Prologue:  Lone Eyewitness Account of Fatal Crash

"Can't rightly recall the reason why, maybe I was worried about the crazy middle summer traffic in the middle of the afternoon between Ludington and Scottville, but I turned my wife's 1995 Honda motorcycle north onto Dennis Road.  I gained speed as I got about a quarter mile up Dennis approaching its intersection with Johnson Road.  

Through my helmet I saw a jeep pull up from the east on Johnson; knowing the area fairly well, I knew that he had a stop sign to deal with, while I didn't.  On my approach I saw the older fellow driving look directly at me when I was only a few dozen yards away from passing him.  Surely he would stop or remain stopped and let me pass him safely.  

Things kind of went in slow motion after that.  Instead of looking at me pass by, the man turned his face west and the jeep began moving across the lane I was riding in.  Mister, please... I got a wife and three kids, I got projects I need to do, debts to pay.  Am I invisible?  Is my 25 year old bike not making enough noise for you to hear it coming?  I can't help but hit you at this point... why?!"

   -- Jaramie Jones, 43, potential last moment thoughts before his fatal crash on July 18th, 2020

Lone Sketch of the Incident (The MSP report include no pictures from the accident scene) 

"Attached is the field sketch of the crash. Just so it makes more sense the jeep was w/b on Johnson Rd and stopped at the stop sign. The bike was n/b on Dennis Rd and did not have to stop at the intersection. The jeep pulled out and the bike hit the front driver side of the vehicle. The driver of the bike appears to have rode the jeep into the ditch. The jeep backed up a few feet because it was on top of the driver. No skids were observed for the bike."

Unidentified Driver's and Passenger's Accounts of a Sudden Loud Bang Out of Nowhere

The motorcycle was northbound on Dennis Road and struck the Jeep that was traveling west.  The Jeep stopped at the signed intersection prior to the collision, the MSP Sergeant said (Mason County Press)

Justice for Jaramie Jones

It seemed rather unjust for the state police operating out of a different county to declare that someone who just had their life and right-of-way taken from them to be at fault for an accident, but that's what they did, and that's what was reported.  The police and media refused to identify the person who drove out right in front of a motorcyclist traveling lawfully down the road, killing them. 

The police would keep that secret from the public by responding to my FOIA request by blotting out every instance where the identity of the driver would be found.  This is rarely done, and is even rarely done legitimately.  We find in his interview that he looked to the south where Jaramie Jones would have been on his motorcycle, the 25 year old Honda probably made a lot of noise as it approached the intersection.  But the driver is on record for never having saw it and never having heard it, until there was a loud bang just after he drove right in front of Jaramie Jones and seen him ride his jeep down to the nearby ditch.  

The question to ask is how did this 68 year old driver fail to see or hear the motorcycle approaching and why did he so carelessly drive right out in front of Jaramie Jones, killing him.  Assuming he stopped at the stop sign and looked south, the motorcycle may have been around where the car is approaching here, this is the vantage he would have had looking south.  You can see traffic that won't even reach the intersection for five seconds.

Yet, he convinces Trooper Michael Cuevas that he didn't see anything coming up the road after coming to a complete stop.  It would be impossible to have missed Jaramie Jones' bike approaching just one or two seconds from the intersection if he had actually taken a look.  This 68 year old man, whoever he was, was either a liar or somebody who had vision problems that should have precluded him being able to drive.  Neither the man or his wife seem to have one iota of compassion for the dead man or his family.

One can look throughout the police report, look through all of the supplements provided (hereherehere, and here) and find nothing regarding holding the driver accountable for anything. A third person account claims Jones was speeding, but nothing in the crash reconstruction indicates that's likely or whether it would have any effect on the driver not seeing him.  

The state police do manage to keep the driver's name secret and to keep from charging him with a moving violation causing death.  One could entertain the notion that they are protecting one of their own, after all, he was coming from a session at the shooting range.  

The driver's name should be released, especially to the wife and kids of Jaramie Jones.  The state police should immediately explain why they did not seek to level charges against the person whose actions killed another person who was using the roadway legally, and they should prepare charges for the prosecutor so that justice for Jaramie Jones and his family can be preserved.  

If the state police do not want to do their jobs, at least allow the family to pursue their own civil litigation against the negligent and unrepentant person that killed Jaramie Jones.

Views: 1240

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

This sure looks like a coverup for someone, like you said, XLFD, maybe for one of their own by not charging them and not releasing their name.

Very sad Jaramie Jones was killed, appears to be because this unidentified 2009 Jeep driver pulled directly out in front of him at a stop sign. His passenger declares she was on Facebook. Sometimes a distracted passenger can be just as distracting to the driver too, especially if they are relaying information to the driver.

Distractions come in many forms for drivers.  In situations like this, I would like to see the investigating officers challenge the driver that failed to see the motorcycle coming up the street, and advocate for the vulnerable user of the road who dies because a careless driver couldn't focus on their driving.

Something you may have noticed if you looked through the records is that the driver was tested for Tier 1 drugs and had a hit.  Yet for some reason the MSP decided to classify it as a medical record or some other exempt record, even if it may have played a part in the driver's inattention.  

With the quick release by authorities of the 21 year old Manistee woman (Johnna Hanson) that ran over the bicyclist Branden Alpin on the highway, one has to wonder why the killer's name isn't given in this case or the Tier 1 substance they had in their system.

Not making any excuses for he driver of the Jeep but that intersection is messed up. 

Both Johnson and Dennis do not run straight at that junction, both deflect making the line of sight from Dennis heading West especially limited without actually pulling out into Johnson Rd.

Also  the stop sign sets farther back from the corner traveling West.

At 55 mph the motorcycle is covering 80 feet per second, at 65 mph it is traveling 95 feet per second. With a limited line of sight there was only a few seconds before the crash. Was the headlight on and functioning on the motorcycle?  No mention in the report.

I sometimes report on crashes that happen in other parts of west Michigan in the BUMPS group, and often use Google maps of places I cannot easily travel to, but I always try to get to the actual ground zero when something happens in Mason County.  Here's what I noticed when I was down there, I suggest anybody who has problems with my assessment to do the same before measuring their response.  

The corners of the intersection are slightly rounded to better enable right turns, so the stop sign going west can't be any further up.  The slight variance from 90 degrees, making the angle between 80-85 degrees between the east and south road portions, really doesn't restrict the visibility when you're at the stop sign this driver was at (the overhead earth-view shows the tree line is far back from the road, allowing a long sigh distance at the corner in question).  I could clearly see vehicle traffic traveling around 55 mph up Dennis Road for more than four seconds before they reached the intersection, I could vaguely see them for a couple of seconds more.  

Headlights are not in play in this incident, this happened in the middle of the day, just after 1 PM under optimal driving conditions.  

Without knowing any of the parties at this time, it plain seems like the driver of the jeep was at fault, a tragic accident and it seems a wrongful death. The justice for Jeremy and his family would be, imo, a wrongful death lawsuit before any statute of limitations runs out, if that has not already occured. Even if the MSP for whatever reason did a shoddy job of investigation and reporting fault.
Another question I have about this haunting fatal accident, isn't the "accident sketch" amateurish? Handwritten ... and what are the "little circles" in the street in the intersection depicting? I can't make out the handwriting even with a magnifying glass.

The accident sketch is far from being what you should expect from a fatal accident where the fatality is the true victim.  The MSP lead investigator should invest in a camera at least if he plans to investigate crashes in the future, there was none included which might help figure out what actually happened.

If one zooms in on the sketch, the circles mostly depict where 'debris' ended up.  Most just have those words on, the two southernmost ones are hubcaps, suggesting that the crash popped both hubcaps of the jeep on the driver's side, sending them in opposite direction than the collision, which is kind of mysterious when considering the rear hubcap which one would think would not fly off like that.

RSS

© 2024   Created by XLFD.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service