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| 12/24 |
| 2009/2/23-26 [Transportation/Car] UID:52624 Activity:moderate |
2/23 Three Chinese people on the HEADLINE of http://cnn.com (finally!). Unfortunately, it's bad news. Moral of the story: killing 3 lives is only worth 34 years in prison. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/23/china.parents.ohio/index.html \_ Actually, the dude had already killed two others. I don't understand why he was allowed to drive either. \_ that question is best answered by sympathetic jurors. \_ There's no guarantee he wouldn't drive just because he "wasn't allowed to". It said he had no insurance... is that allowed in Ohio? Shit happens. \_ Apparenlty he had a licence. \_ That doesn't mean it's legal to drive. http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/financial_responsibility/fr_requirements.htm Although, the minimum $ insurance and the penalties look pretty wimpy. Anyway, maybe parents shouldn't mortgage themselves like crazy investing in their kid. Not only might this happen but it seems like a huge burden to put on the kid. \_ Maybe, but they only have 1 kid, and probably don't trust the govt. to deliver on the pensions... \_ "Only" 34 years? Dude. \_ OJ Simpson got nothing. So relatively speaking... \_ This Skaggs person should be rendered down for parts and sold on the organ market, and the $$ given to his victim's families. \_ I gotta say, Skaggs is a great name for a random jerkwad. \_ I vaguely remember there was an old guy who drove his car into a farmer's market & killed whole bunch people back then. all he got was a slap on the wrist, no? \_ George Weller in Santa Monica. And yes only a slap on the wrist. First of all he's old and doesn't know what the heck is going on, what good is it to jail him? Secondly, everyone in LA needs to drive, even the old guys, so if you doom this guy, you'll doom a bunch of Angelenos. The gloves don't fit, you gotta acquit! \_ Nobody walks in LA. \_ There's nowhere to walk to in LA. |
| 12/24 |
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| www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/23/china.parents.ohio/index.html EXPLAINER By Eliott C McLaughlin CNN Decrease font Decrease font Enlarge font Enlarge font (CNN) -- The three mothers hail from the same province in China, but they'd never met until a reckless driver in central Ohio killed their only children. Skaggs is serving a 34-year prison term after a judge handed down the maximum sentence. From left, Sun "Zoe" Yan, Bian "Jack" Jin and Xue "Jo" Bing were students at Urbana University in Ohio. Two years later, the women wade through a cultural morass, struggling with American laws and language as they work to recoup the tens of thousands of dollars they borrowed to educate, and bury, their children. They've also lost their pride and possibly their future. In China, a family's future often rides on the education of its youngest member, and parents routinely mortgage the present for a brighter retirement. The three mothers have no good news for friends and relatives who stop by their homes in northeast China, sometimes for hours, asking for their money. The mothers face the cultural shame of not being able to repay them, and many of their creditors don't believe them when they explain they've received little compensation for their losses. "Even after I die, I could not close my eyes," Cai Tie Juan said, describing her stress and exhaustion through a translator. On March 8, 2007, Cai's son, Bian Jin, 27, better known to his American counterparts as Jack, was returning from a spring break shopping trip with Sun Yan and Xue Bing, both 24. Learn more about students According to the Dayton Daily News, Bian was driving. Sun, aka Zoe, and Bian's girlfriend, Xue -- whose friends called her Jo -- were in the backseat of Bian's Ford Taurus. They were trying to get back in time for Sun's 6:30 pm shift at a local Chinese restaurant in Urbana, Ohio, where the three attended graduate school. Witnesses told the newspaper that several cars were waiting at a traffic light when Jason Skaggs, then 34, approached the intersection of Urbana and Moorefield roads. Skaggs crashed his blue Chevy Tahoe into a Buick Skylark at 98 mph (about 158 kph), went airborne and sandwiched Bian's Taurus between the Tahoe and a gold Chrysler, witnesses and police told the paper. The Taurus was reduced to a ball of crumpled metal with tires. See photos of wreck, trial from Dayton Daily News Want To Help? Urbana University has collected thousands of dollars for the families of Xue Bing, Bian Jin and Sun Yan and will maintain a charitable fund indefinitely. Those interested in helping the families can send donations to: c/o Jim Wilson Office of Development Urbana University 579 College Way Urbana, Ohio 43078 Skaggs said he had had a seizure before barreling into the intersection, but the jury didn't buy the defense and found him guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide. During the trial, the media uncovered a litany of driving violations committed by Skaggs, including a speeding ticket he received for driving 91 mph in a 65-mph zone just weeks before the wreck. Skaggs also had been jailed for aggravated vehicular homicide in the past, after he had passed a car in a blind curve in 1994, killing a 79-year-old mother and her son, the Daily News reported. A judge in August sentenced Skaggs to the maximum 34 years in prison. The students' parents wonder how Skaggs had a license to begin with. wreck, it only bolsters their belief he shouldn't have been driving in the first place. "Obviously, he had a history of driving recklessly and had violated many traffic laws." Chinese laws would've never let someone like Skaggs drive, and more frustratingly, they say, the Chinese government would've stepped in with financial help if this had happened in their homeland. Conversely, it is a Chinese law that has been most devastating. Because the world's most populous nation has for 30 years enforced a one-child-per-couple policy, Bian, Xue and Sun Yan had no siblings, so the families' prospects for the future were crushed in a Ford Taurus at the intersection of Urbana and Moorefield roads. "When you raise a child in China, you are basically insuring your old age," Sun Yan's mother, Yu Ming, said, weeping as she spoke through a translator. Because Bian, Xue and Sun Yan had promising futures, their parents were confident asking friends, relatives, colleagues and even their kids' classmates for money to send them to graduate school at the 1,500-student Urbana University. China, personal loans from banks aren't as common as they are in the US More commonly, people borrow from friends and family, and you are honor bound to pay them back. The university unveiled a memorial last year among three Lacebark Pines, a native Chinese tree. The university unveiled a memorial last year among three Lacebark Pines, a native Chinese tree. It is the bible of heaven and the ground rule of Earth," Yu said, using a Chinese saying to explain the importance of honoring your debts. Each family borrowed in the neighborhood of 300,000 yuan, almost $44,000, to send their kids 6,500 miles to Urbana University. They each borrowed tens of thousands of dollars more for their children's funerals and several trips to the United States, some to attend Skaggs' trial. They've collectively received about $19,000 from a state victim's fund and $22,000 from a charitable fund established by Urbana University. Another fund set up by the university collected about $36,000, but much of the money went toward the families' funeral and travel bills. The mothers say they appreciate the donations because their pensions and pay are a pittance of what they owe. Xue's father is back home in Dalian City, a trading hub of about 6 million people on the Liaodong Peninsula near North Korea. The retired office manager earns a pension of about 1,600 yuan, or $234, a month. Bian's father and Sun Yan's father live in Shenyang, an industrial base of more than 7 million people, also near North Korea. Bian's father has been working all the overtime shifts he can muster and brings home about 3,500 yuan ($512) a month. Meanwhile, the mothers have been in Springfield, Ohio, living in a home donated by a sympathizer since November. They keep their living expenses as low as possible, subsisting off one meal a day to save money. Cai and Yu still collect their respective pensions of about 1,300 yuan ($190) and 700 yuan ($102) a month. Sun Chun Zhi has lost her job as an accountant because of all the trips she has made to the states in the last two years. The women say they are pleading with anyone they think can help -- university officials, the consulate, even a senator. Urbana University Yu said she and her husband recently sold their cozy apartment in Shenyang and moved in with a niece in China to help pay off their debts, which included about 50,000 yuan ($7,312) that Yu and her four siblings scraped together to pay their father's medical bills from a recent surgery. "It didn't amount to a lot of money," Yu said of the apartment sale. The mothers have considered suing Skaggs, who was represented at trial by a public defender, but lawyers have told them it's not worth it. Friends and family members regularly stop by their homes in China, asking, "How could there possibly be no money? "They really don't understand why we didn't get any money. They save all this money, and they don't spend like Americans, they save. And then they lend it to me, and now they've lost it, too." Sun said the death of her daughter has left the family feeling helpless and "emotionally destroyed." Yu, who did not eat for two days after the wreck, said she's lost her "source of energy." And Cai has taken up a regimen of sleeping pills to get some rest at night. It also feels like my heart is almost failing me, and I feel my body is almost failing me," Cai said. advertisement Sun Chun Zhi said she, Cai and Yu sometimes struggle to grasp "the meaning of why we need to survive" after losing their only children. "But we cannot fall apart now because we are trying to return the money to the people we borrowed it from," said Sun Chun Zhi. "We're trying every possible way to return their money." |
| www.bmv.ohio.gov/financial_responsibility/fr_requirements.htm Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles Masthead Image Ohio Financial Responsibility Law If You Don't Have Vehicle Insurance, You Can't Drive in Ohio! In Ohio, it is illegal to drive any motor vehicle without insurance or other financial responsibility (FR) proof. It is also illegal for any motor vehicle owner to allow anyone else to drive the owner's vehicle without FR proof. The law requires financial responsibility in the minimum amount of $12,500 for bodily injury to or death of one individual in any one accident, $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more individuals in any one accident, and $7,500 for injury to the property of others in any one accident. Limited Driving Privileges Financial Responsibility Requirements To comply with the FR requirements, Individuals must maintain one of the following: * A motorist liability insurance policy. Insurance cards are issued by an insurer to the policy holder for each motor vehicle insured under a motor vehicle liability insurance policy; Verification of Proof of Financial Responsibility Ohio's FR law requires every applicant for registration of a motor vehicle and every applicant for a driver's license, or the renewal of such license, to sign a statement indicating that the applicant maintains, or has maintained proof of financial responsibility at the time of application, and the applicant will not operate a motor vehicle in Ohio without maintaining proof of financial responsibility. Proof of financial responsibility is required to be verified under the following circumstances: * When an individual or a motor vehicle owned by the individual is involved in a motor vehicle accident that results in bodily injury to or death of any individual or more than $400 of property damage and a complaint is filed with the BMV alleging that the driver or owner was uninsured at the time of the accident. The law permits the driver of any motor vehicle "which is in any manner involved" in such an accident to forward, within six months of the accident, a written report to the Registrar alleging that a driver or owner of any other vehicle involved in the accident was uninsured at the time of the accident. The BMV must send notice of the allegation to that driver and owner. Within 30 days after the mailing of the notice, the driver or owner must forward a report and acceptable proof of financial responsibility to the BMV * When an individual receives a traffic ticket indicating that proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility was not produced upon the request of a peace officer or State Highway Patrol trooper during the enforcement of Ohio traffic laws or during a motor vehicle inspection. The individual must submit proof to the traffic violations bureau with payment of a fine and costs for the ticketed violation or, if the individual is to appear in court for the ticketed violation, the individual must submit proof to the court. The court must require the individual to verify the existence, at the time of the offense, of proof of financial responsibility covering the individual's operation of the motor vehicle or covering the motor vehicle if registered in the individual's name. Ways to Provide Satisfactory Proof of Financial Responsibility When law enforcement officers request FR proof and the motorist cannot provide satisfactory proof at such time, they are given a notice explaining the options to provide such proof: * Sending a copy (document displaying satisfactory evidence of FR) when paying the fine; Financial Responsibility Violator Penalties Failure to provide proof of financial responsibility, when required, will result in the following civil penalties imposed by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles: * Lose driving privileges for a minimum of ninety (90) days and up to two years; SR-22 or bond) to continuously maintain proof of financial responsibility for a minimum of three , up to five years from the date of the suspension of operating privileges; Third and subsequent offenses could result in vehicle forfeiture and a five year suspension of vehicle registrations. Driving and registration privileges cannot be restored until all requirements of the suspension have been met. Random Verification of Financial Responsibility Ohio law requires verification of proof of financial responsibility whenever a person is "randomly selected" by the BMV and requested to provide such verification. This process includes the mailing of letters to a random selection of five percent (5%) of registered Ohio vehicle and noncommercial truck owners. Approximately 5,400 notices are generated per week or 280,000 notices annually. The BMV is required to send written notice by regular mail to the owner of each vehicle randomly selected, informing the owner that proof showing financial responsibility coverage was in effect on the date specified must be submitted within 21 days of the mailing of the notice. This notification is sent to the person at the person's last known address as shown on the records of the BMV The owner may submit evidence to show that the vehicle is exempt because the vehicle: * Is used on a seasonal basis only and the date specified is out of season for that vehicle; The procedures for requiring verification of proof of financial responsibility by random selection are as follows: * First notice of suspension. If the vehicle owner, within that 21-day period, fails to respond, fails to give acceptable evidence that the vehicle is exempt, or fails to give acceptable proof of financial responsibility, the BMV must order the suspension of the person's license and the impoundment of the person's certificate of registration and license plates, effective no less than 56 days after the date of the mailing of notice of suspension. The notice must be in writing and sent to the person at the person's last known address as shown on the BMV's records. If, within 21 days after the date of the mailing of the notice of suspension, the Registrar does not receive proof or acceptable evidence that the vehicle is exempt, the BMV must send a second notice of suspension to the person by certified mail return receipt requested. If the BMV does not receive acceptable proof and the person does not give acceptable evidence that the vehicle is exempt, the BMV is to permit the order of the suspension of the license and the impoundment of the certificate of registration and license plates to take effect. A person adversely affected by an order of the BMV may request an administrative hearing with the BMV The scope of the hearing is limited to whether the vehicle is exempt and whether the person in fact demonstrated to the Registrar proof of financial responsibility. The person must pay the cost of the hearing if the Registrar's order of suspension or impoundment is upheld. A person whose license has been suspended for failure to respond to a random verification request may present at the office of any Deputy Registrar proof that the person had financial responsibility coverage on the date specified by the Registrar. If the proof is acceptable and the person is not under any other suspensions, the Deputy Registrar must reissue the person's driver's license and vehicle registration upon payment of the applicable statutory fees other than the reinstatement fee. The Random Selection Program is administered by a subsidiary office of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles located in Richfield, Ohio. Therefore, for this program only, correspondence should be addressed to: Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles PO Box 390 Richfield, OH 44286-0390 The phone number for questions is 1-866-835-6305. When Involved In An Automobile Crash If you are involved in an auto crash without insurance or other FR proof, additional penalties may apply. You may have a security suspension for two years or more and a judgment suspension for an indefinite period until the judgment is settled. Crash Report if you know or have reason to believe that the other party was uninsured. You should have your mechanic document any damage to your vehicle, and your insurance company attest to your insurance coverage. Also supply as much information as you have on the other party such a... |
| cnn.com -> www.cnn.com/ About 250 prisoners freed from Abu Ghraib The United States today freed about 250 detainees from Abu Ghraib prison, site of alleged abuses that prompted global outrage and led to days of hearings on Capitol Hill. Today marks the first mass prisoner release since the abuse scandal broke several weeks ago. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had visited the prison Thursday. |