I'm surprised she was only getting 4 years for irresponsibly taking another's life. That's called killing.

I'm floored by this story. First of all drunk driving should be punished much more severely even if no one dies. I would like to see her go to jail for life. Second her xenophobic and homophobic, disregard for human life is all too common these days I'm afraid.

I hope that as she sits in jail and her years there will be full of contemplative thought so that she will come to feel true remorse instead of the kind that people show when they want a lighter sentence.

It is stories like that that make me glad I have decided to leave the US. That is not to say that everyone there is like that and I'm sure there will be people like this where I go too, but I hope there will be far fewer.

She deserves to go to jail for longer than 10 years. She was driving drunk after ALREADY having her license suspended for driving drunk. This woman has demonstrated that the only place where she is not an irresponsible danger to others is in jail. Unfortunately, it took the death of an individual for that fact to become obvious to all.

So that is what we're up against. Joe, in this case Josephine Sixpack.
I pass by more and more ghost bikes on the way to and from work in NYC. Very sad. We are surrounded by assassins.

vsk

I'm floored by this story. First of all drunk driving should be punished much more severely even if no one dies. I would like to see her go to jail for life. Second her xenophobic and homophobic, disregard for human life is all too common these days I'm afraid.

I hope that as she sits in jail and her years there will be full of contemplative thought so that she will come to feel true remorse instead of the kind that people show when they want a lighter sentence.

It is stories like that that make me glad I have decided to leave the US. That is not to say that everyone there is like that and I'm sure there will be people like this where I go too, but I hope there will be far fewer.

in Brazil, if you drink and drive and are caught once, your license is revoked permanently. if you drink and drive and cause an accident and someone dies, it's the death penalty.
the number of drink/drive problems is MUCH lower there. hmm. . . wonder why?

I'm an old-school liberal, so while I'm happy she's getting punished, I never want to see anyone locked away for ever over something like drunk driving. Our society is way too prohibitionist already, compared to more advanced economies. There are better things to do with these offenders than spending millions of dollars on their trial and lockup, when they could be out, working and contributing to the tax rolls, and making an effort to overcome their substance abuse problem. .

Of course, as a law buff, I'd also like to point out there was no evidence of intent, and the lack of remorse was expressed after the fact, and partially upon the goading of a provocateur. Prosecutors are always using this extra lever, often unfairly, to appear tougher on crime. Also, since the sentence, not the actual charge, is extra= strong, it's likely she won't serve all this time and the sentence is to an extent window-dressing and misleading the public.

That woman should have her license revoked and be hanged in public.

Tucson is another armpit of suburbia. Screw car drivers, all of them! Bicyclists should be allowed to pack some "heat' to ward off road ragers.

I've gotta say that I love my country and I hope we can become better than we have been lately, but the truly sad thing about this event is that this kind of inhuman mindset is unfortunately common, and is a great source of national shame for me. I have heard bicyclists and others who venture from the norm and give the mainstream folks even a negligible amount of inconvenience have death wished upon them by those who wallow in their bratty sense of entitlement, privilege and reckless consumption. It seems these days that if one does not profit financially or gain considerable comfort from an action, it is not considered worth undertaking--whether it be compassion for other human beings, exercise, or doing ones part to avert a planetary disaster. Why must the people of a nation that was fundamentally founded as an international asylum from scorn and persecution be so incredibly intolerant? To each and every one of you who continue to fight against the norm of consumption, convenience and comfort at absolutely any cost--both human and planet--I salute you. I hope that your attitude can someday be considered mainstream.

It's Tucson not Tuscon.

LA: Considering half my family lives there I should have got that right. thanks.

Its a terrible tragedy. The question is what is being done to make better roads/paths for bicyclists?
(probably next to nothing)

Timmy G said: Screw car drivers, all of them! Bicyclists should be allowed to pack some "heat' to ward off road ragers.

That's what pumps are for! Someone tried to run my husband off the road while he was on his bike (on purpose - looking him in the eyes and everything!). My husband smashed her windshield with his pump. Heh.

"Its a terrible tragedy. The question is what is being done to make better roads/paths for bicyclists?
(probably next to nothing)"

Let's see, the bicyclist was off the road and the inebriated murderer swerved off the road to hit and kill him. She didn't have a licence because it was suspended (due to DUI). She was on probation from the most recent DUI. The victim did nothing to deserve being killed.

Why ask what is being done to move bicyclists off the road onto paths... he wasn't on the road! Ask what is being done to get alcoholics off the road. When someone has been convicted once and after a very short sentence is back out essentially unsupervised and she knows she may only get 2 1/2 years for her next offense something is very wrong. What is being done to prevent people from driving impaired? What is being done to prevent people who have been convicted of driving impared from going out and doing it over and over again until they kill someone? I feel that first time offenders should have massively heavier penalties to pay (... prohibitively long incarcerations) and should never be allowed behind the wheel again. People like this killer who were supposedly barred from driving but do it again should forfeit their right to be out in society permanently. What is going to stop this person from getting drunk and jumping behind the wheel in 6 years when she is released from her 10 1/2 year prison sentence?.... NOTHING short of not ever releasing her will ! I sincerely hope that her next victim isn't a relative or friend of mine... or yours.

I live in the Netherlands where bicycling Rules.
Yet we also have one of the highest conguestion rates on our freeways of the whole world.

What I read here to me is nothing more than one crackpot that deserves to be locked away for long time and then upon return should do community sevice in places where the victims of drunk driving accidents recuperate.

I am sad to read that there are commentators here that react by saying that based on this kind of news, the whole of the US or that one state is all screwed up. The other side of that same coin is that we in Europe read of wonderful cycling-accounts of people who encounter nothing but kindness and helping hands on their treck through your beautyful country. Let us not forget those stories also.

In my own country there are also lots of cardivers that say very inappropriate things about the 20 million or so bicycles we have. Mind you- we have only about 16 million people over here. But those cardrivers that say and do those ugly things will never be the norm to measure my country. Same with the USA- Do not measure your country based on the few loonies that roam the streets, because most likely 99.99% still is friendly and benign.

OK, I understand the outrage--this was a terrible tragedy, and should be dealt with seriously. But I don't understand the calls to "string 'er up". Vengeance is not justice. With the exception of rob's, the comments here sound like they belong on Rush Limbaugh's blog or Free Republic or whatever. You're descending to that woman's level.

Let's not label Tucson, this is national if not bigger.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080125/od_nm/spain_driver1_dc_1

just a sad article that could be considered similar to this one.

First off, Tucson is not the armpit of suburbia... you can cycle across it in 45 minutes, second, Tucson has bike lanes as wide as a bus all over the city. The real problem is the consuquences for drunk driving simply aren't severe enough

I can't hear anything about someone's 'substance abuse problem'. To address the self proclaimed lib.
Especially when it results in someone's death.

I have no sympathy for her especially when the license was suspended already. Oh the upbringing, oh the substance abuse, oh the shirk resposibilities of modern living. Boo hoo. Enough of the victim nonsense. The driver will go back to her sorry life and not give a damn about her previous fatal actions.

This is the very same as the waste of life who jumped the sidewalk and ran his car down the West Side BIKE PATH in New York City and killed Eric Ng who was 22 years old and on the BIKE PATH. The driver also had license problems.
Yes, millions of dollars should not be spent to put these people away for a long time... it really doesn't cost that much. They should really be dissected to provide organs to the victims of their negligence and utter disregard for the sanctity of human life. rob is just wrong. GO Timmy G! God Bless marie and Mr.

Good Luck,

vsk

'I never want to see anyone locked away for ever over something like drunk driving...as a law buff, I'd also like to point out there was no evidence of intent...'
---As a law buff, you should be fully aware that we are dealing with more than simply drunk driving. She committed manslaughter, and more specifically vehicular manslaughter. And very clearly so: driving drunk, with suspended license, and resulting in death. Manslaughter falls just short of murder - manslaughter = murder - intent. And nowhere is manslaughter a minor thing as you seem to casually suggest.
'There are better things to do with these offenders than spending millions of dollars on their trial and lockup, when they could be out, working and contributing to the tax rolls, and making an effort to overcome their substance abuse problem...'
---Unfortunatley for L Ecuyer, it seems that the criminal justice system took your advice the first time she was caught driving drunk.

'I never want to see anyone locked away for ever over something like drunk driving...as a law buff, I'd also like to point out there was no evidence of intent...'
---As a law buff, you should be fully aware that we are dealing with more than simply drunk driving. She committed manslaughter, and more specifically vehicular manslaughter. And very clearly so: driving drunk, with suspended license, and resulting in death. Manslaughter falls just short of murder - manslaughter = murder - intent. And nowhere is manslaughter a minor thing as you seem to casually suggest.
'There are better things to do with these offenders than spending millions of dollars on their trial and lockup, when they could be out, working and contributing to the tax rolls, and making an effort to overcome their substance abuse problem...'
---Unfortunatley for L Ecuyer, it seems that the criminal justice system took your advice the first time she was caught driving drunk.

Phoenix is driver crazy also. It doesn't help that the speed limit on a lot of side streets is 35 to 40mph. 45 mph even in some places... Anyway, you have to suicidal to ride anywhere near the roads. Sidewalks are a must and even then you have to watch out at intersections. Being a pedestrian is dangerous enough... People in this state drive poorly and too fast no matter how many drinks they've had.

I lived in AZ for two years, Michigan 9 and WA the rest. AZ is about in the middle for bikes. WA is the best and in MI it is thought that if you ride a bike it is only because you have lost your license for drinking. I did not ride there as it was suicide to do so.
I also lost my best friend to a drunk driver. Regardless of the sentance my friend is still dead. In this case it was one year suspended license and a DUI on the record. That was in 1980. My friend is still dead. A life for a life sounds just and ballanced to me.

That's just appalling... Drunk driving is a very big problem where I come from and we get a lot of these kinds of accidents and people often wonder, how is it possible that some repeat offenders can kill two people in same year??? The first "accdent" usually means only probation! What the hell???
I believe in second chances and I believe people can change, but when you kill someone DUI and get another DUI conviction three months later You should be completely isolated from society (yes, I mean a lifetime improsonment)
But bragging about taking someones life - that is a new low. And I'm glad court took this phone-conversation into account.