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seamusTX wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:There is no such thing as road rage;

I feel differently about the issue.

When we name a thing, it exists, even it is only in our imagination. Saying "road rage" is a lot easier than saying "using a motor vehicle to threaten, intimidate, harass, or assault someone."

I certainly don't think such acts are in any way excusable or less serious than criminal assaults that are carried out face to face with a weapon. They are worse for being cowardly.

- Jim

To my way of thinking road rage exist even when no crime happens. I've been with people who get unreasonably angry over imagined or real infractions by other drivers. They start off cursing and flipping birds. Maybe progressing into aggressive driving.

I might look this up later, since one of my brothers is currently taking the driving test stuff, but I seem to remember a whole section of the "learn to drive" course telling me how anger affects your ability to drive well... I see a good reason to ban anger while driving.

I'm not a lawyer, so my opinion doesn't carry any weight (my kid sister is...does that count?), but as far as I'm concerned, any crime aimed at me is a hate crime...in the sense that you don't do that sort of thing to people you love, unless you've got a really warped definition of love...just my $.02 worth.

p.s. Does anyone else here remember when typewriter keyboards had the c with the slash through it for a "cent sign"? Does anyone else here remember typewriter keyboards?

I do. Ribbons that were a mess to change & carriages that returned.
Yep, & the cent sign.

Purplehood wrote:

seamusTX wrote:Here's another one: On I-45 south of Houston, Sunday, a man driving a pickup truck intentionally collided with five vehicles in five separate incidents, sending six people to the hospital. The injured included his wife, who was a passenger in his vehicle.

The episode extended from League City to the Galveston Causeway over a 20-minute period around 11:30 p.m.

Toefield Coleman Jr, 44, was arrested on six counts of aggravated assault.

His motive is unknown.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... fc9a2fcd9a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

This is simply another example of why automobiles should be banned, and more laws concerning their lawful use and restriction be put on the books.

The driver in the I-45 case has now been indicted on five counts of aggravated assault.

At a bond hearing, the man's lawyer suggested that the defendant was mentally ill and was trying to get to Galveston to save his sisters from an imagined threat.

The defendant was released from jail and allowed to drive between his home and work.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... c01e5b34ae" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Be careful out there.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:The driver in the I-45 case has now been indicted on five counts of aggravated assault.

At a bond hearing, the man's lawyer suggested that the defendant was mentally ill and was trying to get to Galveston to save his sisters from an imagined threat.

The defendant was released from jail and allowed to drive between his home and work.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... c01e5b34ae" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Be careful out there.

- Jim

.................. why in the world!!!!!!!! arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Catwoman asked:

p.s. Does anyone else here remember when typewriter keyboards had the c with the slash through it for a "cent sign"? Does anyone else here remember typewriter keyboards?

Today's answer:

the cent sign ¢ can be made by turning on your NUM LOCK, holding down the ALT key while typing 0162 then hitting your space bar.

There's a world of symbols, accents, etc. can be made this way. Check out:

http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/inte ... dealt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here endeth the lesson.

hheremtp wrote:

seamusTX wrote:The defendant was released from jail and allowed to drive between his home and work.

why in the world!!!!!!!!

The barrier to denying habeus corpus is very high. The state has to prove that the defendant a clear and present danger to others.

There is an end run. Mentally ill people can be held until they can be examined by a psychiatrist to determine whether they are eligible for involuntary commitment. I don't if that was done in this case, or if not, why not.

The Department of Corrections medical unit at UTMB is not up to speed.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:

hheremtp wrote:

seamusTX wrote:The defendant was released from jail and allowed to drive between his home and work.

why in the world!!!!!!!!

The barrier to denying habeus corpus is very high. The state has to prove that the defendant a clear and present danger to others.

There is an end run. Mentally ill people can be held until they can be examined by a psychiatrist to determine whether they are eligible for involuntary commitment. I don't if that was done in this case, or if not, why not.

The Department of Corrections medical unit at UTMB is not up to speed.

- Jim

Seamus, UTMb as a whole in not at full capacity, however my company has been transporting TDCJ inmates to the prison hospital for a couple of months now and if what I was told by the upper mgt at my company they have gotten the prison side up and running again.

also I understand that denying habeus corpus is set at a high level so that it can't be used at will, however given the fact that the defendant's lawyer stated to the court that his client was mentally ill, and taking into account what the defendant is charged with I would think that common sense would/and should dictate that one of the conditions of his bond be that he not get behind the wheel of a vehicle until the dispositon of the case.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I saw a news report about the one on the Gulf Freeway and the guy is being charged with agg. assault, as it should be. I have to admit I hate the phrase "road rage." There is no such thing as road rage; it's just a term the media coined a few years ago and unfortunately law enforcement and politicians have turned it into a nebulous buzz phrase. It's either an assault (or worse if someone is killed), or it's nothing but bad driving that may or may not be illegal.

Amen. I still don't understand why it's a violent felony if I wave a gun around to get people out of my way in WalMart, but only a minor traffic infraction if I do the effectively the same thing with a C-series dually on the road; either way, people are threatened with almost certain death if they don't get out of the way.

La Marque, February 21 -- Yesterday, around 11 a.m., one Bobbie Griffin, 58, of Texas City, entered the northbound lanes of I-45 at Delaney road driving south. According to witnesses, he was trying to hit northbound cars at closing speeds over 120 MPH. Several drivers were able to avoid him.

He crashed into a vehicle near Vauthier Road, killing himself and the driver of the other vehicle. The passenger in the other vehicle survived with serious injuries.

Police know of no reason why Griffin would do such a thing. He had no history of mental illness.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewc ... 209348b0a1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Be careful out there.

- Jim

Stories like these are getting more and more frequent....

I think, on the coast where Hurricane Ike hit, the past five months of loss of housing, loss of jobs, and lack of access to medical care is making some people snap.

Of course, many people in other parts of the country have the same problems. I just see what is going on near where I live.

- Jim

The economy is driving (no pun intended) people over the edge. A guy in the Friendswood/League City area off-ed himself the other day with a handgun in his house. His wife was pregnant (about 5 months I believe) and he had lost his job. Some people look for a way out and only hurt themselves...others want to take as many with them as possible. Terribly sad.