• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Speeding motor cyclist killed by not-speeding cruiser

Big Gay Al

Michigan Moderator
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
1,944
Location
Mason, Michigan, USA
Running from the police is ALWAYS a bad idea. You might out run the cop behind you, but you'll never out run Officer Motorola.

Whatever the cop did, that the rider ran into, if the suspect hadn't been going so fast, he'd probably still be alive. I'd rather be alive and in jail, and dead and not in jail.

As far as the "one less idiot" comments, maybe he was. But he didn't deserve to die for being an idiot.
 
Last edited:

sudden valley gunner

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
16,674
Location
Whatcom County
"Police said he had no reason to run."

No reason to run? How did he have no reason to run? I bet the implications of an arrest for going 130 mph are pretty significant reasons. He may have been subject to things such as fines, jail time, criminal records, and forfeiture of Driver's license... and he probably figured he could get away. Turns out he did escape conviction, although at a much higher cost.

If the police let him get away, the plate number may not be enough to secure a conviction. How could you prove who was riding the bike?

When I was a teenager in a small town in Coupeville the cops used to harass me and my buddy all the time. Pull us over for no reason when we were riding our motorcycles. Stop us frisk for simply walking after dark....etc. (and not be nice about it)

One day 2 of the 4 cops in town got shot by a teenager (not a friend) but being a small town someone we knew. All the adults said similar things those cops didn't do anything and what a bad guy Tony was. There was no reason for Tony's actions for a traffic stop. Maybe Tony had things to fear like pot in his car, or something else. Me and my buddy felt no sorrow and concluded maybe they were doing the same thing to Tony and he finally got sick of it.
 
Last edited:

Motofixxer

Regular Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
965
Location
Somewhere over the Rainbow
He had many reasons to run, like have been stated already. I personally know a guy who was accused of running from a cop that was driving the other direction. Then flipped a u turn and took off after the biker and claimed he was running. He spent 2 days in jail and had to go to trial. His bike was towed and impounded. For which he had to pay. The only thing they were able to convict him of was that he was speeding, cuz he admitted to it, while he was in a flow of traffic. And what was he doing...nothing riding along with his friend next to him. So yes the kid, had many reasons to run from. Did he deserve to die from it, hell no. Officer training says they are suppose to get in front the vehicle and slow them up. But a bike...cmon they shouldn't be doing that.
Should the biker have been running? Maybe not, should the officers have been chasing? Not really.

"Under our system of government upon the individuality and intelligence of the citizen, the state does not claim to control him/her, except as his/her conduct to others, leaving him/her the sole judge as to all that affects himself/herself." Mugler v. Kansas 123 U.S. 623, 659-60.

Should the officers have been chasing? No, there was no crime
"For a crime to exist, there must be an injured party. There can be no sanction or penalty imposed upon one because of this exercise of Constitutional rights."- Sherar v. Cullen, 481 F. 945.

"Where an individual is detained, without a warrant and without having committed a crime (traffic infractions are not crimes), the detention is a false arrest and false imprisonment." Damages Awarded: Trezevant v. City of Tampa, 241 F2d. 336 (11th CIR 1984)
 
Last edited:

eye95

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
13,524
Location
Fairborn, Ohio, USA
Running from the police is ALWAYS a bad idea. You might out run the cop behind you, but you'll never out run Officer Motorola.

Whatever the cop did, that the rider ran into, if the suspect hadn't been going so fast, he'd probably still be alive. I'd rather be alive and in jail, and dead and not in jail.

As far as the "one less idiot" comments, maybe he was. But he didn't deserve to die for being an idiot.

He didn't die FOR being an idiot. He died because he was an idiot doing something incredibly idiotic.
 

OldCurlyWolf

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2010
Messages
907
Location
Oklahoma
Having been a motorcycle rider for a number of years this is my view:

1. Yeah, the kid was wrong and stupid. My Dad told me many, many years ago, "Do not run from the police. You will be in far worse trouble."
2. If the police had broke off the pursuit, since they had his tag number, the kid would most probably still be alive and they could have arrested him at their convenience.
3. If, in fact, he had run into a car, the odds are, with the cars nowadays, that the most severe injury would have been to the motorcycle rider. Only if he plowed directly into the driver's or passenger's door or went through the windshield would there have been that much of a chance of injury or fatality to the car's occupants.
4. I am very disappointed in those of you who have said, "One less idiot." Would you say that had it been your son? I doubt it very seriously. Besides, idiot or not, he was a human being. Remember John Donne's quote? Look it up.

The Leading cause of Fatal accidents anywhere in the world is this one cause.

TERMINAL STUPIDITY.
Usually committed by those under the age of 25.
Which is one reason Insurance Rates for young drivers go down when they hit age 25.

This was a prime example of that status.
 
Last edited:

7th District

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
51
Location
Northern, Michigan, USA
Sadly some (generally younger) sportbike riders think that the only persons who are going to get hurt on public roads by their high-speed antics are themselves. If you want to ride at your limit sign up for a track day.

motorbike-inside-vw_sweden_2005_upplandsbrobil463.jpg


motorbike-inside-vw_sweden_2005_03.jpg


80765f51-ea67-57ef-84b7-e61c40c5234e.image.jpg


motorcycle-crash-into-car-759830.jpg
 
Last edited:

Shovelhead

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Messages
315
Location
NO VA, ,
Local news was reporting a MD state police died after running his cruiser into the rear of a semi stopped on the shoulder of the road while chasing a speeding motorcyclist.

What goes around...............

Both were unnecessary losses of life.

Whatever happened to "You can't outrun the radio"?
 

stainless1911

Banned
Joined
Dec 19, 2009
Messages
8,855
Location
Davisburg, Michigan, United States
I am 100% always against high speed chases for any reason.

Whatever happened to "I always get my man".

I wouldn't do it, but if a cop chased someone into crashing in the side of my car, I would like to knock the cop flat out for being a jerkoff adrenaline junky at my expense. 99% of the time, they are just trying to catch someone for breaking one of the "rules" so they can get a driving tax out of them under duress.
 

stainless1911

Banned
Joined
Dec 19, 2009
Messages
8,855
Location
Davisburg, Michigan, United States
Agreed one less idiot, and now more money out of our pocket to fix the car thanks idiot.


At least thats one more car not taking money out of our pockets for a couple days.

Im with OP on this one, this was crap, and very likely murder.

104 turns to 140 real quick when cops are involved, and the penalties do not fit the "crime".

110mph in a sport bike is NOTHING. They can stop shorter and safer than most cars can at half those speeds. The 70 mph speed limit is a sick joke to begin with, In my summer car on the highway I dont even consider my speed until Im doing 83, that's where the car wants to roll out there, the thing is still sleeping for petes sake.

There is no reason at all that a person shouldnt be able to drive at speed on an otherwise empty highway, they paid the taxes, its thier gas, oil, and road rash if they screw up. If they do injure someone or someones property, there are laws to deal with that.
 

DetroitBiker

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
318
Location
USA
That footage didn't show the point of impact. I would have liked to see the footage from the fowlerville cruiser also. It would have shown what lane he was in, or if he swerved into the path of the bike at the last second. Even if the camera was facing forward,There would have been a noticible jolt to the cruiser at the time of impact.

Prayers sent to the family. I've lost a family member and a couple good friends to
cycle accidents. It's hard for the family to go through.
 

HKcarrier

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
816
Location
michigan
7th district, those crashes were on city streets, this was on an expressway. No hitting cars in the doors on the expressway... though I suppose a head on could happen in certain circumstances.

Again, I don't advocate speeders or running from the cops..

Just saying, the punishment didn't fit the crime and he could have been chased into a van full of kids. Police chases over speeding tickets shouldn't happen.
 

eye95

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
13,524
Location
Fairborn, Ohio, USA
It wasn't a punishment. It was a natural consequence of the rider's idiotic behavior.

BTW, it is possible to feel for the family and still to think that what happened was no one's fault but the rider's and was a direct and predictable result of his idiotic behavior.
 

eye95

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
13,524
Location
Fairborn, Ohio, USA
Why is it idiotic behavior to speed, yet perfectly acceptable for a police car to go even faster in order to catch up?

You really don't see the difference between breaking the law and behaving lawfully in the enforcement of the law?

OK. Moving on.
 

stainless1911

Banned
Joined
Dec 19, 2009
Messages
8,855
Location
Davisburg, Michigan, United States
Why is it idiotic behavior to speed, yet perfectly acceptable for a police car to go even faster in order to catch up?

+1,000 They claim that slow is safe, speed kills, yada yada yada, but in order to catch someone doing 100 (big deal), you are probably going to need to be at around 115, 120. Not that doing a buck-ten is wrong, but two "wrongs" don't make a right.

You can be absolutely sure that if cars were around when they wrote the constitution, driving would be a sacred right, just like guns, speech, and privacy.
 

donny

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Messages
115
Location
, ,
Perhaps if the OP put aside his obviously blatant hatred of LE he might see things in a different light...
 

kubel

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Messages
285
Location
, ,
I don't believe police should give chase above safe speeds unless a violent crime has been committed. I'm not worried about the safety of the criminal. I'm more worried about the safety of the public and the expense that taxpayers receive cleaning up the wrecks.

"We chase because we don't know what they could have done or why they are running" is a stupid excuse.

But with that said, police are in no way at fault for this riders death. He was an idiot and he made a very bad mistake that cost him his life.
 
Top