesses say the guy was cutting people off beforehand, it sounds like negligence at the worst, simply because 80MPH is technically/legally reckless driving.
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Originally posted by deftoned989:
Originally posted by SAV:
He was wrong for speeding and that's about it. The chick's critical condition/death is her own doing. It was her choice and her choice alone not to take the two seconds of her life to buckle a seatbelt. Moreover, I'm going to assume she's that much more irresponsible if she couldn't even make sure that the children in the rear were buckled. I send my prayers out to her and her family, but I'm not going to seek out the guy in the Talon and hope that he gets sued or thrown in jail for something he had no control over. That's just ridiculous.
-SAV
Wearing a seatbelt is common sense and if you don't, Darwin will rear his ugly head. Not saying I'd wish this accident on anyone, but come on, are we that suprised that she was/is in such bad shape? Also, 80 mph is hardly reckless driving (I imagine the speedlimit is 65?) and a tire blowing out isn't something you can predict, so getting vehicular manslaughter will most likely not happen.
in order to be charged with vehicular manslaughter he would need to have committed criminal negligence, not just "ordinary negligence". criminal negligence can be drunk driving, driving under the influence of drugs (illegal or not), reckless driving etc.. driving 80 in a 65 is not reckless driving, unless of course the road was covered in black ice or something. i would imagine that speeds in excess of 100mph on a freeway would constitute reckless driving. what if he would have blown a tire at 65mph? i dont see any cause for a manslaughter charge here unless there is more to the story than we are told.
of course, he can be held civily liable because he was the proximate cause of the accident. even if your tires do blow out for no fault of your own, you are responsible for them under res ipsa loquitor (the thing speaks for itself). not to mention he was negligent for driving even ONE mile over the speed limit. people must realize that we all commit negligent acts everyday, like talking on the cell phone while driving, adjusting the AC or radio, or one hand on the wheel while the other holding a soda. its just that 99.99999% of these negligent acts do not lead to accidents, we're lucky.
although he may be civily liable to the woman's family for his negligence it would need to be determined by expert witnesses what exactly was the cause of the accident. was it his speeding? or were the tires faulty? normal tires in reasonable condition should not blow out at 75mph. think about, most of the people drive that fast on the freeway on their stock tires. 
after cause is determined the case will then turn to contributory negligence. was her response to the accident reasonable? would a reasonable person swerve hard to avoid the accident? or would a reasonble person slam on the brakes? (as suggested) ALSo, would she have survived had she been wearing her seatbelt? these are all things to be determined by expert witnesses and finally decided upon by a jury.
THEN, it all boils down to how your state views contributory negligence. some say the award will be less whatever percentage you contributed to the accident $200k minus 30% at fault, some say you must have no more than 40% contribution or you get nothing at all, while very few give the plaintiff 100%.
to me, this has all the makings of a complex car accident negligence case and possibly a products liability case against the tire manufacturer.
if your name was taken down as a witness dont be suprised if the insurance companies or attorneys call you. it will probably settle out of court as most do anyhow.
Originally posted by Tourgasm:
Sometimes you can mess up a word so bad that spell check doens't know what the hell you're talking about.
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In MA (for comparisons sake), if you are caught driving more than 20 MPH over the posted speed limit, it is considered reckless driving.
You did what you could do to make that woman comfortable...possibly for her last few minutes on earth. I've witnessed a number fatalities over the years (I wished I hadn't) and not one of them made any sense....it's hard to make sense out of someone dying over a tire blow-out. But, as someone mentioned, if it's your time, it's your time"
A1C Hodges, Christopher Active Duty USAF Sheppard AFB Texas;Westover ARB Chicopee, MA
NECEG "Troll"
formerly owned 2000 SVT Contour, with all kinds of goodies;)
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In VA, reckless driving is 20 over OR 80MPH. VA and MD share many of these same statues, so I'm assuming it's the same.
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Originally posted by svt4stv:
driving 80 in a 65 is not reckless driving
If would be if it was in VA.
Beaten - 2003 MazdaSpeed Protege 29K <- broken hearted
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Originally posted by Viss1:
In VA, reckless driving is 20 over OR 80MPH. VA and MD share many of these same statues, so I'm assuming it's the same.
I do not know about the 20 MPH over but I know MD does not share the anything over 80 MPH no matter what the speed limit is.
Beaten - 2003 MazdaSpeed Protege 29K <- broken hearted
Daily/Weekend Beater - 1990 miata 138K - AutoX every weekend = Adult driven on weekends
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Originally posted by moxnix:
Originally posted by Viss1:
In VA, reckless driving is 20 over OR 80MPH. VA and MD share many of these same statues, so I'm assuming it's the same.
I do not know about the 20 MPH over but I know MD does not share the anything over 80 MPH no matter what the speed limit is.
well therein lies the issue that poor sob is going to face.  how many of us have driven that fast on a freeway? imagine something being perfectly sober and going to prison for 5-10 for something not 100% your fault. 
Originally posted by Tourgasm:
Sometimes you can mess up a word so bad that spell check doens't know what the hell you're talking about.
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Yikes. That had to be quite an experience. I've seen many accidents, but never anything that severe. My seat belt saved my ass about a month ago. Long story short, I was in my Lincoln Mark VIII, swerved to avoid a deer, skidded into a ditch, and hit a tree stump that was hidden under some brush. I remember being slightly dazed, and annoyed that the car would not crank or show any other signs of life. I got out to survey the damage, and noticed that about a third of the front end and much of the undercarriage was missing in action.  The airbags did not go off, which was very surprising given the severity of the accident. My sole "injury" was a scrape across my neck and chest from the seat belt doing its thing. The cop couldn't believe that I walked away without a scratch. If I didn't buckle up, I'd probably be facing reconstructive surgery right now--if I was lucky. A few years ago, a friend of mine was driving on a snow-covered road. Some jackass passed him, and spun out into his path. He T-boned the car at about 45 mph. Because he was buckled up, he just got a scrape on his forehead from the sun visor. Why people don't buckle up is beyond me.
'99 Contour Sport V6 MTX
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