Christian Clayton of Sucker Punch Sallys fame passed away in his sleep at the age of 40 on Friday.
Christian and his dad Geri became part of Sucker Punch Sallys in 2003. (The company was originally founded in Ohio by Jeff Cochran and Donnie Loos in 2002.) The stripped down bobbers that the company is famous for are very popular because of their lean look and their affordable price.
Clayton, a family man with a wife and 4 children will be deeply missed in the motorcycle industry, his "Can Do" attitude, his generosity and his smile will be remembered by many. RIP Christian.
And many who are not nearly as famous but none the less deeply loved will be missed, as yet again we have a rash of crashes in the news.
Some of these people are injured and needing help, some are no longer with us. Our family "WIND" is loosing lot's of people to careless driving and sadly to careless riding...
How do we turn the tides? How do we stop the heartbreak?
So many of the crashes I have read about are caused by people who fail to stop at stop signs, pull u-turns, and are otherwise careless. I had gone this morning to get updated crash stats from Education for the Driving Masses, sadly, that blog is gone, but I came across this one - Families Fighting Careless Driving
The open letter to the politicians of this country is very moving and very direct and blunt.
I would love your thoughts on their proposed changes to the law
I have my opinion, but I want to hear yours first!
On that note, I am signing off today...
I hope you have a most fabulous day, remember to tell the people you love that you love them because you just never know when your turn to leave this world will be...and please, ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you.
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
Christian and his dad Geri became part of Sucker Punch Sallys in 2003. (The company was originally founded in Ohio by Jeff Cochran and Donnie Loos in 2002.) The stripped down bobbers that the company is famous for are very popular because of their lean look and their affordable price.
Clayton, a family man with a wife and 4 children will be deeply missed in the motorcycle industry, his "Can Do" attitude, his generosity and his smile will be remembered by many. RIP Christian.
And many who are not nearly as famous but none the less deeply loved will be missed, as yet again we have a rash of crashes in the news.
Some of these people are injured and needing help, some are no longer with us. Our family "WIND" is loosing lot's of people to careless driving and sadly to careless riding...
How do we turn the tides? How do we stop the heartbreak?
So many of the crashes I have read about are caused by people who fail to stop at stop signs, pull u-turns, and are otherwise careless. I had gone this morning to get updated crash stats from Education for the Driving Masses, sadly, that blog is gone, but I came across this one - Families Fighting Careless Driving
The open letter to the politicians of this country is very moving and very direct and blunt.
I would love your thoughts on their proposed changes to the law
I have my opinion, but I want to hear yours first!
On that note, I am signing off today...
I hope you have a most fabulous day, remember to tell the people you love that you love them because you just never know when your turn to leave this world will be...and please, ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you.
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
I sympathize with these people, and wish them luck in their endeavors, but there have been others trying to do the same things for years with little headway.
ReplyDeleteThe lawmakers are more interested in making sure that the perpetrator does not have his/her rights violated, while the victim is disregarded or considered impairment in the system.
If you stand before a judge, it is more likely that you will go to jail if you are a generally law abiding citizen than if you are a career criminal.
Changing laws is one thing, getting judges to abide by them without bending them to their biased interpretation is another chore.
The system does not care about the victim. If they are dead or seriously maimed, then they are of no more use to society or a burden to the taxpayers if they receive compensation of any kind.
But the criminal has to be saved and rehabilitated at all costs, even thought the efforts seem to increase the number of criminal because they usually get little or no repercussions from their actions.
Think of all the people who would be out of work if there were no criminals.
The SES survey found that 89% of Canadians believe that those who drink, drive and kill another person as a result of an impaired driving crash should receive jail time; and, 81% of Canadians would support new police measures to apprehend and charge drug impaired drivers.
http://www.madd.ca/english/news/pr/madd_canada_stat_sheet_june12_2006.pdf
June 12, 2006 - MADD Canada Calls for New Impaired Driving Legislation
http://www.madd.ca/english/news/pr/p06jun12bkgrnd.htm
A crime is considered to have been committed against the state, not the victim.
The victim is at most a witness for the prosecution.
Victims do not choose to be victims, whereas criminals choose to commit crime.
We as a society provide to accused persons and convicted offenders: the right to a
fair trial, the right to a lawyer, shelter, three meals a day, work training, education, prison wages, rehabilitation programs, etc.
Victims of crime do not get work training or free lawyers and they must rehabilitate themselves.
The sad reality is that victims have no true 'rights' in the Canadian criminal justice system.
Criminal Code
Under section 722 of the Criminal Code, a victim of crime can file and read a Victim Impact Statement at the time of sentencing an offender. A Victim Impact Statement is a written statement made by the victim that describes the harm done to the victim and, more generally, the effect that the crime has had on his or her life. The Victim Impact Statement is given to the judge who will take it into account when considering the sentence the offender will receive.
Did You Know?
In 2003 there were 3987 people serving life sentences in Canada. Out of those, only 60% were actually incarcerated. This means that in 2003 there were nearly 1600 people serving out their life sentences in the community. (Source Corrections Canada
Ever wonder what your parliament is doing
http://howdtheyvote.ca/
Bill C-393 -- Seeking minimum sentences
Gord Brown's Private Members Bill, prompted by the Brockville's Moffitt family, seeks mandatory minimum sentences for crimes committed with knives. Public discussion proves this is an issue throughout Canada. The Liberals say they will not support minimum sentences.
http://www.andymoffitt.org/billc393.html
Interesting News items:
http://www.ccvf.net/?page_id=98
"Hang in there"..... J D Redneck
Some very interesting reading there JD - and sadly I feel you are bang on with your take on the "Justice" system in this country - it is very broken.
ReplyDelete