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Man Drives 35 Miles w/ Wife Clinging to Hood!
- Thread starter MacVixen
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According to the article, he was on drugs. It's likely she was trying to prevent him from leaving for his own safety.
I have to disagree. I doubt she was knowingly placing herself in harm's way. Jumping on the hood of a vehicle is dramatic, but I doubt she expected her husband to start driving, much less at speeds of 100 mph. As he started moving, she probably expected him to stop briefly to let her off; instead he just kept driving faster and faster.
Unless she could reasonably foresee her husband driving on the freeway at 100 mph with her still on the hood, then she did not "knowingly place herself in harm's way." And I don't think his actions were reasonably foreseeable by any means.
Besides, let's say for example that Spouse A is holding a gun, and Spouse B jumps in front of the gun to prevent "A" from shooting his/her favorite Ming Dynasty Vase (it's a priceless original, after all). Spouse A shoots anyway, killing Spouse B. ...Who's to blame? Spouse A for pulling the trigger, or Spouse B for protecting their vase? Even if standing in front of a gun is "stupid," I think it hardly fair to hold Spouse B accountable for Spouse A's actions of pulling the trigger.
It simply isn't acceptable to try to kill your wife, and that's exactly what this man did.
If a husband wanted to leave and his wife blocked the car, then you walk. You call a cab, take a bus, call a friend. You don't drive at speeds of 100 mph with her on the hood, unless stopping endangers your life as well (but nothing in the story indicates this to be the case). It's an inexcusable action, regardless of the circumstances.
The guy has some substance abuse problems, so how could she jump on a car and not think she was putting herself in harms way? A rational person might not drive with his wife on the hood, but this guy some history of drugs; which she obviously knows about. Add anger in the mix, and nothing good will come of it.
If the woman was willing to jump on a car, do you really think she would have let him walk away? She would have jumped on the cab, or flagged the bus down. Who knows? He could have made the situation worse by getting out of the car. The point is...he was trying to leave the situation and she wouldn't let him.
The guy is probably going to plead or be found guilty of attempted murder...but if she just let him leave, and stayed off the hood of the darned car, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Based on your assertions, it would appear that the wife's temporary lack of judgement is inexcusable, but the husband's abuse of a controlled substance is an excuse for attempted murder. If the husband was under the influence of an illegal drug at the time, then that sounds like an additional charge to me, not a defense.
Assuming the husband had never reached speeds above 5-10 mph, and the wife tripped and broke her ankle when climbing off of the car, I'd tend to agree with your assertions that the wife is partially responsible. However, no reasonable person drives a car at high speeds with an unwilling person on the hood. I don't see how the husband's violation of additional laws can justly be used to place blame on the wife.
I am in no way saying that because he was under the influence of drugs his behavior is excused. You said she may not have known she was putting herself in harms way. I'm saying when you are dealing with an angry, possibly drug addicted man how can you not think you would be putting yourself in harms way? It's an even better reason for her to let him drive away. Not jump on his freaking car.
The guy is guilty, and will be convicted. But, come on. That doesn't change the fact that he was trying to remove himself from what was probably an already volatile situation. And she wouldn't let him.
Reading that story, and this thread, it's easy to see why police probably want nothing to do with any domestic dispute. I genuinely pity them! 
I can't see where it says she 'jumps' on the windscreen like you are all saying.
'Gets up on the hood' covers a variety of events. It could be that she stood arguing with him in the car park, and then he suddenly drove at her, and she couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and ended up on the hood.
'Hanging onto the wiper blade' implies that getting up on the hood was not an entirely voluntary act. It could be. Might not be. As Skunk says, we don't know.
Copper said:
'Gets up on the hood' covers a variety of events. It could be that she stood arguing with him in the car park, and then he suddenly drove at her, and she couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and ended up on the hood.
'Hanging onto the wiper blade' implies that getting up on the hood was not an entirely voluntary act. It could be. Might not be. As Skunk says, we don't know.
He will get a long sentence. He has priors. She was stupid to jump on the hood, but obviously she had no expectation that he would try to kill her! A sane, non-murderous person would stop immediately. Also, he drove a long way and so had a long time to think about what he was doing. He can't claim some momentary rage.
i agree to some degree
gender flip: i lived with some friends who were dating. they got into a huge argument and she tried to leave. he didn't want her to so he stood in front of her car and she continued moving, hitting him and busting the windshield up.
he came inside, mad of course, and said "i can't believe she hit me"
i told him "i can't believe you stood in front of a car of a mad woman"
both are most always to blame if they cannot separate for a "cool down period".
Reading that story, and this thread, it's easy to see why police probably want nothing to do with any domestic dispute. I genuinely pity them!
The number of cops killed, during one of these "domestic" calls, used to be frightful.
They know better now.
He was using intoxicating substances.
He was driving a mini-van where the seat is back and the windshield slopes down.
He was angry and thought he was leaving a bad situation.
She managed to put herself on the hood of the car.
Can anyone prove that he knew she was there? Yes, he admits it happened, but can anyone prove intent?
He was driving a mini-van where the seat is back and the windshield slopes down.
He was angry and thought he was leaving a bad situation.
She managed to put herself on the hood of the car.
Can anyone prove that he knew she was there? Yes, he admits it happened, but can anyone prove intent?
Sam Kinison once said something along this line, too:
"I don't support violence against women, but I understand what turns Mr. Hand into Mr. Fist."
Two unathletic nerds trying to hold on to a car in motion is not proof. That was one experiment, the scientific method requires a set of experiments with different variables. Mythbusters know their experiments are not 100% fool proof and should not be taken as final.
The article said she hung on by the windshield wiper. That is impossible unless she is only 10 lbs or so. If she held on to the hood near windshield, that would be plausible. If she were 100 to 120 lbs it would make even more sense that she would be able to hold on, seeing that it is less weight to counter the force of inertia.
Jamie is what 180lbs and Adam is about 200lbs? That's a lot of weight, even Tory who is marginally more athletic than Jamie would have a hard time at his weight.
Lastly the factor is that the dude was going down the highway, there are hardly tough turns on highways.
I completely agree with Tomorrow on this, but I'll take it a step further. If someone is as stupid as this woman seems, they don't deserve to be in the gene pool. Christ, too bad the guy didn't shake the car and wipe this imbecile off the face of the earth. Yeah I know I'm a horrible person, and talking like an idiot, so on and so forth. Sorry I'm not be some bleeding heart who says, "Oh I feel so bad for this poor poor abused woman. Her husband deserves to burn, for this heinous act of abuse. He should have stopped for her, it was his responsibility, she was just trying to rescue their marriage by not lettig him run off, she just wanted to work things out." Cry me a river It's the wife's own fault, for being an idiot and chasing after her husband (who was obviously trying to get away from his insane wife) and jumping on the roof of the car. I sure as hell wouldn't vote to find him guilty, unless it meant wiping his idiotic face off of the earth too.
The point is that people who demonstrate extreme stupidity (in this case both the wife and the husband, who's an idiot for not trying to shake her off) don't deserve to see another day in which they can create stupid children.
-Don
It's the wife's own fault, for being an idiot and chasing after her husband (who was obviously trying to get away from his insane wife) and jumping on the roof of the car. I sure as hell wouldn't vote to find him guilty, unless it meant wiping his idiotic face off of the earth too.The point is that people who demonstrate extreme stupidity (in this case both the wife and the husband, who's an idiot for not trying to shake her off) don't deserve to see another day in which they can create stupid children.
-Don
Do we know the make and model of the minivan? I'd be interested in seeing what the hood/front design is like.
Wouldn't that make for great small talk when making new friends? "Well, there was this one time we got into it and..."
Wouldn't that make for great small talk when making new friends? "Well, there was this one time we got into it and..."
As so many other posters, the fact is that you have no idea what transpired. The driver is prima facie guilty of attempted murder. Nothing more needs to be said. I do not understand the number of otherwise reasonable people here who are blaming the victim.I completely agree with Tomorrow on this, but I'll take it a step further. If someone is as stupid as this woman seems, they don't deserve to be in the gene pool. Christ, too bad the guy didn't shake the car and wipe this imbecile off the face of the earth. Yeah I know I'm a horrible person, and talking like an idiot, so on and so forth. Sorry I'm not be some bleeding heart who says, "Oh I feel so bad for this poor poor abused woman. Her husband deserves to burn, for this heinous act of abuse. He should have stopped for her, it was his responsibility, she was just trying to rescue their marriage by not lettig him run off, she just wanted to work things out." Cry me a river
The point is that people who demonstrate extreme stupidity (in this case both the wife and the husband, who's an idiot for not trying to shake her off) don't deserve to see another day in which they can create stupid children.
-Don
Yes you are right, the husband is obviously guilty of attempted murder. I'm just saying that in this case the guy should be let go. Call me a monster who believes in eugenics, but people who are stupid pollute the gene pool don't deserve to exist. Someone who throws themselves on a car is, to use your termonology, prima facie guilty of being an idiot; and therefore does not deserve to exist and pollute the gene pool (in my belief system at least).
-Don
So you think it is perfectly acceptable to murder anyone you regard as an idiot, do you?