jvenner@wateng.UUCP (Jason P. Venner) (12/11/83)
This is a follow up to the last article I posted asking for
help. I was driving a motercycle on a country highway. I was
cold and in a hurry to get home (and into a hot shower).
But first lets develope some pathos with the background. I
had only gone out on the trip because a friend had asked me to
drive him to the town that his grandfather had been hospitalized
in. After that, because we were in the area (within 50km/30
miles), we when to visit his father's grave. By this time it
was starting to get late in the day, but it started to rain, so
we waited till it had stopped (and the roads had dried), before
continuing. One the way back, we got lost. By the time we fig-
ured out where we were, we had been on the road for several hours
in five degree C (41 F ) weather. It was also starting to get
dark. Now what do you do in a situation like this if you can't
afford a hotel room for the night? You drive faster. Needless
to say this is what I did. When on good straight road, I would
open my bike up. This meant that I was often travelling at
roughly 200 kph (120 mph). at some point during this a cop
started following me. Now you riders know just how often you
look behind yourself when you are really moving. Appearently, he
followed me for roughly four to five minutes (8km's/5 mi). When
I saw him I pulled over. During the whole time I was driving, no
one was interfered with, no accidents occured etc. I figure that
this should just have been a speeding charge. I am really pissed
off because a drunk driver who killed somebody the other day got
a $200 fine and a 3 month licence supension. I on the other hand
(who injured no one) got 60 days in jail, $750 fine and a _t_h_r_e_e
_y_e_a_r _a_n_d _t_h_r_e_e _m_o_n_t_h licence suspension.
As part of the reasoning that I was driving dangerously, the
judge decided that wearing a full face helmet was a dangerous
act, as was driving a motercycle. By the way, Dangerous Driving
is a crimial charge in Canada, meaning that I get a crimianl
record for this.
--
yours sincerely,
Jason P. Venner
uucp: : physical mail:
(jvenner@wateng) : Integrated Studies,
(watmath!wateng!jvenner) : University of Waterloo,
(allegra!watmath!wateng!jvenner) : Waterloo, Ontario.,
(decvax!watmath!wateng!jvenner) : Canada.
: N2L 3G1perelgut@utcsrgv.UUCP (Stephen Perelgut) (12/12/83)
Your follow-up request for help provided more information but I think it
is still in very questionable taste.
1) You very clearly admit that you broke the law. Your complaint seems
to be with the sentence that seems relatively harsh in comparison
to another case you dredged up. I agree. The drunk driver got off
very lightly. Perhaps he had extenuating circumstances too.
2) You don't explain why you should receive money from me. There are
legal aid foundations in this province. Dave Sherman has already said
he has drawn these to your attention.
3) The nature of your request is strictly for personal gain. It doesn't
benefit society. It doesn't benefit Usenet as far as I can tell.
Why should you have the right to post that sort of personal request?
As you have probably guessed, I disapprove of your request and do not support
it. If things are as clear-cut as you say, legal aid should be easy to get
and should be successful in a very short time.
To other netters: How do you know the requestor is telling the truth. Maybe
he wants to spend the money and there is no such case.
Maybe he was caught dangerous driving and his follow-up
was just bunk. Why not send any monies to a society for
benevolent little old ladies who have never owned cats?
To Jason: Sorry if I am hurting your case but these are my opinions.
You broke the law and, worse, you did it as a conscious
act for personal benefit. I agree that, relative to the
drunk driver, your sentence was harsh. However, the net is
no place to solicit funds.
--
Stephen Perelgut Computer Systems Research Group University of Toronto
Usenet: {linus, ihnp4, allegra, decvax, floyd}!utcsrgv!perelgutspoo@utcsrgv.UUCP (Suk Lee) (12/13/83)
I must agree 100% with Mr. Perelgut. You DID admit breaking the
law, there ARE other means of aid, as pointed out by Mr. Sherman,
and this isn't a proper use of USENET.
Please desist in posting these pleas.
Suk Lee
..!{decvax,linus}!utzoo!utcsrgv!spoowetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (12/14/83)
Even after reading the reason for speeding I have no sympathy. Doing 120 miles per hour on a bike with a passenger, is not just foolish, it is downright criminal. Reaction time at that speed is nil. If I were the judge, I would have also thrown the bike into a compactor. You need money? Sell the bike and stay off the highways. T. C. Wheeler
mark@elsie.UUCP (12/15/83)
While Mr. Venner's situation is clearly serious, the net is no place for the airing of such personal problems. I hope that Mr. Venner's system manager can impress this on him. -- UUCP: decvax!harpo!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!elsie!mark Phone: (301) 496-5688
ded@aplvax.UUCP (12/15/83)
I can't be overly critical of Jason Venner. True, he showed a complete disregard for the safety of others, but...let he who is without sin... I won't send him any money however. No. In fact, I am surprised he would have the gall to make such a request (especially in light of the fact that he has invalidated his previous claims of innocence with a later confession of guilt). And he is guilty of a crime which could have resulted in a victim (the fact that there wasn't a victim THIS TIME is irrelevant). No. I would rather send money to organizations working to keep the drunk killers mentioned in Mr. Venner's letter off the highways. Reckless use of our highways is all the more unacceptable due to its social acceptibility. -- Don Davis JHU/APL ...decvax!harpo!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!ded ...rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!aplvax!ded
seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (D.A. Seifert) (12/16/83)
>> Doing 120 miles per hour on a bike with a passenger, is not >> just foolish, it is downright criminal. Reaction time at that speed >> is nil. >> T. C. Wheeler Define 'nil'. Have *you*, T.C. Wheeler, driven a car or motorcycle at 100+mph? (a real one, not some disaster from Detroit) I can't speak for the biking crowd, but in a car there is plenty of reaction time. That's what God made disk brakes, braided stainless brakes lines, silicon brake fluid, radial tires, rack & pinion steering, etc. for. Care to start yet another debate over the ridiculus 55mph limit here in the so-called "free" US of A? Snoopy -- ) ( ) from the mildly opinionated keyboard of _)__________________ |OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO| Dave Seifert |OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO| ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert |OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO| |------------------|
stevesu@azure.UUCP (Steve Summit) (12/17/83)
C'mon, give the guy a break! Put yourself in his position.
How would you feel?
Posting inappropriate articles to USENET is hardly a major crime.
I'm far more bothered by all of the non-jokes and non-funny jokes
in net.jokes than by one slightly inappropriate plea for help in
net.wanted. I don't recall seeing Jason's name on the net
before, so he may well be new. His request is only marginally
more selfish than car ads, which appear all the time.
Steve Summit
tektronix!tekmdp!stevesucja@akgua.UUCP (c.j. aloisio [charles]) (12/19/83)
I agree with Steve Summit, the reaction to Jason's call for help was excessive to put it mildly. As a newcomer to the net, the reaction to Jason certainly did not encourage me to submit articles. Let's be a little supportive even if we do not want to send money. Charles Aloisio AT&T Bell Laboratories Atlanta akgua!cja
cja@akgua.UUCP (c.j. aloisio [charles]) (12/19/83)
I have some of the same concerns expressed so well by Stephen Perelgut. Why has there been no mention by Jason about the legal aid advice in his several followup articles. Speak up Jason-have you sought legal aid at any of the province foundations. Charles Aloisio AT&T Bell Laboratories Atlanta akgua!cja
leiby@yeti.UUCP (Mike Leibensperger) (12/19/83)
Steve Summit: > His [Venner's] request is only marginally more selfish > than car ads, which appear all the time. However, the average net reader may actually want to buy a car, whereas he or she probably doesn't care to bail a total stranger out of jail (or pay his court fees, buy him dinner, etc.). I also question the implication that only "selfless" posts belong on the net. Read your Ayn Rand. Flame off. -- Mike Leibensperger, Massachusetts Computer Corporation ...!{ucbcad,tektronix,harpo,decvax}!masscomp!leiby
holmes@dalcs.UUCP (Ray Holmes) (12/29/83)
I can't recall seeing any car adds on the net.