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Post by baywatcher on Nov 1, 2011 20:37:52 GMT -5
A few comments from a contributor with a legal/insurance background, though not in Nebraska (in California)
1. The most intriguing fact is the blown tire. I've read hundreds/thousands of police reports and few feature a blown tire induced during or after the incident. Could have been a cause, but the witnesses would contribute/verify that. Frankly, also could have been a big break for Cook as it eliminated the possibility of driving off, which could have turned nasty if subsequently caught.
2. In California, insurance runs with the car. All family members would have to be designated as drivers if she is driving the parents car, and pay extra (a lot) for her as a resident at home or driver at school. If her tickets started in 2007, that would have been when she was 16, and minors have to go to court with a parent in California, so there is at least some notice.
3. Insurance gets dollars up front. Each ticket adds to the premium. I doubt seriously that she has enough to pay the premiums for 4 tickets in 4 years, so Mom and Dad are helping out and should be curious as to why they are paying $1800 a year for Lauren when they are only $500. Their policy should cover the damages, too; probably a 100/300 or more with the Cook assets.
4. I have seen numerous drivers vainly fight tickets in court, wondering why they didn't go to traffic school; but it becomes obvious that the school option has been exercised. You can only use traffic school so often. Sounds like Lauren's timing was good; burying two tickets in four years and working on this last one.
5. The reports say she was doing 20-30 in a 25 zone; kind of strange as that's not a high speed limit for a rural zone; not a rural neighborhood, I guess. Regardless, the witness seems to remove speeding as an issue from this accident, which is good for Lauren.
6. I'm a civil lawyer, not criminal, but I can't see the DA taking this to court on the leaving the scene; maybe on a weak plea bargain. Again, the tire may have made up her mind, but I do have a DD the same age and understand her actions as confused and unsure what to do. She could have done better but wouldn't mind representing her on that charge. It's designed for people who completely leave a scene and do not report or return to the accident site. DA does look at the purpose of the statute.
7. The suspension charge is pretty cut and dried. I realize it was supposed to be taken care of, but that is legally her responsibility; undoubtedly volleyball has taken away time to do these things.
On a personal note, I'm with you on most things, mikegarrison, but blithely dismissing 6 speeding violations as part of driving is not one of them. I am not a good driver, almost killed DD a few years ago by falling to sleep on the freeway a couple of years ago, but haven't had a speeding ticket in 40 years. Sorry, but you say you have had your car busted up twice but not your fault, I cannot get the image out of my mind that the accidents occurred when the other car was "only" going the speed limit in the fast lane and your 90 mph vehicle plowed into them; their fault, of course. Limits are there for a reason.
Finally, waiting on "judgment" is the oldest trick in the defense attorneys book. Wait for the facts, then develop your defense, PR, whatever, in the best light possible. That's OK, the real victim here, with the broken leg, has that, presumably, and will get compensated. Investigators will do their thing (tickets in Cali?) and we'll see. Vehicular accidents don't involve moral turpitude, per se; would you suspend somebody from your team for getting into a rearender? Leaving the scene was done, but not in the real sense of the statute, which is fleeing and attempting to avoid the incident. She did call in. And if she was under a mistaken impression her suspension had been lifted (told by somebody that it would be) OK. But if she popped her tire running over the motorcycle, then stopped because she couldn't go further, and the suspension had been on notification and in place a few weeks.........different story.
Finally, got a car for the Cooks. My brothers old Renault turned on a dime, and had an engine about as big. HP in the 10's; 0-60 in 12 seconds or so.
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Post by vballpsu on Nov 1, 2011 20:41:54 GMT -5
Let's cut Lauren Cook some slack. She is human and made a mistake. The difference bteween Lauren Cook and the rest of us is that when we make mistakes our friends and family may find out about it but our mistakes are not posted on a public forum for the virtual community to analyze and ridicule. We should be thankful that no one was seriously injured, and then let the Cook's and the legal process sort this out. No slack from me. 6 tickets, driving while suspended, leaving scene....sorry. No slack. |
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Post by tomclen on Nov 1, 2011 20:43:07 GMT -5
This didn't happen on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere. It happened in town. Still want to talk in terms of miles? You are biased. No I'm not. A tire going flat or torn and she's possibly trying to keep control. Again been there, and you can easily go a long distance, especially since slamming on the brakes is actually the wrong reaction to a flat tire. I've had blow outs myself, and it takes some time to slow down. Couple that with a panicked young woman, its not unrealistic at all. Lets look at your claims again, oh wait I'm still waiting on the citation for that mean distance you claimed. So right now it just looks like you are making things up. And again averages or means don't apply to all accidents. And then there is the fact I think she should be punished, again overlooked by you. Clive: I'm sure you're trying to give her the benefit of the doubt and that is admirable. I, too, while being critical of her lack of judgement, hope for the best for her and her family and for the two injured victims. However, it's a little odd that you would suggest she didn't slam on the brakes or stop because that would be the wrong thing to do with a blown/shredded tire. Surely, you don't mean to imply she had the presence of mind and reasonableness to avoid sudden braking, but she didn't have the presence of mind to stop after running down two human beings??? |
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Post by mikegarrison on Nov 1, 2011 21:11:14 GMT -5
On a personal note, I'm with you on most things, mikegarrison, but blithely dismissing 6 speeding violations as part of driving is not one of them. I am not a good driver, almost killed DD a few years ago by falling to sleep on the freeway a couple of years ago, but haven't had a speeding ticket in 40 years. Sorry, but you say you have had your car busted up twice but not your fault, I cannot get the image out of my mind that the accidents occurred when the other car was "only" going the speed limit in the fast lane and your 90 mph vehicle plowed into them; their fault, of course. Limits are there for a reason. Far from it! Both times I was actually not moving at all. I was plowed into from behind, by inattentive drivers. Once when I was stopped dead, with my signal on, waiting for traffic to clear to make a left turn. The other time when I was stopped dead behind merging traffic on a freeway-to-freeway on-ramp. The crash on the racetrack was entirely different. I hydroplaned doing about 80 mph in the rain and bounced off of two different concrete walls. Total screw-up on my part, because I knew the car was almost hydroplaning in that same spot the previous two or three laps. As for speeding -- yeah, I did way too much of it when I was younger. I wasn't nearly as skilled of a driver as I thought I was, which is a common failing of almost all males of every age. When I started taking performance driving classes I learned that really quickly! As with most track drivers, I now advise people who want to drive fast to take it to the track, where it is legal and safer, and there are no innocent bystanders. (But that being said, it's pretty rare when I'm not doing about 10 over the limit, if the weather and traffic conditions allow.) |
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Post by Mocha on Nov 1, 2011 21:11:23 GMT -5
Thanks for the dissertation Baywatcher.  |
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Post by cjhilinski on Nov 1, 2011 21:27:56 GMT -5
Just thought I'd put this in from the victim's side:
Thirty-two years ago my wife and I were hit from behind on our motorcycle by a driver who was distracted. We (my wife especially) still live with the results of the broken bones we suffered that day. There's a lot of activities we had to give up (bike riding, backpacking, etc.) And as you get old, those old injuries tend to hurt a lot more as the affects of age take their toll.
It is possible (from experience, I say this) that the biker could have to live with the results of her actions for the rest of his life. Put that on the scale along with the sympathies for the troubles this will cause the Cook family and see if it balances.
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Post by silversurfer on Nov 1, 2011 21:51:31 GMT -5
Just thought I'd put this in from the victim's side: Thirty-two years ago my wife and I were hit from behind on our motorcycle by a driver who was distracted. We (my wife especially) still live with the results of the broken bones we suffered that day. There's a lot of activities we had to give up (bike riding, backpacking, etc.) And as you get old, those old injuries tend to hurt a lot more as the affects of age take their toll. It is possible (from experience, I say this) that the biker could have to live with the results of her actions for the rest of his life. Put that on the scale along with the sympathies for the troubles this will cause the Cook family and see if it balances. I don't think anyone is trying to minimize what happened to the people who got hit. It is possible to have sympathy for the Cooks because people know them, know who they are, AND have sympathy for the victims. |
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Post by gobigred on Nov 1, 2011 21:57:16 GMT -5
Just thought I'd put this in from the victim's side: Thirty-two years ago my wife and I were hit from behind on our motorcycle by a driver who was distracted. We (my wife especially) still live with the results of the broken bones we suffered that day. There's a lot of activities we had to give up (bike riding, backpacking, etc.) And as you get old, those old injuries tend to hurt a lot more as the affects of age take their toll. It is possible (from experience, I say this) that the biker could have to live with the results of her actions for the rest of his life. Put that on the scale along with the sympathies for the troubles this will cause the Cook family and see if it balances. I don't think anyone is trying to minimize what happened to the people who got hit. It is possible to have sympathy for the Cooks because people know them, know who they are, AND have sympathy for the victims. +1 Completely agree. The victims of the accident are on everyone's minds, even though we're having this never-ending back and forth regarding Lauren Cook. I truly hope that the broken leg just keeps him off the road for a few weeks and there's no long-lasting impacts. |
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Nov 1, 2011 21:57:40 GMT -5
Just thought I'd put this in from the victim's side: Thirty-two years ago my wife and I were hit from behind on our motorcycle by a driver who was distracted. We (my wife especially) still live with the results of the broken bones we suffered that day. There's a lot of activities we had to give up (bike riding, backpacking, etc.) And as you get old, those old injuries tend to hurt a lot more as the affects of age take their toll. It is possible (from experience, I say this) that the biker could have to live with the results of her actions for the rest of his life. Put that on the scale along with the sympathies for the troubles this will cause the Cook family and see if it balances. I don't think anyone is trying to minimize what happened to the people who got hit. It is possible to have sympathy for the Cooks because people know them, know who they are, AND have sympathy for the victims. I concur. There are far too many on this thread that seem to be taking delight in such an unfortunate incident. That is rather sad. |
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Post by publius on Nov 1, 2011 22:13:33 GMT -5
Just thought I'd put this in from the victim's side: Thirty-two years ago my wife and I were hit from behind on our motorcycle by a driver who was distracted. We (my wife especially) still live with the results of the broken bones we suffered that day. There's a lot of activities we had to give up (bike riding, backpacking, etc.) And as you get old, those old injuries tend to hurt a lot more as the affects of age take their toll. It is possible (from experience, I say this) that the biker could have to live with the results of her actions for the rest of his life. Put that on the scale along with the sympathies for the troubles this will cause the Cook family and see if it balances. +++ |
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Post by publius on Nov 1, 2011 22:18:07 GMT -5
On a personal note, I'm with you on most things, mikegarrison, but blithely dismissing 6 speeding violations as part of driving is not one of them. I am not a good driver, almost killed DD a few years ago by falling to sleep on the freeway a couple of years ago, but haven't had a speeding ticket in 40 years. Sorry, but you say you have had your car busted up twice but not your fault, I cannot get the image out of my mind that the accidents occurred when the other car was "only" going the speed limit in the fast lane and your 90 mph vehicle plowed into them; their fault, of course. Limits are there for a reason. Far from it! Both times I was actually not moving at all. I was plowed into from behind, by inattentive drivers. Once when I was stopped dead, with my signal on, waiting for traffic to clear to make a left turn. The other time when I was stopped dead behind merging traffic on a freeway-to-freeway on-ramp. The crash on the racetrack was entirely different. I hydroplaned doing about 80 mph in the rain and bounced off of two different concrete walls. Total screw-up on my part, because I knew the car was almost hydroplaning in that same spot the previous two or three laps. As for speeding -- yeah, I did way too much of it when I was younger. I wasn't nearly as skilled of a driver as I thought I was, which is a common failing of almost all males of every age. When I started taking performance driving classes I learned that really quickly! As with most track drivers, I now advise people who want to drive fast to take it to the track, where it is legal and safer, and there are no innocent bystanders. (But that being said, it's pretty rare when I'm not doing about 10 over the limit, if the weather and traffic conditions allow.) Hope you drive very carefully from now on, as all of your admissions against interest while posting under your real name are now part of the permanent record. |
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Post by huskyvolleyball on Nov 1, 2011 22:19:41 GMT -5
YOU are biased and once again ill informed. First of all, it doesn't matter where it was does it? But since you brought it up, here is a link that will show you the type of neighborhood, if you can call it that, where the accident occurred. It sure as heck wasn't in the middle of town as you would like to have everyone believe. And what is it with you anyway? Why the witch hunt? Maybe I've missed it, (thankfully) but I don't remember you posting much on here previous to this incident and now you want to lead a posse and string someone up. Why can't you just allow the justice system to do it's job and in the interim go watch your library of CSI DVDs? And one more thing. If it hasn't yet, and I would be amazed if it has given your attitude, at some point in your life someone close to you is going to be in a similar situation that Lauren is in right now. Probably not for the same reason, but people will be unfairly lined up to piously throw stones at them. Given your efforts to demonize Lauren, maybe you'll be one of them. I am going to give you a little undeserved credit as assume that, while you may not condone the action of your friend or family member that caused the unwanted attention, you just might feel a desire to defend them from undeserved attacks that vilify them. When that happens, and I promise it will happen, think back on how big a jackass you've been regarding this issue. www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Lincoln&state=NEHey, why are you coming down on me like that?!? I wish Lindsay, I mean Lauren, nothing but the best! Really? For some reason I don't quite get that message from your posts. Are you that miserable as a person or is that your life mission? |
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Post by publius on Nov 1, 2011 22:31:45 GMT -5
you're making excuses for her? typical. why can't we all just agree that she made a STUPID decision which resulted in a traumatic experience for all parties involved. let's not try to justify her actions with the adrenaline from the game, lack of sleep, etc. I wasn't justifying it. Are you slow? I am putting myself in her shoes. I said she probably shouldn't have been driving and yes it was a stupid decision. I am making another stupid decision right now to get involved in this continuing soap opera. I have only read the first page and the replies starting on p. 38, so I have no idea of how many posts some posters are reinforcing by using other monikers. But, Holiday, consider the following: If she should not have been driving and to do so was a stupid decision, aren't you in effect indicting the Nebraska volleyball program? If it was foreseeable that all of these negative things could impact a player's judgment, as you seem to believe, why didn't the coaching staff issue an order for no one to attend treatment in the morning unless someone else drove them there? Most attorneys reading this thread would have a field day if the positions set forth in Ms. Cooks defense in this thread were actually argued in court. As a parent, I would not have been surprised if one of my kids had gotten one moving violation and kept it from me. Five, you gotta be kidding. Umm, those speeding tix are not cheap. Who paid for them, and if not parents, where did she get the $$? And as pointed out, vehicles in parents names, and insurance premiums and annual insurance questionnaires, a la "has any driver been convicted [forfeited bail included] of any moving violations in the past year?" sent to parents. An awful lot of denial going on here, folks. I believe in paying for fault caused and I believe in rehab. Move on. |
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Post by bownlovingfreak on Nov 1, 2011 22:41:09 GMT -5
If this was a Nebraska basketball player there would be a lot more of you who would probably think this was a big deal. Its really not our business, however, to just the girl. She will pay for her consequences. I do have an issue with some people devaluing the seriousness and gravity of this situation.
Hope she learns, but also hope she also gets some hard punishment.
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Post by holidayhusker on Nov 1, 2011 22:53:53 GMT -5
I wasn't justifying it. Are you slow? I am putting myself in her shoes. I said she probably shouldn't have been driving and yes it was a stupid decision. I am making another stupid decision right now to get involved in this continuing soap opera. I have only read the first page and the replies starting on p. 38, so I have no idea of how many posts some posters are reinforcing by using other monikers. But, Holiday, consider the following: If she should not have been driving and to do so was a stupid decision, aren't you in effect indicting the Nebraska volleyball program? If it was foreseeable that all of these negative things could impact a player's judgment, as you seem to believe, why didn't the coaching staff issue an order for no one to attend treatment in the morning unless someone else drove them there? Most attorneys reading this thread would have a field day if the positions set forth in Ms. Cooks defense in this thread were actually argued in court. As a parent, I would not have been surprised if one of my kids had gotten one moving violation and kept it from me. Five, you gotta be kidding. Umm, those speeding tix are not cheap. Who paid for them, and if not parents, where did she get the $$? And as pointed out, vehicles in parents names, and insurance premiums and annual insurance questionnaires, a la "has any driver been convicted [forfeited bail included] of any moving violations in the past year?" sent to parents. An awful lot of denial going on here, folks. I believe in paying for fault caused and I believe in rehab. Move on. Who are you ,.....Nancy Grace? Come on Publius. I have coached and continue to have a tough schedule. At times I am exhausted like so many other people in America trying to keep too many irons in the fire to survive and yes at times it has impaired my judgement. I simply pointed out the time line that the team followed because I have been there and then tried to function the following day. This in no way indicated that I thought she handled the incident well at all but I also know what exhaustion can do mentally. Many of you act like this is a new concept. Who doesn't believe in paying for fault? I don't think a single Nebraska fan has stated that this incident should be ignored or not addressed but let the legal system judge her actions and not a bunch of hacks on volleytalk. I mean......LOL...... we don't go to our Aunt Betsie to get a tooth extracted so why in the hell would any of you assume to be legal experts on this matter. |
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