time for an assualt vehicle ban?

[lazs2]

first it was Ford in her assault Lincoln in Reno... Now, a man in an assualt Buick in Santa Monica...  The death toll from assualt vehicles is allways way higher than firearms.... Anyone is allowed to buy and drive anything from a Buick to a (gasp) 18 wheeler..  Imagine if someone crashed a farmers market or concert or flea market in an 18 wheeler!

Isn't it time we had some common sense assualt vehicle legislation?   Maybe ignition locks and door locks so that the vehicles would never be stolen and used for nefarious purposes..

lazs

[nuchpatrick]

Laz..  Dude what the hell are you smoking....

[Lazerus]

Originally posted by lazs2

Isn't it time we had some common sense assualt vehicle legislation?   Maybe ignition locks and door locks so that the vehicles would never be stolen and used for nefarious purposes..

lazs

[john9001]

assualt vehicles kill 40,000 innocent people every year.

assualt vehicles are used in drive by shootings.

thousands of lives would be saved every year we baned assualt vehicles and rode buses, taxis, and bicycles, and USA would be fuel independent and the enviroment would be saved.

[MrCoffee]

I've been watching and reading lazs posts and I've come to the conclusion that hes a troll & 1/2.

[GtoRA2]

Yes! Laz! You are the man!

I almost got taken out this morning by a blonde in an assault S10!

I can't believe in a civilized society people can get these tools of death so easily! the Horror!!

I wonder how long it will take for some ultra melon to come in here and call as jerks for making lite of such a terrible situation?

[Saurdaukar]

Assault Vehicles dont kill people!!  People kill people!!

Anti-Assault Vehicle legislation would not curb the deaths caused every year by Assault Vehicles.

The Assault Vehicles in question are being used incorrectly by poorly trained drivers and/or criminals.

-Great- post Lazs - this might be a candidate for 'Troll of the Year.'

[midnight Target]

Oh my. That is amazing how you did that lazs!

You replaced Assault Rifle so cleverly and might I say.. hipply with assualt vehicle. Making your point in a clever and hip way that I'm  sure has never been so cleverly and hipply done before.

WTG.

[gofaster]

Its ok to own and operate an assault vehicle in Florida.

Driver won't face criminal charges in bicyclists crash
Joseph Pastore had no criminal intent and wasn't on screened-for drugs when his car struck 14 bicyclists, officers say. He is cited for careless driving.
By LEANORA MINAI, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 17, 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ST. PETERSBURG - No criminal charges will be filed against a driver who barrelled into a pack of bicyclists this month, injuring 14 of them.

Blood tests show Joseph Pastore was not on any drugs for which drivers are routinely screened during DUI investigations, though his poor health and prescription medications could have caused him to blackout moments before the crash July 6, police said Wednesday.

Pastore, 60, was cited for careless driving and must appear in traffic court Aug. 5. Police will ask the judge to order a driving test and medical exam to determine whether Pastore is fit to drive.

"There was no criminal intent," said Officer Mike Jockers, traffic homicide investigator. "There were no impairing factors in his blood."

Several cyclists remained hospitalized Wednesday.

"It was an accident," Pastore said. "This wasn't like I got up that morning and thought, "Maybe I'll go plow down 14 bicyclists.' "

Cyclists, some with the St. Petersburg Bike Club or the St. Pete Mad Dog Triathlon Club, are angry Pastore is still allowed to drive, though his license could be suspended during the August hearing.

"There's no reason that guy couldn't go out tomorrow and do the exact same thing," said Barrie Coates, St. Pete Mad Dog Triathlon Club president.

"Obviously, he has a problem. I don't know if it's drugs or alcohol or medication or whatever. Normal people do not pass out in their cars or hit cyclists."

In an interview Wednesday, Pastore stuck to his claim that he suddenly felt water splashing into his eyes while he was driving and lowered his head to clear his eyes.

"I don't know," Pastore said. "It could have been a sprinkler. I know I wasn't going fast, and I did cross the double line. I did that because I couldn't see in front of me."

Police said Wednesday they found no sprinklers in the accident area or evidence that a bicyclist accidentally sprayed Pastore while drinking from a squirt bottle.

The accident happened at 8:40 a.m. July 6 on 30th Avenue N, just west of 53rd Street. Pastore was driving east on 30th Avenue; the cyclists were pedaling west.

Jockers, the traffic homicide investigator, said Pastore "suffered some type of medical episode which caused him to blackout."

Pastore's 1985 Lincoln Continental drifted left, over the double yellow line and struck the pack of cyclists, Jockers said. Pastore's windshield shattered, sending glass and liquid from cyclists' water bottles into his face.

"This caused him to wake up," Jockers said.

Pastore, in a moment of panic, hit the gas instead of the brake and struck three more cyclists on the sidewalk, Jockers said. Sound eerily similar to the Santa Monica incident yesterday.

"There are a lot of people who wanted him locked up," Jockers said.

Pastore said people unfairly presumed he was driving while impaired. Pastore said he is "distressed" over the crash but did not hide his feelings toward his experience with cyclists on the road.

"These people are inconsiderate of motorists on the road," Pastore said. "They don't leave any room."

Pastore is on several prescription medications, including Zoloft, an antidepressant. He has been prescribed a tranquilizer and painkiller, police said. When asked to name all of his medications, Pastore declined, referring the question to his attorney. The attorney, Raymond Haas of Tampa, declined to comment.

Police said blood tests show Pastore was not taking any of the dozens of drugs for which drivers are routinely screened during DUI investigations. No alcohol was found during testing.

Police do not know all the prescription medications Pastore was taking and are waiting for Pastore's attorney to furnish a list.

Cyclists say Florida lawmakers should add more prescription medications to the controlled substances routinely checked.

"There needs to be some laws changed in the state of Florida," said Michele Forte, 34, whose husband, Tony Forte, 39, has a compound fracture in his lower left leg, a broken left wrist and fractured jaw.

Cyclist Kip Vosburgh, 56, of Treasure Island agreed, saying state law on controlled substances is too narrow.

"There are a number of things that are equally debilitating," Vosburgh said during an interview at Bayfront Medical Center.

For the first time during the investigation, police said Wednesday a witness reported seeing the cyclists pedal through a red light at 49th Street and 30th Avenue N, four blocks before the crash scene.

"Had the pack of bicyclists stopped, this accident might not have happened," Jockers said.

Police have not questioned the cyclists about whether they ran a red light. Cyclists interviewed Wednesday called the claim irrelevant.

Vosburgh, the cyclist recovering at Bayfront Medical Center, said he was in the middle of the pack and did not run a red light.

"To associate the what ifs - I could also say, "What if the gentleman was 10 seconds later in turning the ignition,' " Vosburgh said.

Vosburgh does not want to focus on speculation. His motto is on a white ball cap by his side. The cap has a circle with a slash through the word "whining."

"I'm a survivor," Vosburgh said. "I'm going to get over this. We're going to move forward."

[Dowding]

Wow... troll of the year certainly! I really thought you were making a serious, yet controversial point! WTG my man!

[lazs2]

but saur.... if sensible legislation saved the life of even one child....

Why does anyone need an assault vehicle anyway?   most speed limits are less than 55mph and think of the lives that would be saved if there were no assault vehicles (imagine ominous pictures of black escalades and hummers here) ..  How hard would it be to make a car out of lightweight  and non leathal  cheezy poofs?   Make top speed less than 40mph say?

lazs

[MrCoffee]

I have a theory. Perhaps people who drive assault vehicles feel more secure knowing that they now have a superior mode of transportation than they had in the past. I wonder if they sleep in their vehicles at night awaiting drive by shootings. I wouldnt let my kids trick or treat at that house, the fence might be booby trapped.

[lazs2]

MT... making light of the situation will not make it go away... certainly "assault vehicle" is open to definition but I think we all know one when we see one.... paramilitary vehicles... all black and with only one real purpose... to kill people!

I am not trying to take everyones cars away... I think that sport vehicles properly used under controlled conditions are fine... golf carts at a golf course for example would be fine or, those miniuture model T fords the shrines drive if in a parade.

lazs

[Dowding]

Why don't you license the drivers of these cars and have a mandatory test to be passed before the drivers can use them?

[lazs2]

Great idea Dowding!   That would certainly stop the needless deaths!  
lazs