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Detroit, 10:33 PM
Sat Nov 21
14 posts in the last 24 hours
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12:40 PM
[www.guardian.co.uk]
#tips, #privacy, #civil liberties, #UK, #police
09:25 AM
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
From the evidence here, it's pretty obvious that the two cops were either racing to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts, or just having some good old we-can-do-this-'cause-we're-cops fun. Sad.
11/20/09
A bad idea, yeah. I try my best to avoid it, but if there were citations for this, every state debt would be paid for by the people within three days.
Left. Lane. Squatters. Suck.
More than double-posted + no lights = guilty of stupidity and reckless endangerment.
Had this been a "civilian", they'd have been hung, roadside.
For the record, change the Miata to a motorcycle, and this is one of, if not the most common accident which affects those on two-wheels.
11/20/09
11/20/09
Genius.
NW Oregon freeways are jammed at least in part because of the locals getting on, getting up to 45 while heading directly for the left lane, then sitting there.
11/20/09
Patrol car shouldn't have been speeding and shouldn't have passed on the right, and should have had it's light bar going. Police car also did not slow or brake prior to the collision.
The turning car should have yielded to the oncoming traffic (unless it had a green arrow). But they should have had an expectation that oncoming traffic was traveling at approximately the speed limit - in which case they could have completed their turn without a collision.
Looks like the town's insurance premium just went up.
So sad for the families of those killed unnecessarily.
11/20/09
Unlike others are claiming I don't see how the officer had much time to react. Basically, I think he approached this intersection not expecting that the other driver would try to make that last minute turn. The guy does decide to make the turn, but at that point there isn't much left to do but get on the brakes. There was barely a half-second there where maybe he could have swerved. Not much time to do anything, especially in a car like the Crown Vic.
There is one big caveat however. I see no indication in the video that the cop was running his lights, unless he only had the forward facing ones going, which I have no way of telling from the video. But far too often I see cops speeding around with no warning lights active whatsoever. It's just asking for trouble because in that situation they're like anyone else on the road speeding with no advance warning that they're barreling towards you.
If the cop was indeed running without lights he deserves to lose his job, in the very least, and manslaughter might not be unreasonable. But I still put more of the blame on the teenager. And reports say that the teenagers had just left a party and might have been drinking. So that would have certainly increased the chances of poor judgment, not that teenagers need the help.
11/20/09
1) Starting a left turn with an oncoming set of headlights a couple hundred feet away, or
2) driving 94 mph on a suburban street with traffic?
The cop is more to blame than the teens.
11/20/09
Note the phrasing there, as it is very important. It does not imply that they were drinking. We have no way of knowing that at this point in time. It merely suggests one out of several potential factors in the crash.
What is known is that the cop was traveling at two-and-a-half times the speed limit, which would certainly explain his lack of reaction time. Reaction time wouldn't have been a problem if he had been driving at the posted speed limit.
11/20/09
11/20/09
/sarcasm
11/20/09
Of course, he'll likely walk, and get promoted, because those kids were probably on their way to smoke drugs.
Show me an honest cop, and I'll show you somebody who's unemployed.
11/20/09
Good work.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
They'll get this guy, but it might not be for manslaughter.
11/20/09
A police officer traveling at 94 mph on a surface street for no known reason (as of yet) does indeed create a grave risk of death to another person, and this instance, resulted in the death of two people. You don't "accidentally" cruise around at 94 mph. That is a conscious decision on the part of an on-duty police officer that resulted in the deaths of two teenagers. They may as well throw on criminal negligence, as it sure as hell meets those standards, too.
This is as close to a slam-dunk for the DA as I've ever seen.
11/20/09
Sorry Detroit... sorry.
11/20/09
#tips
11/20/09
1) The officer in question was still consciously driving at almost two-and-a-half times the speed limit on a surface street without cause of emergency.
2) Had the officer not been traveling at that speed, he would have had the necessary reaction time to avoid the accident.
3) Had the officer been traveling at the posted speed limit, the accident would not have happened.
4) The accident caused by his lack of reaction time as a result of consciously driving at 94 mph in a 40 mph zone led directly to the death of two people.
All of that still adds up to first-degree manslaughter.
11/20/09
The defense is going to be able to argue that, far from creating a near certainty of death, the officer's speed could have been perceived by the victim (especially if he hadn't been drinking) and the accident avoided.
#tips
11/20/09
The limit for what is considered reckless driving is 20 mph over the speed limit. This officer was going almost three times that limit. That is extreme indifference to human life when you take into account that the roads are a public place that are likely to have people on them at all times of the day.
Also, the whole issue with alcohol is speculation at this point, not proven fact. Until it becomes proven fact, it is a moot point. And even if it does become proven fact, it again still does not change the facts that I listed above.
#tips
11/20/09
Thankfully, no.
...but I do live in the sort of town where people get arrested for DWI by the guy they were drinking with an hour before. #tips
11/20/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
My cop car can go faster than your cop car!
11/18/09
@skaycog.2000: This sort of thing might be cooler.
11/18/09
AWESOME!!!
11/18/09
@skaycog.2000: Another angle. With steelies this time.
#tips
11/18/09
11/19/09
11/19/09
#tips
11/19/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
Still, my first reaction when seeing this was that if there's anywhere that needed something like this, it's the UAE. But then I'd imagine anything this is needed to catch, it'd be driven by someone who'll easily pay off the fine, followed by building a skyscraper in the shape of Christopher Walken, just because.