Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Family of Dead Motorcyclist Sues Over Lack of Enhanced 911

From the Northwest Herald regarding a suit brought by the family of a motorcyclist who died in a cornfield in Illinois after he was unable to identify his location by cellphone:

    "The family of a Capron motorcyclist who rescue workers could not find for hours filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against officials from two counties. The man had called 911 from his cell phone after he crashed in a cornfield near Harvard.

    An attorney for the family of Kurt A. Regnier alleged McHenry and Winnebago County officials were negligent for not using available funds to promptly upgrade their emergency telephone systems, upgrades that would allow police to pinpoint within 500 feet from where cellular 911 calls were dialed."

This story has received considerable online comments (over 120) with almost every viewpoint represented. The rider was legally drunk according to the story and the county had already received funds to upgrade their 911 service to allow GPS location capability but had not even begun work on the project. Read the details of this tragic story and don't forget to scan through the many comments.