Former Tide WR Henry Ruggs involved in fatal car accident, to be charged with DUI resulting in death

Pretty much sums up my feelings on everything.

 

I want the law to play out like it would with anyone who was in this situation. Let him serve his time and be a cautionary tale for those who believe their celebrity gives them allowances others don’t have.

 

He spends years paying tribute to his friend, making him an endzone celebration, getting tattoos, tearful interviews, and vanity license plates all to “honor” his friend. He turned his friend’s death into a marketing scheme and that is painfully obvious now. He should be charged to the full extent and he can do his motivational speeches/warnings to youth in an orange jumpsuit for years to come. Zero sympathy for this clown.

 

Concur on all counts, especially about driving like a grandma. I used to say, only half in jest, that i was a safer driver with a few pops in me, than sober, bc id be fully engaged and hyper focused, whereas in sobriety, driving was an after thought, executed at higher velocity with a single digit on the steering wheel, messing with the radio, switching out tapes/cds, changing radio station, and later, working the cell phone...

...and you tripped an excellent point that i meant to address yesterday (when the talk veered to alcohol), and that's that to me, the alcohol in this case, is secondary. Driving 156 mph in a residential area is absolutely reckless stone sober. DUI laws exist bc alcohol inhibits reaction times and control of vehicle.

At 156 mph in tight quarters, Spider Man nor Flash would have sufficient reaction time to avoid a collision.

Hence speed, and where he sought to speed, and the completely forseeable result, is the crime here. Maybe alcohol just had him thinking he was Spidy or Flash, but again, even they couldn't manuever 3000 lbs of fiber glass and metal at 156 mph, through an area designed to be negotiated at 25 mph.

 

I lost a friend to drag racing a few years ago (mind boggling, that she was involved in such shit in her mid 40's but...she was (her bo' was driving)). No alcohol involved.

Lost a nephew to a racing accident in California. Racing against his buddy and business partner, on a freeway somewhere in or around LA, in the early oughts. He was 23, and already a multi-millionaire--they were racing their fancy imports--one was a Porsche, don't recall the other; he was decapitated, btw. Head retrieved from the opposite side of the freeway, >50 ft. away from....the rest of him. No alcohol involved.

Lost another friend to a racing accident. Not NASCAR, but if I posted his name, you might actually recognize it. Governed racing on a treated track, with all the protections racing cars come with. Needless to say, no alcohol was involved.

Son of a friend of mine is convicted felon for having been involved in the death of another person--passenger in his vehicle (he was driving)--while racing on the freeway in a high end sports car (don't recall the circumstances, but the person who caused the wreck had a history of instigating races and causing accidents; didn't matter....still convicted). Yet again though, there was no alcohol involved.

By contrast, I still haven't lost anyone to drunk driving (knock on wood).

...and for perspective, I've known hundreds if not thousands of college folk (by which I mean in college or college educated, but long removed from the college scene), who have, almost without exception, driven many many many times, toasty to shit-faced. Of course, I number in this group as well.

Now, I'm not not saying DUI is therefor perfectly fine, and ought to be legalized--I'm just saying that your alcohol stats don't really move the needle with me, because, albeit anecdotally, my experience really hasn't prompted me to be terribly sensitive to DUI--and non-anecdotally, as I mentioned yesterday, measured against the volume of alcohol consumed, at worst, it can be said to facilitate problems--not cause them...

But what my personal experience has taught me--is to be very respectful of the laws of physics.

They're usually rather unforgiving (although in this case, they seem to have made an exception for Ruggs and his GF--go figure--but certainly not the vic or her dog).

 

I'm wondering what the girlfriend was doing. Did she tell him "Slow down!" Or did she possibly contribute to this by saying "Faster!" Or did she say nothing? If there's a trial (and how can he plead not guilty - is there a "They got me drunk" defense?) it will be interesting to hear her testimony. I assume she will be a witness, but for the defense or the prosecution?

 

I know of very few women who won't speak up but she may also have been drunk. There's no info that said if they ever gave her a sobriety test. But if she was drunk, she probably didn't even notice how fast he was going.

 

Ruggs was charged with 2 additional felony counts is now facing up to 46yrs in prison. He’s gonna get a bunch, and absolutely should, imho.

Henry Ruggs arrest: Ex-Raiders WR facing two additional felony counts stemming from fatal DUI crash

 

Why do we even allow the manufacture and sale of cars that go that fast?

 

That was so damn awful. Hate it for the family of those victims. Breaks my heart

 

That dudes so far beyond just a dui it’s not even funny. If he’s not charged with vehicular homicide then something has seriously gone wrong

 

If that kid doesn’t do time someone has to really rethink some stuff.

 

Many many good motorcycles can go that fast and faster 0-60 than sports cars too..
I ride my motorcycle hyper aware and with the attitude that cars are trying to kill me. A big worry is getting hit from behind at a stop light, I always try to be looking backward and plan an escape path. In my car to be brutally honest, I don't worry 1/100th as much.

 

Yup. I'm much more engaged and defensive on my bike than in my car. I think people in general would be better drivers and more engaged if we went back to manual transmissions as well.

 

I've had 2 Corvettes and 3 Porsches. One Porsche, a RS, was so fast it could beat the Porsche Turbos. It was race ready off the showroom floor. But I drove it like a normal sedan. I only ran it to speed at Porsche Club events at real race tracks. The cars I raced in Imsa were team rentals.

Having a car that can go say 190-200 does not mean one should do that. The problem is not the car, anymore than the spoon is the fault of obesity, it is the driver. When you buy a car with that power, you should have taken real driving lessons at professional venues. Back in the day there was Bob Bondurant, Skip Barber, Bertil Roos, etc. Take 4-7 days of that and it will (i) slow you down on public roads and (ii) make you a far better driver who can avoid accidents.

 

The day my dad took me for my first driving on the open road lesson he said, "Son, you can be the best driver ever and it won't matter one bit if you aren't hyper aware of those around and especially behind you.
Ironically, just a few minutes later we pulled up to a stop sign @ A1A and a side road when an elderly lady behind me "missed" her brakes and hit the gas accidentally, pushing my car out into traffic with a semi barreling down on us.
I gunned the gas and made it to the median just in time. It was the only move I could make to survive.
My dad nearly chit himself and after a few seconds looked over at me and said, "That's it, we can go home now. I don't have to worry about you and driving anymore because I myself probably would've been killed right there." All I did was listen to him and follow his rules for the road, along with having quick reflexes.
To this day (more than 35 years later) I've never gotten a speeding ticket or had any accidents thanks to his instructions.

 

When I got my 944 my friend (who got me into it) wouldn't let me get the 944 Turbo (a/k/a The Widow Maker). He went to Atlanta several times a year for driving around some official track but my schedule never aligned. I think they had a professional driving course as part of that, to qualify before getting on the track. Very good advice @shelbygt350. I wish more would take your approach!