Man Charged in Wife's Seat Belt Death

[El Barto]

Should this guy rot in jail, or should the 50 year old woman be considered responsible for herself?




(video clip available at this link

Man Charged in Wife's Seat Belt Death

She died at the scene of the crash, but her husband walked away. State police say the difference is he was wearing a seat belt.

Troopers tell 9 News shortly after 12:30 p.m., the couple was headed west on I-10 near the Prairieville exit, when their truck's rear tire blew out. The vehicle began to spin out of control, eventually flipping in a group of trees.

Troopers say the force of the crash threw the passenger, 50-year-old Lesa Stanton of Gretna, 30 feet out of the truck behind some bushes. The coroner pronounced her dead at the scene. Troopers say the driver, her husband, walked away and even refused to go to the hospital.

State Trooper Johnnie Brown says, "It's a very simple portrait of what happens when you don't wear your seat belt. The possibility of being ejected, the death that can result from that. Conversely, you have the husband that was wearing his seat belt and survived the crash with relatively minimal injury."

Trooper Brown says the driver, 49-year-old James Stanton is being charged with careless operation and negligent homicide because troopers say he was responsible for making his wife wear her seat belt.

[nicky g]

"Trooper Brown says the driver, 49-year-old James Stanton is being charged with careless operation and negligent homicide because troopers say he was responsible for making his wife wear her seat belt. "

Is there a law that states this? It seems absurd to me. Do they prosecute people they see driving with seatbelt-less passengers who don;t crash?

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

Also, ask the trooper how his wife responds to him giving her orders.

[Phat Mack]

Trooper Brown says the driver, 49-year-old James Stanton is being charged with careless operation and negligent homicide because troopers say he was responsible for making his wife wear her seat belt.

Trooper Brown is not, nor has he ever been, married.

[Boris]

My understanding is that in most states, if you are driving and get pulled over you will be cited for all passengers not wearing a seatbelt.

[nicky g]

I guess there is such a law then.

Seems to me that adults should responsible for wearing their own seatbelts (assuming the car-owner has kept them in working order).

[jcx]

I doubt they could get a conviction on this, esp in the south. In one of the liberal left coast cities he might be in trouble.

[ QUOTE ]
My understanding is that in most states, if you are driving and get pulled over you will be cited for all passengers not wearing a seatbelt.

[/ QUOTE ]

IIRC, NH is the only state without a seatbelt law of any kind. So if you're going to kill your wife by crashing and rolling the car that's the place.

[benfranklin]

[ QUOTE ]
I guess there is such a law then.

Seems to me that adults should responsible for wearing their own seatbelts (assuming the car-owner has kept them in working order).

[/ QUOTE ]

If there is such a law, then the law is a ass. (That's a literary reference, not bad grammar, for you non-readers [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]) Under such a law, many cars would never get out of the driveway until the police came to settle the argument.

This makes no more sense than charging him for murder if his wife smoked and died of lung cancer.

If it is a law, I'm surprised the legislators' wives let them pass it. There should be such laws concerning children, but adults, drivers and passengers, should be able to decide for themselves.

Instead of big-brother laws, we should have personal responsiblity and free-market incentives. I just made this up, so it may need some work: how about discounted insurance based on seatbelt use, with penalties or lower payout if you have an accident and aren't wearing one.

[cardcounter0]

Just pack the jury with a bunch of guys who have been married for 30 years.

Innocent --- Next Case!
[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]