Adam Bell's killer sentenced.

[Nikon]

Adam Bell
Our dear friend Adam Bell was senselessly taken from us. On August 6, 2005 he was heading south on route 89 in Connecticut on his Triumph motorcycle. An 87 year old woman who was heading north indicated she was turning left, came to a complete stop and then turned right in front of him.

Thank you

I hadn't seen that before.

[CMG241]

I hate to play Devils Advocate here, but what do you guys think testing people would honestly solve? I understand seeing and hearing exams, but if you're refering to making people driving tests, do you think that will solve anything? When I was 16 1/2, to get my license I had to take a left out of the registry, take a left on a sidestreet, 3 point turn, and back to the DMV, does that prove I can really operate a vehicle safely? Plus, say we did have testing now, would any of you drive the EXACT way you do when youre away as when you have a state trooper sitting in the car next to you? Of course not, everyone would change their driving to pass the test, then go back to how they were doing it all along once the trooper is out of the car.
Obviously something needs to be done, but road testing people isnt neccessarily going to solve it, and just waste a lot of peoples time and tax money in the process.

I'm sure the BOO test would work. have an old fogie drive in rush hour traffic and scream BOO sitting next to them - if the poop their pants they lose their license.

[benVFR]

Obviously something needs to be done, but road testing people isnt neccessarily going to solve it, and just waste a lot of peoples time and tax money in the process.

They need to make the car road test as tough as the MSF test and then retest everyone every single time they have to get their license renewed.

And put in place a REAL written driving test. Not one that lets you skip out after you answer 3 or 4 questions right. A real legitimate test that forces you to know about things like not passing on the right, staying right except passing, using turn signals, how to enter and exit a rotary, etc, etc..

You can say it would cost too much money but that's just retarded.. how much money do car accidents cost this country? Motorcycle accidents get all the attention but they are a drop in the bucket compared to the carnage car drivers cause.

Oh and put in place some kind of accountability program for the state police giving the driving tests, kind of like No Child Left behinds.. e.x. have the feds occasionally send in someone who drives bad to make sure the examiners are not being lenient.

The hidden costs of car accidents to the economy are just enormous... raising the bar on testing would not be so expensive in the long run.

[Tricky Mike]

I hate to play Devils Advocate here, but what do you guys think testing people would honestly solve?

C'mon... Let's be realistic. We've all seen elderly people that are so inept that even the most ridiculously ineffective driver's test would have to weed them out... like the guy I saw in Concord, MA the other day... driving down the street with a rear door WIDE OPEN. Not just slightly ajar... wide open. I (and every one else) started shouting "DOOR!" at him... I doubt he could hear us... He also didn't notice when said door started hitting brush on the side of the road. Completely oblivious. I'm willing to bet he and MANY others like him would fail whatever test was required. There are many drivers who's motor skills are so slow that it would be impossible for them "change their driving" for the test. They're simply not able to do so.

Unfortunately there are those people that are going to keep driving until something comes along to force them to stop, be it a license exam or (as in this case) a dead kid, motorcyclist or group of people at a bus stop when the mistake the gas for the brake.

[hqp921]

Guilty of negligent homicide by vehicle. $500 fine and loss of licence for life.


Who is that going to deter?

Ugh.

I didn't know Adam Bell, but thanks to some of the replies and links, I feel like I got a little insight to who he was. I poked around a little reading some articles. I started to look through some of the photos, and I just couldn't do it anymore.

I was looking around at the wedding photos and I had to stop. I'm getting married next year, what if something happened to me? How would my family, my wife, my friends deal? Almost makes you rethink the whole risk factor every time you swing a leg over the bike.

How would they feel if an 89 year old woman lost her license and had to pay $500?



As someone said, no punishment would be severe enough - but really, there should be something more than this...

[benVFR]

Look at the big deal about Katrina, 9/11, etc..

Every year road accidents kill more people then all natural disasters combined.

It would be worth the trouble of going to the registry for an hour longer every 4 years or so. They already make you go back in to test your eyes.

Besides.. I don't know RI, but it's just not that painful in NH and MA to go to the registry if you have your shit together and are intelligent enough to read & follow directions.

[Tricky Mike]

Besides.. I don't know RI, but it's just not that painful in NH and MA to go to the registry if you have your shit together and are intelligent enough to read & follow directions.

I actually agree... but as I hate the RMV with a passion, I just couldn't resist

[benVFR]

Lots of branches available though.

I usually have gone to either the Watertown (close to Boston) or the Lowell one... and I've never had a significant wait.

A lot of the frustrations seem to be related to stupid people.

e.x. I got stuck for a while in Merrimack this spring when I moved to NH. Because a guy who mostly only spoke Spanish and his girlfriend decided to throw a Jerry Springer fit in the RMV because he was denied a license cause he didn't show up with any papers proving he was legally here. Totally avoidable, not the RMVs fault, it was the fault of the people in line.

I'd put up with a lot more PITA if it kept a few percentage points of the ~40k people killed every year alive.

[Pittenger5]

What I meant in that is the entire system would need an overhaul, and as for the money and how much car accidents cost this country every year, I completely agree. But how many accidents do you think are caused by people that would fail the driving test? MAYBE 5%? I bet 99% of the people on the road would pass any driving test cause they would focus 100% and not be distracted, etc etc. Once they get back in the real world, they start eating, talking on the phone and the driving test didnt solve anything.

What Im essentially trying to say, something needs to be done, but a driving test is the easy way out, and might not solve anything. Would this old bag have passed her drivers test? Maybe, maybe no motorcycle would be within 100 miles during her test and she would be paying 100% attention instead of 99%. If thats the case, shed pass, and yet everyones friend would be dead regardless.

[keeena]

Hear what you're saying Pittenger. I think the other viewpoint is that doing something is better than doing nothing. Even some weeding out of bad drivers and some lives saved is worth the effort.

Lots of systems need serious overhauling...and no one said it would be easy. Eventually something will come along to prompt the reasonable into action. I've never been compelled to send my Senator a letter, but I think its about time to start harassing them.

RIP Adam Bell. Never knew him.