Lets end this thread with
Dont run
**** The police
No such thing as a saint..people will make bad decisions...especially kids at the age of 22
Don't pass judgment on ANYONE...we are all created equal...God sorts us out

 

That is a sad story for sure, butI feel the Police are partyly to blame as well. Like was said if they did not chase then he would have slowed down or stoped and hid for awhile. I'm sure he was doing nothnig more then showing off and when he seen the lights come on he did not want the ticket. I am in no way defending the rider, but the cops need to pick and choose there battels better.

 

Sorry, but the police are not at fault at ALL. The rider chose to ride at 100+. The rider chose to run when the lights came on. The rider chose to take a turn at a speed far above what it should have been taken. All the police did was their job...they get paid to pull over vehicles that are traveling too fast--you can not place blame on them at all. If the rider didn't want a ticket he should never have put himself in the position to get one in the first place. It's too bad his passenger had to be killed in this mess, but I won't shed one single tear for another dead rider who made dumb ****ing decisions and paid the ultimate price. It sounds heartless, but I have no sympathy for stupidity.

 

not to get involved in the argument, just a statment, here in mesa arizona, cops are instructed to stop pursuite at 120 mph, i like the idea of a speed cap. that is all

 

Around here (Angelina, Nacogdoches, Cherokee, and Jasper counties) the poilicy is if a sportbike is doing triple digits, leave them alone. Do not give chase, Do not attempt to stop, just put out a vehicle/rider description and IF you see the vehicle stopped somewhere and the rider IS NOT on it/ engine isnt on, you may attempt to contact the rider. If rider starts up and pulles away, let him go.

 

True that the rider chose to run, but i agree that if the cop let him go then he prolly would have slowed down. I dont believe that running is right in anyway, but getting chased makes it much worse. i believe that the rider was on highway late at night, which is still not safe but its safer then running faston back roads at night,which is where the cop forced the rider to go by chasing him. So while Blue Fox thinks that you can NEVER blame cops, thats ridiculous. Cops know that they cant catch motorcycles so why chase them?? So stop trying to say that i believe the rider was right for running...I'M NOT. I just think the situation would have turned out different if the cop would not have chased them.

 

Therein lies why this would be a open ended debate with no concrete resolution because every time someone says "if the cops didn't chase .. it would've turned out different" the rebuttal would be (as indicate by thread title) "if they didn't run in the first place .. it also would've ended differently."

 

I know this thread is a month old, and beat to death, but I would like to give some persective on the area this occured.
Atlanta is plagued by people on motorcycles making bad choices and ending their life on a near daily basis.
We have the Perimeter speedway, that encourages bad habits.
It is a 63 mile loop and I know groups that "require" a sub 30 minute lap time as
a initiation or rite of passage. Daily there are stories on the news that make riders look bad.
I get constant flak from my wife because of other people's stupidity.

On top of all the bad behavior, Georgia drivers don't look for Motorcycles! This is a rough state for riders expecially in Atlanta.

The rider made a bad choice to ride that fast and get caught in a "mob mentality", the passenger made a bad choice to get on the back of a bike with someone that lacked maturity. It is unfortunate that they died.

Here is the most resent accidents and some stats. and a link to a blog on the problem http://atlanta.metblogs.com/2008/03/...-death-sports/

SAVANNAH, Ga. June 22, 2008 A 19-year-old soldier based at Hunter Army Airfield was killed Sunday in a motorcycle crash. Savannah Police said the wreck happened around 1:30 p.m. on Truman Parkway.

Investigators said it appeared the soldier was riding with four other motorcyclists when his bike clipped another causing both riders to crash.

Police said another soldier was injured and was treated and released. The deceased soldier's name was withheld.

ATLANTA June 19, 2008Three motorcycles and one van crashed on I-20 westbound near the Downtown Connector Thursday evening just before 5:30 p.m.

People involved in the accident suffered injuries, according to Atlanta police. The extent of their injuries is not known.

All lanes of I-20 westbound were blocked for over an hour. Traffic was either forced off at Capitol Avenue or drivers took the ramps to get on the connector north or southbound. Officials said there was at least a mile and a half of backed-up traffic.

No word yet on what caused the crash.

All lanes reopened at 7 p.m.

Crashes involving motorcycles have risen 97 percent in Georgia during the past six years, while fatalities are up 147 percent, the Governor's Office of Highway Safety says.
The figures were released in conjunction with Gov. Sonny Perdue's declaration of May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, a safety push promoted by the state and ABATE of Georgia, a motorcylist group.



In 2006, 148 motorcyclists died on Georgia roads and another 3,082 were injured, the department said. More than two-thirds of those crashes were caused by drivers of other vehicles —- primarily by car or truck drivers who either did not see the motorcycle or saw it too late to avoid a collision.
The safety campaign reminds motorcycle riders to ride defensively and within speed limits and to be prepared to take evasive action. It also promotes rider training offered through the state Department of Driver Services, and it includes an ad campaign. www.ajc.com

 

thank you for the insight...

now having read and understanding the situation...in YOUR opinion....

is it better that cops merely let these riders go, or try to stop them...
do you think by letting them go, this would discourage this activity or make things safer or do you think it would instill the mentality that it's okay since the cops are not going to do anything to me?

 

In my opinion, being a resident of the metro Atlanta area and tired of being labeled and grouped in with all the squids, I think that pursuits should occur on uncongested inerstates, so long as the conditions are safe for the officer. If nothing is done it will get worse. I also beleive a person with a passenger should be charged witha felony in these situtations when they run.
I-75 is a tempting piece of black top to open up on, but the ATL has several tracks that this can be done on safely and legally.
Too many innocent people have died from this behavior to not do anything about it.