alright guys. for anyone who is from the DC-Metro Area, you are probably already familiar with this but Ill spell it out for everyone else too.

7:00PM, A cop is on the left hand side of the road, and biker is speeding in the right most lane. The cop initiates pursuit, and the biker takes off. The cop trys to catch him and in the process rear ends a truck which is sent across the embankment and into oncoming traffic and collides with 5 more vehicles. Two people have lost their lives, 15 are injured, 1 in critical, 7 vehicles invloved total. Motorcyclist is still at large. The dashboard video of the chase has not been released.

My condolences go out to the families of those who lost their lives.

Here are some links to some of the news coverage. (thanks calvoracer on svrider.com)

http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/p...1.1.1

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0507/427463.html

http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=0#videoid=114687

http://www.nbc4.com/news/13415883/detail.html


I am personally making no blame of guilt or liability (yet), I am just puting this out here for discussion for those in the area and those not in the area.

ready..... set...... go!


(and of course, a picture for good measure)

 

Law enforcement can cause more harm by chasing them just letting them go. Just send the "eye in the sky".

 

cops fault.. it may have been the motorcyclist who started the chase, but in the end it was the cop who rear ended a car. they should give the cop failure to control speed and reckless driving.

 

Most (if not, all) states say not to chase speeding motorcycles for just this reason. The officer is completely at fault for that accident. A better officer would have backed off, or not even initiated the pursuit.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by knockout &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Most (if not, all) states say not to chase speeding motorcycles for just this reason. The officer is completely at fault for that accident. A better officer would have backed off, or not even initiated the pursuit.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you know i saw the video and initially that it sounded stupid that they are saying the motorcycles was to blame. Im glad to see im not the only one who feels that way. reminds me of that video where the guy gets his bike bushed over.

 

Cops fault, the cop hit the car, which collided into the rest of the vehicles.

The motorcyclist is at fault for speeding, but not causing all those fatalaties.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by equinox &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cops fault, the cop hit the car, which collided into the rest of the vehicles.

The motorcyclist is at fault for speeding, but not causing all those fatalaties. </TD></TR></TABLE>

+1

The more i think about it, the more it pisses me off. i know it wont do anything but i did feel better after i emailed the general manager of the news station that reported it (ABC 7 - WJLA) i hope they feel stupid for giving bad news

 

I know some cities down here in Colorado have a no chase law... since sometimes they cause more accidents

 

Yes, I've spoken to a few officers about chasing motorcycles and they basically told me the same thing, "If I radio'ed in that I'm in pursuit of a speeding motorcycle, I will get cut off the radio.".

 

Rider's fault 100%

 

what do we think the likely hood of the onboard video of getting released? i say .003%. I gaurentee the video will go "missing" and the cop wont have any charges pressed.

That cop is still gonna have to live with what happened though. THAT sucks.

 

the biker was speeding and then ran

it is ultimately his fault

there IS fault to be placed on the officer too though

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thehondabuddy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

That cop is still gonna have to live with what happened though. THAT sucks. </TD></TR></TABLE>

for his sake, i hope he can live his life thinking it wasn't his falt weather or not it was or wasn't

 

I say bikers fault. Cop was doing what he was trained to do. My moms boyfriend flys one of the planes for "eye in the sky" in Washington state. Seems like a much safer solution for to me for metropolitan areas. He shot this vid a few days ago (nothin crazy)

http://www.king5.com/video/fea...she=1

 

Tough call. I can see how both parties are to blame. The rider definitely should not have run from the police, but the patrol car should not have pursued.

"Don't chase speeding bike" laws are meant to keep people safe, but at what point will other measures be taken to keep bikers from speeding?

My condolences to the families of those hurt and killed. Damn shame.

 

the rider shouldn't have run, but the cop should've understood that he was in no position to give chase.

at that point i'm sure there was some ego involved. a cop in a clown vic has no chance, why even try? if he's lucky, he has video of the plate or at least a description.

 

This is hard one to place blame in my opinion.

The biker if caught should no doubt get a speeding ticket, and a ticket for fleaing from the police.

However, isnt one of the duties of a police officer to ensure safety on the roadways? WTF was this cop thinking? HE put more harm in the way of innocent people by chasing a motorcycle at high speeds in a heavy *** cruiser. He apparently was unable to control his vehicle. Ironic.

 

You can say blame the officer, but it was the motorcycle who had caused it because witnesses had said that before the bike was being chased, he was already speeding through traffice weaving in and out cutting people off, and when the cop was about to start the chase the bike cut someone off and that is why the cop rear ended him.....so everyone get the facts first. and actually it wasnt even a true chase cause the cop had seen the bike coming and had just started the chase and thats when the bike takes off...so dont pass judgement and say its the cops fault.

And the same next day i seen some girl on a bike and another guy following weaving in and out of traffic right on the beltway, and because of it so many cars were braking and stopping short because every person in a cage is paranoid now when a bike flies past them cause they dont want to get in an accident. I even ride on occasion and she was even havin me nervous when she blew by and riding on people bumpers. So we all need to remember we need to check ourselves and see who really is to blame...and to say that no one in here hasnt sped on a highway weave out of traffice is a damn lie...cause everyone knows they have done it once.

 

No kidding, PG county, MD??? Who would've thought one of dem bykar boiZ would have been riding like a ******* maniac on the beltway????

For the record, no I don't ride like a crazy ******* on the beltway, I enjoy being alive more than riding fast around a bunch of dipshits who can drive in a straight line.

 

I was going to start an argument in there but it's Monday morning and I'm just too tired.

Instead I'm going to say 75/25 on biker.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pauldo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No kidding, PG county, MD??? Who would've thought one of dem bykar boiZ would have been riding like a ******* maniac on the beltway????

For the record, no I don't ride like a crazy ******* on the beltway, I enjoy being alive more than riding fast around a bunch of dipshits who can drive in a straight line.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Yeah I am not u ride crazy on the beltway but I am sure you have seen people weave in and out on the beltway and people stopping short.

What was crazy is on saturday afternoon I'm going up rte 50 to annapolis and see a custome paint job, chromed out busa. These were major squids..this guy just had a t-shirt and shorts and the girl on the back just had on boy shorts and a wife beater..and he wasnt necersarrily speeding erratic but he did weave in and out f traffic a lil bit and i just thought to myself...if he lost they would both be gonners!!!

 

c'mon chris, start an argument! monday mornin is always a good time for an argument.

 

Its my understanding, that just about ALL police departments are under instruction NOT to chase motorcycles.

Judging by the time of day, I assume there were an assload of cars. Thumbs down to the biker for riding like an ***, but I have to say the cop is to blame.

 

It is what it is.
Cop was an *** to even try to pursue a chase especially at that time of day.
Then again, the biker was an *** to even ride that fast

 

I think the cop is to blame, but it doesnt matter. That biker is going to be executed once found.

Also, imagine that traffic