Beltway Motorcycle Crash–Your Take?
Based on the Washington Post, here are the facts of a very interesting accident:
*A Maryland State Trooper, James Davis, is checking for speeders on a strip of I-95 near Laurel.
*Some motorcyclists pass by at speeds of around 100 mph.
*Davis pulls out and turns on his lights.
*Sixteen miles later, on an on-ramp, two brothers, Suky Shamin Heureaux and Suky Shamin Heureaux, die in nearly simultaneous crashes on a Baltimore exit ramp.
*A twist: It turns out that one of the bikes that the brothers had acquired had been reported stolen–a circumstance that could have motivated the brothers to flee from the police.
The father of the brothers, Maximo Heureaux, is irate. From the Post story:
"They tell me they were racing, that's all they tell me," Maximo Heureaux, 45, who shared his home in Landover with his sons, said of his limited contact with investigators. "I don't believe the police; nobody here believes the police. We all need to know what really happened."
I guess the question here is whether Davis chased the motorcyclists, which is a controversial practice in law-enforcement circles. The state police declined to release a copy of the pursuit policy to the Post. So take your pick:
A) This is clearly a case in which a police chase caused deaths. The state should apologize and pay.
B) This is clearly a case in which two people were recklessly driving dangerous vehicles. It's their fault.
C) This is a murky case.
1:29 pm
Having been cut off all too many times over the years by 100 MPH motorcyclists, I'll go with "B".
1:32 pm
Isn't the concern with high-speed chases that innocent bystanders will get hurt? Do we really care when it's only the pursued who end up dead?
And seriously, have you ever seen someone riding a crotch-rocket that wasn't driving like an idiot?
1:39 pm
So, the brothers died in nearly simultaneous crashes, and had the same name? What, were they siamese twins? (Or, typo alert: one of the brothers' middle names is Amin, not Shamin.)
I'd vote C if asked to decide on "beyond a reasonable doubt," or B if asked to judge on "preponderance of evidence."
1:44 pm
A police chase NEVER causes deaths, it's the idiots who fail/refuse to stop that cause deaths. And, as has already been noted, when the only death is that of the idiot who is fleeing, I can't be bothered to care. The father of these two morons should be kicking himself for raising two, well, morons.
5:29 pm
Hmmm. Stolen MC. Speeding excessively. I'll go with (B). Whether the excuse was racing, stolen mc or something else, they should have stopped when the police were chasing them. You can't blame the police for the motorcyclists wreckless driving. When will people accept responsibility for their actions and the results of those actions?
6:47 pm
Idiots who are racing at 100 mph - THEIR FAULT
1:46 pm
How about all ya dat jus wrote go 2 hell!
6:20 pm
what a sad day when two brothers are dead, a family is grieving, and thoughtless people call them "idiots" on the internet. It must be nice to be careless when you don't have to say anything to the family or victims' faces. These two "idiot" brothers were friends of ours. They made bad decisions--yes--and the families have to live with those consequences for the rest of their lives. Should the case be investigated--yes--because like you all say, laws and rules should be followed, including police. Should we all expect from ourselves what we self-righteously demand from others? yes. So please, if you ever respond to another thread, leave the carelessness, misinformation, and callousness elsewhere.
3:35 pm
B
6:47 pm
Lessee... Stolen bikes... reckless driving... speeding to elude... Not so much of a tough choice.
It's sad, and really sad for their loved ones, but at least those bad decisions didn't kill anyone else. It could have been much worse.
9:18 pm
well Heather they were idiots for going well over the speed limit one of the bikes was stolen why don't you answer for that huh? They died because they ran.I agree with Mark. they shouldn't have ran.
8:24 am
I'm going with C because the only details we got is high speed and an alleged Stolen bike. No one told us whether or not the bike they were riding was the stolen bike in question. In addition, were 2 riders death a result of rider inexperience or they collided with another vehicle. With 3 deadly motorcycle accidents this weekend, we better pay extra attention to our 2 wheeled riders.
2:46 pm
Everytime I am in my car with my two young sons I remind them these crotch rockets flies by zigging and zagging through traffic that sooner or later the motorcyclists driving these bikes will likely end up in a an accident and possibly dead. They will never be allowed to have one as long as they are living under my roof. I feel for this parent, but they ended up killing themselves. It's no one's fault but their own.
2:57 pm
Well MD law states that in order to proceed on a high speed chase they have to get permission from a superior, which clearly wasn't done in this case. Alleged stolen bike, it has been a week and thats all we keep hearing. This is not California and we do not condone high speed chases. And as for the rest of you who did not even know them, they were not only good friends, but they were also fathers, so please think about their families before you call them "idiots" as they are grieving enough without having strangers bad mouth them!
3:40 pm
The police aren't allowed to engage in high-speed chases? Awesome!! So the next time I have a cop come after me for speeding, all I have to do is go FASTER and he'll leave me alone. And to think, I used to pull over for those morons because I thought they were going to keep following me!
You're right - these guys weren't idiots, they were workin' the system. Smart!!
6:54 pm
It doesn't matter if the police were chasing them or if the bike was stolen. They were the ones doing 100 mph. I can see chase rules to protect innocent bystanders, but in this case the only ones responsible are the idots on the bike.
1:27 pm
u call them idiots for speeding?? i know for fact every single one of u fools been speeding or driving recklessly at one point of ur lives so that means yall are also idiots .... these 2 guys were two loveing fathers, sons, brothers, an friends... i wont let anyone tarnish there names... i go with A nobody knows what happened and last times i checked cops weren't all that honest
1:56 pm
letter A
11:23 am
FOR ALL THESE IGNORANT PEOPLE GIVING THEIR OPINION ON OTHER PEOPLES ACTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES OVER THE INTERNET, NOT REALIZING THAT THERE ARE HURTING FAMILY MEMBERS READING THIS. SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO ON ABOUT YOUR DAY, YOU DONT CARE SO WHY SAY ANYTHING??????????
3:42 pm
It is very unfortunate that these individuals lost their lives, however I do not feel that the police are to blame for the accidents. The brothers chose to disobey the law by fleeing and in doing so took their own fates into their hands. If an innocent bystander had been killed or injured, then the police would be liable for pursuing the two in conditions that were not safe to the general public. This does not seem to be the case. Whenever someone dies, even due to their own negligence, there's always a victim - the family. My heart goes out to the Heureaux family.
3:44 pm
P.S. - the high speed pursuit laws are designed to protect the public, not the guilty.
11:06 pm
All you ass holes who posted ur carless comments are the stupid morans who think about themselfs and not others and soon will end up wishing u never said that when ur flipped ova bridge or in a car accident ...those "morans" as u call them were my cousins and the bikes werent stolen that false info form the police and there names were suky shamin and suky amin and they like all u were chilren husbands and fathers who's passion were riding bikes..... The lack of contact and excusses from investigators and police is what leads to the question weather they crashed or this was an accident ... first they say they crashed then they say the bikes were stolen when family asked to see the "fort McHenry " tunnel video and toll camera they say the the cameras were off ... u who drive and when have u switched lanes in the tunnel and recived a ticket by the time u got out by an officer who watched u in the camer since when have u passed the toll and three days later recived a ticket in the mail ... so how is it that two ppl die chsed by a cop and the cameras were off but when its a traffic act we are always watched .. now whos the moran and why did we only recive one bike and not the other why are they not giving us answers ..... what are they hiding .. .. my couysin ran cause they knew they werent suppose to be chased and its happen many times to all bikers ....but why the cop keep going crossing his limit .. why when the eye witness who claimed to see the accident was dialing the police number the cop was 20 seconds behind the bikers ?????? but yet u blame these young ppl for killing them selfs .....think u ass holes
11:05 am
R.I.P SUKY AND SHAMIN WE ALL WILL MISS YOU, SEE YOU TWO IN THE CROSSROAD MY BROTHERS.
3:55 pm
ok, first and foremost, it is extremely tragic to lose a loved one, especially in a spontaneous case such as this .... my heart goes out to the families of these men.
now ....
1) if these men were husbands and fathers .... then why were they riding at 100mph?? even if they were not considering their own safety, they should be thinking about their families and how devastating something like this could be for them
2) yes most of us speed ...... but usually average probably around 80mph on 95. and i am sure that most of us are aware of the consequences when doing so. Over 100mph on 95 would be considered reckless driving ... which has serious consequences. I could see someone possibly taking their chance, but someone with a suspended license ..... that just isn't smart thinking at all
3) the police have a job, its to protect people. which is exactly what was being done. they were protecting innocent people from being harmed by these drivers. it is unfair the innocent should have to suffer for others neglegance. luckily, this time it was not the case. It always seems funny to me that the only people who complain about law enforcement are the ones who are in most cases responsible for breaking the law. There are rules for a reason, and they should be followed, especially when dealing with the safety of others.
as a final note, there is no reason to name call and bash the memory of someones loved one, but there is no reason to blame others for ones own neglegance. These men knew what they were doing, were aware of ALL of the possible consequences, which unfortunatly turned out to be fatal.
instead of pointing fingers, we need to take this as lesson to all of us ... and maybe think about our actions a little harder
4:47 pm
"my couysin ran cause they knew they werent suppose to be chased and its happen many times to all bikers"
Huh? I doubt very much if many bikers, and certainly not 'all' bikers, speed at 100mph. Most do drive responsibly. This statement that I quoted above spells out exactly what was wrong with these two men. They were raised to have no morals, and they like to 'use the system' to avoid taking consequence of their own actions. This time, they were forced to take consequence for their immoral and unsafe actions. Maybe we shouldn't try so hard to limit the ways police can protect us, and maybe we should try hard to limit the ways people with no morals can get away with these things.
7:53 pm
I'm sorry for the family. But those men took their own lives and potentially the lives of anyone in the area in their own hands. Anyone could have died in that incident. Sux that it was your family, but at least they didn't take mine out with them. They may have been loved by you, but they behaved in a menacing way to the rest of us.
1:11 am
i ride like an asshol for a living...
im just curious, Mr T from DC says "Having been cut off all too many times over the years by 100 MPH motorcyclists, I’ll go with “B”."
CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW YOU GET CUT OFF BY SOMEONE DOING 100 MPH?? THAT WOULD MEAN YOU WERE GOING FASTER THEN HIM.
Obviously they ran cause one bike was stolen. As far as the pig COP your not supposed to chase so INNOCENT PEOPLE DON'T GET HURT. So they put the lives of ME or YOU who could have been a bystandered in harms way. You people suck at replying to posts, you don't think, guess people like you are running this country...figures
http://WWW.ADRENALINECREW.COM see how we ride.
3:51 pm
RIP fellow riders. Prayers and thoughts to the family and friends. Respect to AdrenalineCrew!
6:39 pm
Ok.. so because drivers go "only" 80 that's ok? Once you're over the speed limit, you're in the wrong. whether you're only going 10 mph over or 30 mph over
I agree bikers shouldn't run, and I agree that some are reckless, but not all bikers run and not all bikers are reckless.. Just like all drivers do not encroach onto our lanes or cut us off or ride too close behind us..
Facts are not known, I don't understand how it's possible for anyone to make any kind of comment, much less such virulent ones
2:39 pm
I will go with none. I would like to see the tape from the cops car. I would also like to see the DOT cameras that are supposed to be working courtesy of our hard earned tax dollars. History has shown us that no all cops are honest. I'm not taking sides. I want to see all the proof before making this call. Alleged and fact are diffrent. Not to mention, Since we are passing Judgement on folks I guess we are all perfect. There are just as many crazy folks in cars than on bikes. We as a world need to leanrn compassion and respect for all. The people that are passing judment I'm sure live perfect lives. Enjoy!!!!