Daveinet wrote:
Without being there, I just have a hard time concluding contempt for the law. I have a ton of hours video recording from my helmet cam on my motorcycle. One of the things I have learned is how difficult it is to get any kind of accurate perception of speed or distance based on the video, especially on the freeway. Put this together with a way overly sensationalized media reporting, and I don't believe you get an accurate perception of what really happened.
There have been a lot of tests that show how certain suggestions will cause a normal mind to see things that are not there. For whatever made him think that the lane he was in was clear, (he commented on misreading the warning sign) at what point did he realize the lane he was in was not clear. From that moment, what options were available to him? Assuming he would need to be traveling at the same speed as the rest of the traffic to enter into the traffic lane, slowing down was not the best option. Once one looks for a spot, and realizes that option does not exist, you brake. If there is not enough distance to get stopped, he is only left with 3 options. Merge into traffic and wipe out several cars, run into the back of the cop car, or swerve into a lane which at least has the possibility of not hitting anything.
Again I would contend that the perception of speed and distance from the video is not accurate, based on my experience. I do remember the photo of the accident scene which showed the motorhome still between the 2 vehicles. If he was able to stop while he was still between the 2 vehicles, there is no way possible that the guy could have been going very fast, or he would not have been stopped till long after he had passed between the 2 vehicles. It is also obvious that he would have to have been braking the whole time. Choosing to go between the 2 vehicles was probably the best solution compared to rear-ending the cop car, or wiping out several cars in the lanes of traffic. The other 2 options would have guaranteed an accident and most likely injury. At that point, he picked the lessor or 3 evils.
The only real question is was he doing anything out of the ordinary. If he was traveling the same speed as the rest of the traffic, then the rest of the traffic is just as guilty as he is.
I would suggest the next time you are driving on a multi-lane road in an RV, see how many miles it takes you to do a simple lane change. Now factor in that everyone is slowing down, so if you are trying match the speed of the changing traffic, you are chasing a moving target. You can eat up a lot of road really quick.
He was not stopped between the two vehicles. He proceeded well past the two vehicles and pulled to the right. The video showed that other traffic was traveling very slow past the two vehicles blocking the traffic lanes. He couldn't merge over because they were going slower than he was. Therefore, he's the one that shouldn't have been going so fast. He also claimed it was a "blind curve" and he couldn't see the vehicles until he came around the curve and by then it was too late to slow down. This is a freeway and it was not a blind curve.
