Cop dies pursuing a Porsche and Bike racing

Jims5543 · 12-08-2005, 08:05 AM

Old story. I am curious what the opinion here would be. The guy on the bike was charged with manslaughter. He claims he never saw the cop chasing him.

http://www.local6.com/news/5118250/detail.html

Opinions?

Jims5543 · 12-08-2005, 08:08 AM

BTW - From what I can tell the Porsche got away, and was never found.

B D · 12-08-2005, 08:09 AM

I think that's BS. If he hit someone going those speeds he should be charged with manslaughter, but not in this case.

BlueSkyJaunte · 08:16 AM

The cop, the judge, and the jury are all idiots.

An out-of-control Crown Vic flying down the road at 150 mph has the potential to do lots more damage to innocent bystanders than any bike or 911.

Jims5543 · 12-08-2005, 08:12 AM

I know there are some officers on this board. Would you even turn on your lights and try to pursue a car/bike doing 150+ that passed you while you were sitting on the side of the road?

What happened to the old saying you can never out run a radio?

TerryBPP · 12-08-2005, 08:13 AM

Regardless of the details if you street racing and someone dies they are not going to let you walk away. Stupid for racing, cop was stupid for chasing (not supposed to in FL), and the court did the right thing. They made an example.

Jims5543 · 12-08-2005, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
The cop, the judge, and the jury are all idiots.

An out-of-control Crown Vic flying down the road at 150 mph has the potential to do lots more damage to innocent bystanders than any bike or 911.

Actually the cop was in a Camaro.

http://www.local6.com/news/3779236/detail.html

In my opinion these guys are the worst. They think they are in a sports car when in actuality they are in a muscle car. Probably not up to the 150MPH he was trying to wring out of it.

The cop hit an Audi (figures!) after his tire blew and then proceeded to wrap the Camaro around a tree.

BlueSkyJaunte · 12-08-2005, 08:17 AM

Camaro, Crown Vic, same overweight POS.

Further, anyone who's ever ridden a sportbike knows that at over 90mph you DON'T look behind you or you're DEAD.

No, they shouldn't have been racing. No, they shouldn't have been exceeding the limit by 2.5x. But the cop was dumb as a bag of rocks and now the motorcyclist is paying for that stupidity.

oldE · 12-08-2005, 08:32 AM

"An out-of-control Crown Vic" Actually, it was a Camaro. Be that as it may, I don't feel the motorcyclist's actions were the direct cause of the law enforcement officer's death. It was certainly a contributing factor. The bottom line reasons were the skill level of the officer, his judgement in his pursuit of the speeder and the condition of his pursuit vehicle and the highway.
I would think the motorcyclist should have been convicted with reckless endangerment and the other charges under the motor vehicle act, for the simple fact he was travelling at that speed on a public highway, but the officer paid with his life with his decision to pursue in a manner he or his vehicle was not qualified to handle.
I would also think, from my limited experience at lower velocities (100 mph) on a bike, that the cyclist's statement he didn't see the police car in pursuit, has some validity.
Les

Jims5543 · 12-08-2005, 08:34 AM

Raise your hand if you have ever been out with your car friends and decided to do a high speed run.

*raises hand**

Now what would you think upon arriving home and found a patrol car waiting for you to arrest you? You come to find out a cop tried to pursue you and your friend and lost control of his car and died.

Now you are going to jail for manslaughter.

Makes you think twice about going fast in your car. You might end up charged with killing someone.

TerryBPP · 12-08-2005, 08:35 AM

The bike drivers lawyer should have asked the judge to get on a bike and hit 150. Then ask what was behind him at the time.

RallyJon · 12-08-2005, 08:37 AM

Any judgement that evokes the phrase "making an example" should be ripe for appeal.

JavaBrewer · JavaBrewer's Garage

At 80 the bar end mirrors on my S3 are pretty much useless.

Jims5543 · 12-08-2005, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TerryBPP
Regardless of the details if you street racing and someone dies they are not going to let you walk away. Stupid for racing, cop was stupid for chasing (not supposed to in FL), and the court did the right thing. They made an example.

I agree 100% this guy was made an example of to prove a point. Will it stop me from doing a triple digit pull on a desolate road? probably not.

I do not spend my spare time racing at 150 MPH on the street so in all honesty this is not an issue for me. But, if something happens far away from you and you are blamed because you made a poor choice be prepared to be fully responsible.

RallyJon · 12-08-2005, 09:04 AM

Quote:

But, if something happens far away from you and you are blamed because you made a poor choice be prepared to be fully responsible.

I'm curious why this same wacky reasoning doesn't apply elsewhere in life? How can you be responsible, not just for speeding but for manslaughter, when you weren't even remotely involved?

How about this: I'm driving down the street minding my own business and a riced out Honda decides it's time to try for a "kill". He zooms through traffic to catch up to me and a cop sees him just as he passes me at a high rate of speed and crashes into a minivan full of cute toddlers. I'll be in jail for a long time for streetracing, manslaughter, etc, etc.

We need to have laws that assign blame to the real idiots, whether Honda drivers or cops in Camaros, not those who would be unknowing "accessories".

84porsche · 84porsche's Garage

The officer should have discontinued pursuit in this case. Even the video games get it right. If an officer puts himself in danger or other people around him in danger, he should not pursuit the violator. They have airplanes and other officers by radio that could have stopped this guy. For the officer to even attempt to catch this guy is insane. Yes the criminal is a violator but its common sense and good judgement that should win in this situation.

RallyJon · 12-08-2005, 09:08 AM

By the way, is there some standard that cops have to follow in order to be "in pursuit"? You know, like they have to shout out "Police" or something when breaking down your door, so if you shoot them it's no longer self defense.

84porsche · 84porsche's Garage

Take a look at this ...

http://www.geocities.com/americanautobahn/policepursuit.html

KFC911 · 12-08-2005, 09:29 AM

Hypothetically: What if someone was going, say 13 mph over the speed limit, and a cop (going the opposite direction) turns around and decides to pursue. I actually had that happen to me many years ago, and the young cop was actually giddy that he had gotten his 5.0 Mustang up over triple digits in order to catch me. If he had wrecked, etc. would I have been guilty of manslaughter for 'going with the flow' of traffic on an Interstate? Not in my opinion...

kaisen · 12-08-2005, 09:35 AM

Why have a Camaro or Mustang as a cop car? A clean top Crown Vic will break 130 - isn't that fast enough?

A Camaro or Mustang is a 'pursuit' car - period.

BTW, Camaro B4C 'service duty' pursuit cars handle 150mph just fine, without breaking a sweat. They came from the factory with Z rated Goodyear Eagles and have suspension, cooling, and brakes to handle it quite well. They did just fine in showroom stock racing too.

That cop should have called off the pursuit, even if he were in a Ferrari Enzo and had been through racing school.

E