Motorhome driver sentenced in fatal accident

coolmom42 wrote:
Driver pleads guilty to reckless homicide.

He got off pretty light.

I agree link to story when he was charged.

Link

The drivers story

Link

Couple of things to keep in mind:

- We weren't in the courtroom, grand or petit jury room, nor in the Prosecutor's office: we don't know the facts, mitigating circumstances, or affirmative defenses;
-It appears that the driver was convicted of a felony; pending local (i.e.state) laws, he: has lost the right to vote; has lost the right to possess firearms; has a "must report" criminal record that applies for job applications (maybe not relevant)and loan applications and (if applicable) apartment applications;

The sentence and conviction may or may not be appropriate but it is not inconsequential and we aren't in a good position to judge intent, actions, or inactions from a single news report.

dodge guy wrote:
Well that's how it should've turned out. It was an accident not intentional!

Sorry for the loss of the officer and his families suffering!

I have gone back to your very fist response to this terrible crash.

I quote from the content of the story.
"There was a lot of congestion in the area at the time of the crash because the northbound entrance to I-65 was blocked after a pickup truck hauling a large trailer overturned.

Petrina had responded to the scene and parked his squad car behind a TDOT truck. Both vehicles had their lights flashing and there were orange cones behind the cruiser and the truck.

According to police, Diver tried to go between the police car and the TDOT truck in his large motor home. He reportedly sideswiped the TDOT truck and a trailer attached to his motor home hit Petrina, who was thrown underneath."


The words "There was a lot of congestion in the area"

Really stand out to me, when I see congestion I don't decide to charge through with either a empty TV or with the 5er in tow!

The other words that stand out are;

"Both vehicles had their lights flashing and there were orange cones behind the cruiser and the truck."

Sounds like the TDOT driver and Officer had done the necessary, steps to mark the crash area a head.

At the very least the guy should have spent one night in jail, and the real minimum of no less than 30 days.
Yes, he needs to live with the fact his actions caused a needless death, but it seems that some are really not affected by that. He may or may not be one to carry the guilt with him for life.

Negligent or exigent cirumstaances. I think circumstances got out of control that he could not adjust to or stop in time.
He certainly had no intention nor any intention of operating recklessly.
Families, of those, injured and killed, feel they have to have blood or get even and see opportunities for money.
Negligence, anyone operate like a robot day in day out every minute of the day?
Was he negligent trying to decide which factors to adjust and control and was not able to do in time?
It was an accident and nothing shows he contributed to it negligently except redefined or judge made laws.
It was an accident.
Anyway it is not good to be an armchair judge about these things.
The Court did what it did and what the Laws say.
Too many times I read, of accidents, where people lose their freedom and go to jail for it.

Who has not had the experience of changing a tire on the left side with the traffic flying past? As spoon059 says, until you have been in such an exposed position you have no idea of how dangerous & frightening it can be.

Had it happen on a west Texas 2 lane. Was well into the job when the county sherrif happened by & gave some protection with lights & position of his vehicle. Still, some of them flew by.

OkSixpack wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

jspringator wrote:
I can't believe they charged him unless he was drunk or high, texting, or going 80. He couldn't have been going that fast, because he got it hauled down pretty quick.

Half of the jury would see that curve, the space between the 2 vehicles and not know what to do. It is not plain or obvious.

I'm sure there are standards for directing traffic on an interstate highway, and I can't say what they are, but this shouldn't meet them. It would appear obvious that the officer was physically incapable of moving his cruiser. No one would have permitted anything be moved in a crime scene.

I agree. If that picture is taken right after the accident with nothing moved (and I don`t believe they moved anything with the death of a cop). then that entire scene is very hard to interpret when coming up on it even at less than the posted speed limit. I too would have a hard time making sense of it.

I`ve seen many things like this when traveling. some of them make me shake my head when I see them. I`ve even seen a cop that had someone pulled over where the cruiser was 3/4 in the right lane and the car he pulled over was on the shoulder. that`s just asking for someone to plow into the back of your police car. we had a cop here in town that would park so far over in the lane that if the cruiser was hit it would just run the officer over instead protecting him the way the placement is intended.

Going by the picture the HWY dept worker, and the police officer did not fully do their job (vehicle placement and proper marker placement) and in the process an officer lost his life because they didn`t follow procedure! And it sounds like the judge seen the same thing!

It was a tragic accident people. It`s unfortunate, but it`s time to move on!

I think it`s time to close this one down.

Tell the family of the officer that got killed that "it's time to move on." Every one with a license should have to go stand in traffic like that for eight hours before being allowed to drive. Your opinion would change I bet.
Jim

I'm talking to the RV.net arguers, not the family!

OK guys! My scenario I gave was having the police car not even remotely close to protecting the officer (I know how the police are taught to park the cruiser at a traffic stop). I was pretty clear on that. It seems as usual many here are picking and choosing what to quote in a thread.whether you think so or not "you" are not a better driver than others on the road. Some are just being argumentative.

rhagfo wrote:
Gave you a link

Thanks

spoon059 wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
I`ve seen many things like this when traveling. some of them make me shake my head when I see them. I`ve even seen a cop that had someone pulled over where the cruiser was 3/4 in the right lane and the car he pulled over was on the shoulder. that`s just asking for someone to plow into the back of your police car. we had a cop here in town that would park so far over in the lane that if the cruiser was hit it would just run the officer over instead protecting him the way the placement is intended.

This is how officers are taught to position themselves. I think every state in the union has a "move over law" that REQUIRES drivers to move one full lane away from a stopped emergency vehicle. Regardless of this, there is almost always some clown that REFUSES to move over and will continue to drive in the right lane, even if it is 75% occupied by my marked cruiser.

I don't want my cruiser to be hit when I am sitting in it, because it will hurt and probably cause me serious injury. I CERTAINLY don't want to be hit by a car when I am not in mine. That is almost a guaranteed fatality. By putting my car so far over to the left, it gives me an added layer of protection against some idiot hitting me. Stupid people abound on the roadway.

Just an example...
Link
Until you are standing on the side of the road and cars are zipping past you at 70+mph, you will never understand. I would encourage you to take a ride along with your local police agency... it might open your eyes.

Gave you a link

dodge guy wrote:
I agree. If that picture is taken right after the accident with nothing moved (and I don`t believe they moved anything with the death of a cop). then that entire scene is very hard to interpret when coming up on it even at less than the posted speed limit. I too would have a hard time making sense of it.

It didn't even dawn upon me that this picture was taken after the collision, my apologies. You are right, they probably didn't move the police car, but its possible that they either moved the DOT truck or brought in another one.

Regardless, there is NEVER any good reason to drive in between a firetruck and a cop car, a cop car and a DOT truck, a cop car and a tow truck, etc. When there are multiple vehicles on the highway with flashing lights you need to SLOW DOWN and interpret what you are seeing. Some people are more intelligent than others and can interpret at 30 mph... some people aren't as intelligent and may need to slow down to 10 mph. Regardless, the responsibility is on the driver to slow down to a SAFE SPEED and properly interpret what is going on.