Morons in Michigan

[cheri1122]

State Police Sgt is quoted as saying "People need to obey the speed limits!"
Ummm - one accident was caused by a vehicle driving the wrong way, [@ 4am - alcohol, ya think?] and the other was a chain reaction started by a 61 yr old driver [no further details], not an age group known for speeding.....
So what does the Sgt choose to point out as the lesson of the tragic deaths? "Obey the speed limits"?!
It's amazing the lengths law enforcement will go to attribute wrecks to speed, even when it clearly wasn't the cause, or even a factor - and it goes unchallenged, far as I can see.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

State Police Sgt is quoted as saying "People need to obey the speed limits!"
Ummm - one accident was caused by a vehicle driving the wrong way, [@ 4am - alcohol, ya think?] and the other was a chain reaction started by a 61 yr old driver [no further details], not an age group known for speeding.....
So what does the Sgt choose to point out as the lesson of the tragic deaths? "Obey the speed limits"?!
It's amazing the lengths law enforcement will go to attribute wrecks to speed, even when it clearly wasn't the cause, or even a factor - and it goes unchallenged, far as I can see.

HEY...I am just 61...you calling me slow.....

 

[dieseldiva]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

HEY...I am just 61...you calling me slow.....

In a "short bus" kind of way...........

 

[cheri1122]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

HEY...I am just 61...you calling me slow.....

I don't think I've ever seen you moving at all, now that you mention it......

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

ok..I see the way this is heading....LOL....

 

[greg334]

Nope not Morons in Michigan

You mean this article?

It was a deadly weekend on the highways of metro Detroit, as 11 people were killed in traffic accidents, according to Michigan State Police.


"People need to adhere to speed limits and slow down,” said MSP Sgt. Nathaniel McQueen, comparing a car to any deadly weapon if not operated properly.


On Saturday afternoon, a car carrying three Oakland University students was involved in a multi-car hit and run on I-75 near the Clay Street exit. Their car was the middle car in the three-car collision. Jenna Balabuch, 19, and Rachel Ring, 20, were killed in the accident and Shannon Waite, 18, was sent to the hospital in critical condition.


...

McQueen said MSP has forwarded information on the 60-something driver alleged to have started the chain reaction to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. Charges have not yet been released.


In Southfield, five people died in a fiery crash this morning on M-10, near I-696.


According to Michigan State Police, one of the cars involved in the crash was driving the wrong way on M-10 at about 4:15 a.m. today when it hit the other car.

Four people, one age 59 and the others in their 30’s were in an SUV and a 23-year-old was driving alone in the other car, said MSP Sgt. Nathaniel McQueen. The cars both caught fire and emergency personnel were required to pull the four from the SUV.


“Given the time of day, alcohol is a possibility, speed is a possibility,” said McQueen on their continuing investigation.


Southfield Police and Fire also responded to the scene.


MSP officials also said there was a motorcycle crash on I-94 Eastbound and Inkster Road on Saturday at 8pm, in which the driver of the motorcycle scraped against guardrail and lost control of the bike, ejecting the passenger, who died. The driver was seriously injured.



McQueen said there was a two vehicle crash on 12 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway in Southfield on Sunday morning that killed two people and a pedestrian hit by a car and killed in Lincoln Park, also on Sunday.


A Detroit Police officer was also hit by a car Saturday night in an apparent hit-and-run accident, but survived with broken bones to the face. A 25-year-old man from Dearborn is suspected of hitting the officer and driving under the influence of alcohol. He has been arrested. Charges were still pending as of Sunday afternoon.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office has received a warrant request from police and it is being reviewed.

You know the crash that happened with the "students" was about speeding, the area has a lot of people speeding and not reading the signs to get on I-94. Many don't get that the exit comes up quick and while others are trying to get on an the freeway.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

It's amazing the lengths law enforcement will go to attribute wrecks to speed, even when it clearly wasn't the cause, or even a factor - and it goes unchallenged, far as I can see.

Reminds me of all the so-called smoking deaths attributed to smoking. Bladder cancer... was he a smoker? Yes. Smoking death! Brain hemorrhage. Smoker. Smoking related. Suicide. Smoker. Smoking related.

 

[cheri1122]

Re: Nope not Morons in Michigan

You mean this article?





You know the crash that happened with the "students" was about speeding, the area has a lot of people speeding and not reading the signs to get on I-94. Many don't get that the exit comes up quick and while others are trying to get on an the freeway.

Read the paragraph just after: MSP are forwarding info on the "60 something driver alleged to have started" the chain reaction accident - how does that indicate [even hint at] speeding?
Blaming 'speeding' is how they justify the details that write tickets [that cover the overtime], and also allows insurance companies to raise rates for speeding tickets, which is not justified unless it's excessive speed, IMO.

 

[greg334]

Re: Nope not Morons in Michigan

Read the paragraph just after: MSP are forwarding info on the "60 something driver alleged to have started" the chain reaction accident - how does that indicate [even hint at] speeding?
Blaming 'speeding' is how they justify the details that write tickets [that cover the overtime], and also allows insurance companies to raise rates for speeding tickets, which is not justified unless it's excessive speed, IMO.

So you were caught speeding along I-75 just about the Clay/Grand Boulevard exit?

Cheri, I drive down there three to four times a week, that is the exit I get off to go to GM and I can tell you that there are a lot of accidents there. I don't know what three or four suburbanites are doing there but I can tell you that many who drive in that area are blind to what is going on around them. The issue of speeding is not the idea of doing 80 or better in that area but doing 65 is just as bad when you get people crossing four lanes (which happen often) to get onto I-94 because they are in a panic that they will miss their exit.

 

[cheri1122]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

Just for the record: I haven't had a speeding ticket [or any other] in years.
I just think that public policy [not to mention insurance rates] should be based upon facts and common sense, not anyone's agenda. The MSP Sgt specifically said "People need to obey the speed limit" in reference to multiple crashes with fatalities, when not even one of them appears to have been caused by speed.
Somebody needs to pay attention to what officials say, and whether it makes sense - isn't that a civic duty?

 

[greg334]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

I just think that public policy [not to mention insurance rates] should be based upon facts and common sense, not anyone's agenda. The MSP Sgt specifically said "People need to obey the speed limit" in reference to multiple crashes with fatalities, when not even one of them appears to have been caused by speed.
Somebody needs to pay attention to what officials say, and whether it makes sense - isn't that a civic duty?

Well first off the first crash involving the college people was attributed to speeding, which makes sense of it all - it looks like they were going too fast to respond to the changes in traffic ahead of them and no one should feel sorry for them if that was the case. I saw the photos and know the traffic pattern there very well. The Motorcycle crash is the same issue, going too fast.

Whether or not the cop spoke out of turn or said something that you perceived as dumb doesn't matter because the fact is until we start acting as adults behind the wheel of the car, it they are doing the best they can - maybe you didn't notice but we have few cops patrolling the roads?

As for insurance rate, I have to deal with it, not you (not trying to be harsh). For these types of crashes, my rates go up, not yours and on top of that Cheri, my state su*ks because they use credit ratings to also determine the rates I and everyone else pays in this God forsaken state.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

Speeding is NOT only what the posted limit is...

Speeding is going faster then the traffic and road conditions allow for....

 

[greg334]

Re: Morons in Michiganhttp://www.freep.com/article/20111023/NEWS05/111023019/11-peopl

OK I guess but tell your fellow former(?) countrymen who drive like idiots north on I-75 that the speed limit for trucks is NOT 80 mph. The fly over the Rouge River bridge and then don't slow down until they hit the exit for Canada, some of them just fly over that bridge like they are getting ready to reach flight velocity.

I was coming home the other day and passed by a truck while I was on the right lane and he took an exit lane. Is this some kind of Canadian thing because this is the third time it has happened to me on I75 and the sixth or seventh that I have seen it happen.

Hey Mr. Moderator man, can you clean up the thread name?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

OK I guess but tell your fellow former(?) countrymen who drive like idiots north on I-75 that the speed limit for trucks is NOT 80 mph. The fly over the Rouge River bridge and then don't slow down until they hit the exit for Canada, some of them just fly over that bridge like they are getting ready to reach flight velocity.

I was coming home the other day and passed by a truck while I was on the right lane and he took an exit lane. Is this some kind of Canadian thing because this is the third time it has happened to me on I75 and the sixth or seventh that I have seen it happen.

Hey Mr. Moderator man, can you clean up the thread name?

As soon as you slow down YOUR fellow countrypersons on the 696 dragway from doing 80 mph in a 55 zone....

I can't clean the ones that have been quoted already....

Mr Regular Member...

 

[Brisco]

State Police Sgt is quoted as saying "People need to obey the speed limits!"

Every single Law Enforcement Officer in this country can say this 1,000 times a day and I would have NO problem with it.

Four Students Involved in Fatal Crash - Local News - Dallas/Fort Worth, TX - Dallas/Fort Worth, TX - msnbc.com

Care for me to search out as many stories as I can find where people died all over this country in wrecks that was caused by speeding?? I bet I could find hundreds of articles all over the internet from just this past weekend alone...........

 

[Brisco]

GREAT quote from the article above:

Grand Prairie Police say witness reports have Pimentel going 85 miles per hour while trying to pass another vehicle along a curve not far from the high school. The speed limit for Highway 360 is 55 mph.

Police believe Pimentel's inexperience behind the wheel and the high speeds led her to lose control of the car. As tragic as the accident is, police say there is a lesson to be learned from the crash.

"There's a speed limit posted on the road for certain reasons," said Det. Lyle Gansler. "And if we can encourage the general public, not to mention inexperienced drivers to slow down."

 

[greg334]

As soon as you slow down YOUR fellow countrypersons on the 696 dragway from doing 80 mph in a 55 zone....

I can't clean the ones that have been quoted already....

Mr Regular Member...

I was just on there n 696 and it is either Load-1 sprinters speeding down 696 or some other guy in a van in a hurry to deliver.

You do know there is no 55 zone in the entire stretch of 696?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I was just on there n 696 and it is either Load-1 sprinters speeding down 696 or some other guy in a van in a hurry to deliver.

You do know there is no 55 zone in the entire stretch of 696?

Whoa.....You'd better tell em to take the signs down then....cause I seen 1....

 

[cheri1122]

Every single Law Enforcement Officer in this country can say this 1,000 times a day and I would have NO problem with it.

Four Students Involved in Fatal Crash - Local News - Dallas/Fort Worth, TX - Dallas/Fort Worth, TX - msnbc.com

Care for me to search out as many stories as I can find where people died all over this country in wrecks that was caused by speeding?? I bet I could find hundreds of articles all over the internet from just this past weekend alone...........

Correction: wrecks that LEOs claim were caused by speeding, which is not necessarily what happened, for a number of reasons, most of which I've cited before.
I totally agree that driving too fast for current conditions is reckless - it deserves to be penalized because it endangers everyone on the roads. Having said that, I don't believe speed limits are about safety- I've personally witnessed them being lowered in response to political pressure, and read that the typical speed limit is set 8-10 mph BELOW the accepted rate of speed at which 80% of traffic is moving, thus guaranteeing a steady supply of 'speeders' to collect money from for both the city/state, and insurance companies. And I've seen LEOs check 'speed' on crash reports with absolutely no indication that anyone was actually exceeding the limit, too.
Michigan is particularly obtuse in keeping the split speed limit long after it's been proven to cause more accidents [by causing more lane changing & passing], and I don't see any justification for the MSP to claim that speed is responsible for a single one of the accidents described in the article, either.
I know how the traffic goes on 75 - perhaps there is a need to provide more notice of upcoming exits, esp as they switch from left to right, making it tough to be in the correct lane when it's unfamiliar.
There is definitely a need to keep traffic moving at approximately the same speed, because that's what helps prevent accidents.
Well, that and getting the drunk and aggressive drivers off the roads.

 

[greg334]

Whoa.....You'd better tell em to take the signs down then....cause I seen 1....

There is not one the entire length, you must be on I69.

Michigan is particularly obtuse in keeping the split speed limit long after it's been proven to cause more accidents [by causing more lane changing & passing], and I don't see any justification for the MSP to claim that speed is responsible for a single one of the accidents described in the article, either.

Really?

Not the news report I saw.

The first one is about speed, the people who were killed were driving TOO fast for the conditions that were ahead of them so regardless who is at fault for causing the stopping of the other cars - called a pileup which wasn't - the person who hit the last car is at fault who happened to be the one with the three college people. The motorcycle was also caused by speeding, he hit the guard rail on I94 before inkster which is right where another accident happened last year and another person got killed. The cops said speed had a factor involved in that one so I tend to believe that it is a problem.

[/quote]I know how the traffic goes on 75 - perhaps there is a need to provide more notice of upcoming exits, esp as they switch from left to right, making it tough to be in the correct lane when it's unfamiliar.[/quote]

Really?

You do?

I've been driving that stretch of road since 1979 and it is unpredictable when it comes to idiots who don't see the signs because they are either distracted by talking to a passenger or on their phone.

This morning I was cut off by a truck (little one) who had the phone stuck to their ear. On my trip up to Mt Clemons it it was what i assume was four highschool kids making their way back to their school who didn't see the exit and shoot over all four lanes to make the 9 mile exit - signage was clear ==> exit ahead.

SO here are two problems, we allow idiots to drive and the state, like others need to work on the signs. One example is on 696 before 75 where there is an improper sign, so everyone gets into the right lane thinking that is the only one that exits when both right lanes exit.