Careless driving????

Seems a bit wrong that a person can kill two hiway workers and just get charged with careless driving.

Might help explain why there’s so many poor drivers out there, no responsibility ?

Al

I was in Mich all last week and constantly saw the same sign along the roads. Kill a road worker and get 15 years in jail with $7500 fine.

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I was in Mich all last week and constantly saw the same sign along the roads. Kill a road worker and get 15 years in jail with $7500 fine.

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Huh… so do they just post ALL their Laws and punishments on street signs ? No court system in Michigan needed ?

I assume you’re talking of the kid from Missouri that hit the 2-workers in Burnsville last year?

Here are the Illinois and Michigan warning signs we should have in Minnesota:

How about using some common sense and slowing down in construction areas.

Put the money saved towards boat plug inspections.

in Saskatchewan it is 35mph passing hwy workers,police,or prety much anything with flashing lights, fines star at $300 and go up every mph over 35.

South Dakota has similar signs. I don’t recall the exact details. Like stated above, just slow down people.

According to the police report. This guy was not speeding, not talking on the phone or texting, not intoxicated and did not fall asleep.

Accidents happen.

He is charged with carelss driving and is fighting the charge in court rather than pleading guilty to the charges. He may very well win the case.

-J.

So what happened to cause the accident that killed those two construction workers? Caught just the tail end of the story yesterday on the news. Did hear the kid was not drinking, drugs or on his phone.

Maybe they stepped in front of the car? I dont see that as the drivers fault. I know nothing of this case. Only what I see on this post.

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How about using some common sense and slowing down in construction areas.

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I actually drive just under posted most of time now and am at or below construction zone speed limits. Why?, Because I am out there working on occaisions and had numerous close calls.

Now on the other hand I complain when construction firms are lazy and leave “FLAGGER AHEAD” signs up when they leave for the day. They are to be layed down, covered or turned away from traffic when flagman are not present. This is one reason why so many people ignore the signs is because they drive thru a zone and see the signs for a week and nobody is working, then BOOM, they’re working and the regular road users have grown accustomed to not having anyone working there, kind of like the kid the cried wolf and nobody believed him when the wolf did attack. Sadly it may take until a worker gets killed and everyone blames the driver when it may be pinned on the laziness of the construction workers and their company or the Project Engineer/Inspector to do their complete job.

This was not an accident, this was driver error, and he should be held responsible.

Had he been paying attention this would not have happened.

Al

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So what happened to cause the accident that killed those two construction workers? Caught just the tail end of the story yesterday on the news. Did hear the kid was not drinking, drugs or on his phone.

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Here are the original story and yesterdays story about this accident:
Star Tribune link: Original accident story

KSTP5 link: Mna who hit-killed two hihway workers appears in Court

Sadly in this case, IMHO the Work Zone Speed Limit should have been placed much slower, I believe it was posted at 55mph. Traffic Lane Shifts and Uneven Pavement Surfaces made it unsafe.

The car that hit Carlson and Rajkowski about 12:35 p.m. was driven by Kirk Deamos, 21, of suburban Kansas City, Mo. The State Patrol said he apparently steered away from a construction wall on his left, but overcompensated and swerved before losing control of the vehicle and spinning into the ditch where the victims were working, just south of McAndrews Road.

That was from the 1st article.

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This was not an accident, this was driver error, and he should be held responsible.

Had he been paying attention this would not have happened.

Al

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Not to single you out, but I think we need more details before we burn this kid at the stake. Like Mike stated, accidents happen and will continue to happen. Sentencing him to jail isn’t going to solve anything.

What if this was your son?

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This was not an accident, this was driver error, and he should be held responsible.

Had he been paying attention this would not have happened.

Al

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And you are baseing this statement on What ??? I f there was evidence that this was anything more than a accident I belive they would be charging him with more than they are. It sounds like they may have a hard time evening making this little charge stand up in court

I’m basing it on what I heard on TV and 30+ years of taking drivers trainning.

To do otherwise is to condone reckless driving.

Aim high in the steering
Get the big picture
Keep your eyes moving
Leave yourself an out
Make sure that they see you

He’d have been following these guidelines two people would have been alive today…no, this was not an accident.

Al

Blah blah blah agreed there is way tooo many BAD DRIVERS ON THE ROAD, however unless you were the one there to see and personally experience every detail of the situation as it went down who are any of you to decide what happened??!! Besides its not for you to decide what happens to the kid!! On top of that imagine how terrible it would make you feel going through life knowing you took the lives of two fellow human beings?? If it were to happen to you, do you believe you would need 15 yrs in jail to sit and think about it….or is living with those thoughts for the rest of your life enough??!!!

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or is living with those thoughts for the rest of your life enough

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Depends on if I was one of their parents.

I’m staying out of this one because I wasn’t there.

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This was not an accident, this was driver error, and he should be held responsible.

Had he been paying attention this would not have happened.

Al

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Aren’t ALL accidents driver error?? Did snow or ice ever cause an accident, or drivers failing to adjust to conditions? Glancing at the radio, checking your mirror??
I rear ended a lady one time who stopped in an acceleration lane, because I was checking my mirror to merge into traffic. I just barely touched her, didn’t do any damage to her truck because of the receiver hitch. 100% my fault, driver error, but still an accident.

This was tragic, but it fits the definition of an accident.

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Blah blah blah agreed there is way tooo many BAD DRIVERS ON THE ROAD, however unless you were the one there to see and personally experience every detail of the situation as it went down who are any of you to decide what happened??!! Besides its not for you to decide what happens to the kid!! On top of that imagine how terrible it would make you feel going through life knowing you took the lives of two fellow human beings?? If it were to happen to you, do you believe you would need 15 yrs in jail to sit and think about it….or is living with those thoughts for the rest of your life enough??!!!

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Quite the expert aren’t we, we elect the politicans that make the laws, so we’re who is to decide in part, btw I know people who could run you a$$ over and it wouldn’t bother then in the least bit, your assuming this guy has a decent moral fiber, may or may not be true.

Also sounds like bleeding hearts here with the “he’ll regret it the rest of his life” wanna bet not everybody things like that?

That’s why we have laws.

Al

This kid, as part of his bail agreement was ordered to have no contact with the relatives of the 2 killed.

The kid asked the judge to reverse the order so he could write a letter of condolence to both wives. The judge agreed and changed his order.

None of us were there. None of us know this person. Don’t be so quick to judge Mr Allen W. No matter how well you think you drive, you may very well end up in this kids shoes some day.

-J.

and he was subjected to the law and still… this post He came to court yesterday (he did not have to) and asked the judge if he could write an apology to the victims families… the judge agreed he indeed could. Sounds like an OK guy in my book that had a terrible accident… (which he acknowledges his part)

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This kid, as part of his bail agreement was ordered to have no contact with the relatives of the 2 killed.

The kid asked the judge to reverse the order so he could write a letter of condolence to both wives. The judge agreed and changed his order.

None of us were there. None of us know this person. Don’t be so quick to judge Mr Allen W. No matter how well you think you drive, you may very well end up in this kids shoes some day.

-J.

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Yes I may, and whatever happens, happens.
Point I was trying to make is this was NOT an accident, it was driver error and could have been preventable.

He was in a construction zone, what part of slow down and watch for workers did he miss?

How well I think I drive…I have drove since 1979 with out an accident follwing the guidelines I posted above, so I’m either dam lucky or I manage to get down the road with out commiting to many errors.
Probably a bit of both.
Doesn’t matter anyway, my driving didn’t kill two people.

Al

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He was in a construction zone, what part of slow down and watch for workers did he miss?

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Court testimony indicates he was driving UNDER the posted speed limit.

There is more evidence I’m sure this client has that will come out at trial. The state DMV may very well be more accountable for this accident than the driver. Time will tell.

-J.

I’m thinking most all “accidents” and “driver errors” are preventable…..in hind sight.

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He was in a construction zone, what part of slow down and watch for workers did he miss?

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Court testimony indicates he was driving UNDER the posted speed limit.

There is more evidence I’m sure this client has that will come out at trial. The state DMV may very well be more accountable for this accident than the driver. Time will tell.

-J.

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Yes time will tell, but we comment on what we know now, and if he was going slower more power to him, and if the DMV had screwed up, that would change things too.

But as it stands, I still think a careless driving ticket is letting him get away with murder, changing or new facts may change this.

Hang him?
No, it was a mistake, so don’t hang him, I don’t belive I said to hang him anyway, but definitely more than a ticket.

Al

maybe we should just let him read AllenW’s posts in this thread, would be enough to steer me straight.

Quite the expert aren’t we, we elect the politicans that make the laws, so we’re who is to decide in part, btw I know people who could run you a$$ over and it wouldn’t bother then in the least bit, your assuming this guy has a decent moral fiber, may or may not be true.

Also sounds like bleeding hearts here with the “he’ll regret it the rest of his life” wanna bet not everybody things like that?

That’s why we have laws.

Al

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I suppose you are the type of person to believe people are guilty until proven innocent, sorry that is not how it works but nice try

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Quite the expert aren’t we, we elect the politicans that make the laws, so we’re who is to decide in part, btw I know people who could run you a$$ over and it wouldn’t bother then in the least bit, your assuming this guy has a decent moral fiber, may or may not be true.

Also sounds like bleeding hearts here with the “he’ll regret it the rest of his life” wanna bet not everybody things like that?

That’s why we have laws.

Al

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I suppose you are the type of person to believe people are guilty until proven innocent, sorry that is not how it works but nice try

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I am amazed at how far off some of you can drag a statement, my original post was there are driving errors not accidents and you manage to drag my driving skill, my outlook on the judicial system and who knows what else into it.

Yes I admit I’m wrong, you all are perfect, it was an act of god that he killed them two people and he shouldn’t be responsible at all…you win.
happy?