I watched a television news story a day or so ago about a motorcycle accident in Chicago.
The motorcycle driver (a woman) was killed when she was rear-ended by a car.
The driver of the car was allegedly painting her nails and didn't see the motorcycle stop in front of her.
The driver of the car was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
The driver of the motorcycle was killed...
dead.
The prosecutors are determining whether or not to file criminal charges against the driver of the car for negligent vehicular homicide.
The motorcycle driver likely wouldn't have been killed had she been struck from behind while driving a car or a truck.
But, the fact that the woman was driving a motorcycle has nothing to do with the bottom line.
The bottom line is that electronic devices are being used more and more frequently by people who have total control over a machine that is moving down the road and that can be deadly if control is not maintained.
It doesn't matter whether you're driving a moped, a motorcycle, a car, a truck, or a skateboard...
a person should be doing nothing else except driving the machine.
Period.
I don't know if the driver of the car should be prosecuted for negligent vehicular homicide or not.
I do know that if she is prosecuted, a clear message will be sent.
Adult drivers must act in an adult manner when behind the wheel.
If an adult cannot do that, then he/she should be prepared to suffer adult consequences.
That is my opinion, period.
The woman who was killed likely didn't have a clue about what was going on behind her when she stopped.
Had she realized that the car was not going to stop, I'm not even sure she would have had enough time to take evasive action.
A motorcycle driver must drive defensively at all times, but I'm not sure defensive driving would have made a difference in this case.
I guess the best we can do is keep our eyes open, even the ones in the back of our heads.
By the way, the woman on the motorcycle was wearing a helmet.