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[deaf1]

Last July I was nailed by a left turner.  I was putting along at 20mph on a 2 lane,  and she shot out of a side street at over 45mph.... After three surgeries I am starting to walk again.  She admitted to being on the cell phone...  She received a moving violation and got a slap on the wrist... I ended up with $275k in medical bills while she fled the country....

In Illinois we have a law against texting,  and in Chgo proper against any cell phone usage w/o a ear piece....  The cops dont enforce the law,  and I routinely see them on the phone while driving!!!

There is now another senseless killing VERY close to home http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=36565.0
I think we can start showing our feelings for this needless murder by showing up at the wake (see above for info) 

The laws need to be changed... My 'attacker'  walked with a slap,  and the women from the above incident was painting her nails (admitted to police) when she killed the biker...  So far she is charged with failure to avoid a accident...

Accidents will never stop,  but the punishments for them have to be real.  Last year in a suburb in Chicago a teen was texting and hit a guy on a bike (w/ pedals) and killed him...  The teen received a traffic ticket.... Its great that families will receive $$ compensation in civil court,  but that doesnt bring back the dead or injured...

Please help by coming out to this memorial service and giving me ideas on how to push this forward.... 

This can be the beginning of something huge for bikers everywhere as there will be TV coverage of the wake and funeral...

If you feel the way that I do, please post here and let it be known.  I don't know how to proceed in this but I'm sure together we could come up with something meaningful and effective and start getting the courts attention on these kinds of senseless injuries and killings.

Even a small voice can start something large,  and with so many changes in the government I think we can wake up some people to change the laws!

[VaEagle]

My .02 would be to have fundraisers for the victims and invite the media. There are many laws on the books already and there is a problem enforcing all of the laws and then when a person is taken to court the juries see the offender as one of them and the "There but for the grace of GOD..." mentality takes over and the defense attorney reminds each juror..."how many times have you been distracted etc." They also play on the fact that the "offender didn't mean to hurt anyone and they are sorry...."
When you have a fundraiser you can humanize the victim and show what they and their families and the community have lost. This type of positive info could help convince the general community that bikers are more than a bunch of wild lawbreakers. Juries will award more money if they feel for the victim.
The fundrasiers will not only raise money for day to day expenses for the victim but may help in getting a personal injury lawyer involved so a civil case for wrongful death could be brought against the driver of the car.
Once several large judgements are made the local prosecutors will learn that the community will NOT tolerate vehicular manslaughter. The problem can be in some juristdictions the suspect has to have intent to cause harm or very severe disregard for personal safety and that can be hard to prove at times.
There can be a delay in filing charges while the prosecutor and police gather as much evidence as possible :autopsy,wittiness statements,physical evidence etc. so there will not be any doubt and that the defense can't prove the victim contributed to their own death.
In addition to fundraisers you could have everyone in your HOG chapter/church or other group to write and call your local politicans and prosecutors and calmly express your concerns. Maybe invite them to one of the fundraisers too, most politicans love the media moments to show how the respond to their voters.
I would present this situation as a woman who was a mother,wife and productive member or society who happened to ride a bike. It will generate more support since many people in society would say motorcycles are dangerious and "that's the chance you take riding one of those things." They might not relate to the biker in her but they may relate to other aspects of her life.

[JCZ]

MADD has already laid the groundwork on how to be successful at this grass roots kind of thing.  Talk to them.....or contact Candy Lightner directly (google search).

[VaEagle]

I saw the story on ABC news tonight. Good to get national coverage of this story :

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7508040&page=1