Modern Vespa

https://www.rideapart.com/news/718987/volodymyr-zhukovskyy-drivers-license-acquittal/

That happened in my home town where my parents still live, friends were first responders to that accident. That guy should be begging for his life not his drivers license.

His parents have money. That money bought him freedom with the help of a great attorney. He parents must live far enough from the liquor store and the local drug dealer that it's unsafe for their flunky son to ride a bicycle to get his fix. A nice big truck would be much safer.

We have a similar case north of the border in Ontario from a few years back. Guy flies back from his bachelor party in Vegas on a private jet, gets into his Ferrari loaded from his in flight drinking, kills a grandfather and three grandchildren. Gets off with a very light sentence. One of our more respected news outlets argues that the two tiered justice system that let him off easy isn't about money though, but about courts not taking impaired driving seriously, as sentences for killing while seriously impaired behind the wheel are on average a small fraction of the time served for killing without your car and a case of beer involved. If you're curious about their arguments, the article is at:

https://macleans.ca/news/canada/the-real-reason-marco-muzzo-could-get-off-easy

I'm posting this as a way of asking if this, rather than money, could be the cause of this man being acquitted as well? Do the Americans (or anyone else on this board) think that their country takes impaired driving causing death seriously?

It's a question I've argued a fair bit. I've lost a couple of friends to drunk drivers over the decades, and I don't see a whole lot of progress in stopping it here. In fact, the statistics say that after some progress, it's starting to get worse again.

I'd like to suggest that an appropriate response to this would be deport him to his home country to defend it. This guy could do some damage in an Abrams tank.

The reason he "got off" is that twelve people who weren't picked because they knew the defendant or hated motorcyclists, looked at the evidence and found him not guilty. While opinions on this particular case are strong, the odds are that if you read the trial transcript, and examine the evidence presented to the jury, you will likely understand why they reached that verdict, whether or not you agree with it. People with good lawyers get convicted daily, and people with free public defenders get acquitted as well.

They are likely going to deport him back to Ukraine.

I seem to recall that you decided you weren't going to post here anymore, as we were undeserving.

https://www.scootdawg.net/showthread.php?t=56814

Maybe, but this link was worth posting! Actually, I asked him to link it to this site. China scooter arguments or not, this is an update that was needed.

Why do you think this story needed an update? Here's the cliff notes version of the trial- After examining the evidence and hearing eyewitness and expert witness testimony, the judge found that there was no evidence the driver was impaired at the time of the accident and dismissed eight impairment charges. Then the jury, again, just twelve regular American citizens who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty, not the defendants friends or people who hate motorcyclists (they would have been kicked during voir dire,) saw and heard evidence that the lead biker was way over the legal limit for DUI, and not looking where he was going, when he lost control of his motorcycle in a corner and slid in front of Zhukovskyy's truck. The Prosecutor (the guy trying to put Zhukovskyy away) stated during trial that the lead biker materially contributed to the crash. Did you know that the Prosecutor (not to belabor a point, but again, the guy trying to convince the jury to convict Zhukovsky) told the jury that the lead biker was also responsible for the accident? Have you noticed yet that none of this was in any of the articles you've read?
I don't know what happened, because, just like you, I wasn't there. But that's what the judge and jury concluded. If you really want to know why this probably turned out the way it did, go back and look at the initial police report, that was kept under seal, some of the early witness statements, and compare that to what was actually presented to the jury. On the surface, it seems to me that a lot of people just wanted to help, like if you ask here what spark plug is correct for an ET2 and someone replies that their Primavera 150 gets 85 miles per gallon. They're trying to be helpful. Some of the more incriminatory witness statements made it onto the News but weren't repeated under oath.
This happens. I don't remember the exact circumstances, but there was a time when many people were yelling and screaming over and over again that something was stolen, and the only way to recover whatever it was they claimed was stolen, was to put them in a courtroom and under oath. Then it wasn't stolen anymore.

From about 4:50-

Someone requested that I do it.

After all the flak I received for my fluff postings I determined it was more an annoyance here than an asset.

Just days after I asked if anybody thinks their government takes impaired driving causing death seriously, my provincial government has announced legislation increasing the penalties for impaired (by alcohol or drugs) driving, including a lifetime driving ban for impaired driving causing death.

It's questionable whether or not penalties are a deterrent for impaired driving, as argued in a CBC story about the new legislation

(https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-impaired-drivers-new-rules-proposed-1.7204593)

people who drive while impaired are often just people who's judgement is IMPAIRED by the drugs or alcohol they've consumed and are not able to make a good decision. A few police officers I know tell me that there is also a small minority of repeat impaired drivers who simply cannot be stopped short of locking them up, doesn't matter if they've got a license or not they're still going to drive and drive drunk.

Still, it's good to see a government at least making an effort.