The Place Where Ludington Talks
Local Motorcycle Accident Shows Defects in Traffic Laws and Enforcement
A common theme in our coverage of motorcycle accidents is that certain motor vehicle drivers fail to notice them and often turn into their path. This phenomena is accentuated after dark, because of an effect wherein it is easier to observe and distinguish two headlights side-by-side (because it more resembles facial features) than to notice the one headlight of a motorcycle.
The following incident happened at a T-intersection in Walker, where the view point of the driver is illustrated below before they made the fatal left turn from Butterworth to Wilson (albeit during daytime visibility). An auxiliary near-accident noticed at the end of the article is very illustrative of several themes as regards BUMPS:
WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) — A motorcyclist was killed in a crash in southern Walker Thursday night.
The wreck happened around 9:30 p.m. at the intersection of Wilson Avenue SW and Butterworth Street.
Walker Police Department Sgt. Keith Mankel said an SUV was headed south when its driver, a 46-year-old Grandville woman, stopped at a flashing red light and then attempted to make a left turn. Mankel said the driver didn’t see the motorcycle, which was northbound on Wilson, and the vehicles collided.
The motorcyclist, 25-year-old Timothy Devries, was pronounced dead at the scene, Mankel said.
Alcohol does not appear to have been a factor, police say. Investigators are still working to determine whether speed was a factor.
Police said Devries was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
The driver of the car was not cited on the scene. Mankel said that after police finish their investigation, the case will be sent to the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors will determine whether charges are appropriate.
While both the east and westbound lanes of Wilson were shut down as police investigated the crash, another driver nearly plowed into the scene — despite numerous emergency vehicles with flashing lights and officers directing traffic.
That driver, whose name has not been released, was arrested immediately by police.
http://woodtv.com/2014/09/04/wilson-avenue-sw-shut-down-after-crash/
What's left of Tim DeVries motorcycle and effects
An inattentive driver nearly plows into the accident scene and is promptly arrested. Yet another inattentive driver pulls out in front of a motorcyclist traveling legally down the road (presumably staying within the speed limit of 55 mph as is usual for an experienced biker riding after dark) and kills them due to their negligence; she is sent home without any arrest, and likely will get a free pass from the prosecutor when these public attorneys take the easy way out.
When law enforcement treats a potential danger to them posed by a bad driver (more than likely a confused, blinded driver, those accident scenes are sometimes blindingly well-lit and difficult to follow) a lot more aggressively than the actual death of a normal person on a motorcycle committed by a bad driver, what does it say about our law enforcement priorities?
For such accidents, a just punishment would be to revoke driving privileges for a time for the offender, but allow them only to get motorcycle permits, so they can see the problem from another angle if they so desire. This won't happen though because lawmakers, policemen, and judges realize that they themselves are inattentive drivers at time and worry about the laws coming back to haunt them.
The car involved in the crash that killed motorcyclist Tim DeVries
Driving is a privilege, not a right, so when someone kills or seriously maims someone in this fashion they need more than just the pity of the police officers and general public worried about the fact that the poor drivers will have to live with having been part of the incident for the rest of their lives. They need to be punished with at least as much severity as if they drove into the path of another vehicle. That rarely happens, however
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