Suspended driver license
With all the public eye on the Gerald Morelock tragedy having been killed by a driver who was not even supposed to be driving, it really rattles my cage to read how the last death of Biketober happened.
There is a reason that laws are in place in this world. The people that do not abide by these laws have to be punished and there are laws that provide for the terms of said punishment. As President Theodore Roosevelt said: “No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it“.
If you have broken certain traffic laws, then the law provides that the punishment be a suspended or revoked driver license. The reason for this is that you have proved yourself not worthy the privilege of driving on the highways of this land. You have at one time or another shown irresponsibility to the point that it has become dangerous to you and those that share the road with you.
Now, as I read the story of how Nora Cardona was killed during the last day of Biketoberfest it grieves my heart. My heart goes out to Mr. Cardona who had his wife literally taken from his loving hand and drug 160 feet by a man that was not supposed to be driving to begin with!
The racing motorcycle was being driven by 22 year old Kreso F. Orlic of N.J., who’s license had been suspended. Just as Billy Lane had no business driving the day he hit Gerald Morelock and killed him, Mr. Orlic should not have been on his motorcycle. Orlic was drag racing with 2 other bikes when he struck Mrs. Cardona walking across the street holding her husband’s hand.
I am sure there are statistics that would show how many drivers that have suspended or revoked license have caused accidents. I would imagine that the number is probably high. I don’t have those numbers at the moment and it is not relevant to these particular cases.
The sad truth is that if these people had obied by the law and not operated a motor vehicle while their license was suspended, the victims of their crime might today still be alive.
Technorati Tags: suspended license, vehicular homicide, manslaughter
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October 24th, 2006 at 7:56 am
I was just shocked when I read the paper yesterday and saw again a suspended license on the road on a bike running over this lady. I agree the numbers are probably high when it comes to people driving when they are not be because of suspensions. We only hear about these things when somebody gets killed.
Wonder if this guy had a panel of 4 lawyers, turned himself in and got out of jail in 90 minutes?? I for the life of me do not understand why the State’s Attorney dropped two of Billy lane’s charges. Especially the one of suspended license. When the trooper in North Carolina took his license Billy knew he did not have the legal right to operate anything on the highways. If something is not done his case will set a precedent for the law books. Seems like the law is not the same for ALL people.
October 26th, 2006 at 8:38 am
Good post sandie, I agree with you 100% on your points
October 27th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
I have to laugh at people that want to make a comment, yet insist on hiding behind a fake email address.:))
Again, your comment will not be posted!
Mr. or Ms. anonymous
Obviously you did not do any research into the death of Mrs. Cordona before spouting off at the mouth. It is also obvious by your comments that you did not even read Mr. Cordona’s account of what happened.
I think that if you do a conversion of the speed the motorcycle driven by Orlic was doing you will see that the Cordona’s had less than 3 seconds to react!
59 Miles per Hour = 86.56860600758239 Feet per Second
With that said, your comment of going 50 MPH in 200 feet being reasonable…….. uh no.
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January 20th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
It is sad but true that these people should be alive today. I have a bill (Right-of-Way) that was passed here in North Carolina in 2004 to give stiffer penalties for instances that include what happened to Mrs. Cordona. It could serve as a model for other states. It’s not perfect but it is a start and is better than what we had here at the time.
It is a bill that I was kept informed on during my stint as a writer for GarageChoppers. Sam Nobles, State Legislative Director, CBA/Abate of NC Lobbyist, NC BikePAC, worked hard on this bill to get it made into law.
On 7/13/2004 at 7:35 PM I recieved the email from Sam that HB-965 was heard for concurrance in the house. Rep. Dewey Hill spoke on the bill and the vote was taken, and it passed 112-3.
What sent this bill into motion (Originally HB-347) was the fact that here in North Carolina vehicular manslaughter charges were being plea bargained down on a regular basis to the lessor charge of “Failure to yield right of way” violation. The minimum penalty then was a $25 fine. This included pedestrians and bicycle riders injured or killed. If you ran someone down and killed them all you would get was a $25 fine, but, if you were caught without wearing a seatbelt or wearing a helmet the fine was $75.
HB-965 is a safety bill intended to protect the lives of not just motorcycle riders but all road users. Sen. Tony Rand didn’t want this bill to pass and fought hard against it. I had fun with my little part in helping to get this bill passed. It was a rush to be in on something that truly counted; I had never participated on anything like it before.
January 21st, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Great response WooleyB!
I should note first off that I did add links to WooleyB’s comment above to some of the organizations and information that he has spoke of. I did this because I feel that these organizations as does WooleyB deserve the attention of the readers here.
I miss Garage Choppers. I found the site back when I first started doing motorcycle event sites and enjoyed reading the articles, opinions and information contained in the site. It was freakin huge! This site was like Disney World, you just could not see it all in a day. I used to link to the site in the link directory on my Bike Week site and waited almost 6 months before deleting the link in hopes that the site would return.
I have participated in things like this in the past and I know what you mean about the feeling that you get when you see your work pay off. The feeling is very gratifying in knowing that you have taken action to resolve a issue or help to make the laws of this land in favor of the people.
Thanks WooleyB
January 21st, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Thanks Mike for adding the links so interested parties can have a look see.
I must say that it is nice to know that you were a GarageChopper fan. I guess that my celebrity status has not been forgotten after all. Still miss the fan mail though. We accomplished a lot of positive things with that site and had loads of fun too. Do you remember when Indian Larry died? It was brought to our attention that someone was trying to cash in on it and selling commemorative patches on ebay. The guys at Larry’s shop got up with us and we did what we could to get it stopped; still remember when I contacted the seller of the patches with a specific term and question. Not saying I did it all myself by anymeans but it was less than two hours and the sale was canceled. The pen (or keyboard as the case may be) sometimes is mightier than the sword.
I truly miss the crew at GC still to this day. Eric had offered for me to take it over and run it and I had to decline because of my concert deal. Wolfie stepped up and agreed to keep it going but some of the details caused him to shelve it as well. Eric still owns all the rights to it and could bring it back at anytime.
I’m glad I found your place here. It’s top notch.
May 13th, 2007 at 2:20 am
[...] regret they did when someone close to them is hurt or killed by someone driving impaired or on a suspended license. Realistically, how valid would a petition like this be? Given that the petition originates from a [...]