Nick Hogan's Addiction to SPEED wrecks lives
Reckless Driving: Any person who drives any vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving. While a simple reckless driving is no laughing matter, Nick Bollea a.k.a. Nick Hogan took it to another level. He was charged with reckless driving causing serious bodily harm, a felony in the Sunshine State (Florida). Under Florida Statute 316.192, any person, who drives any vehicle with complete disregard for the safety of people or property around him and causes serious bodily injury to someone, commits a felony of the third degree. What is serious bodily harm you ask? It is any injury short of actual death. It is usually severe and excruciating injuries.
What does this all mean? Well, it is safe to say Nick Hogan has ruined his life and the life of his friend, and passenger in the totaled Toyota Supra, John Graziano. After a night of drinking, the inexperienced teenager and self proclaimed racer, decided to speed and race another car through the slick streets of Tampa. Nick came out of the accident without any physical injuries. However, John Graziano was not as lucky. He will require lifelong nurse support and is practically hanging on to life. He has been in a comatose state since the crash. Ironically, as a U.S. Marine who served two tours in Iraq, John survived the horrors of war and overseas terrorism to come home and have his life ruined. All of it lost because of speed racer mentality, an overpowered sports car and one bad decision.
With a plea of nolo contendere (pleading no contest), Nick Hogan had to face the music for his 2 minutes of excitement behind the wheel of that monster of a car. This traffic felony crime had no defense to it that could succeed in court. His punishment consisted of community service, restitution (payment of money), DUI School, 5-year probation (Nick is not allowed to drink alcohol during this probation period), his license revoked and 8 months in solitary confinement and eventually the communal population. At the end of the day, Nick traded two minutes of adrenaline for jail, probation and ruining his best friend’s young life.
What Should I Take From This? Mistakes were made, but what this situation brings are simple life lessons. Everyone, children to adults, should take this opportunity to learn from this horrific incident. All it takes is one bad decision to ruin your future. This could happen to anyone, whether you drive a Corvette or a Prius, death does not discriminate.
The most obvious lesson involves the simple decisions we all make as drivers on these crowded streets every day. The streets of your local town are not your personal drag strip or Indy 500. If you have a need for speed, take it to the track. Aside from it being illegal, racing, whether sober or under the influence of alcohol, it is dangerous. Once you are caught racing or driving recklessly, the police have it within their discretion to arrest you. Instead of being able to hang out with his family and friends or drive around in his Toyota Supra, he has to look at four walls every day. The writing is on the wall for Nick. The Bollea and Graziano family’s cries of grief and sadness are all over those walls.
I believe the punishment fit the crime; however, Nick will be haunted for the rest of his life with regret and sorrow for the pain he caused the Graziano family. How many agree with his punishment? Is it too harsh or not enough? What would you do in Nick’s position once he got out of jail? Should John have any responsibility for what happened, even though he was the passenger?
In 2009, the same year the next “Fast and Furious” movie comes out, the only authentic look at the street racing scene will be released as a full feature length street racing documentary.
The new street racing documentary is called “1320 A West Coast Story”
This documentary has been in the works for over 8 years, and pokes fun at the “Fast and Furious” series, as well as attempting to debunk some other racing myths.
Featuring interviews with the most important figures in automotive history, this street racing documentary will finally shed light on the topic which has never been documented accurately, up until this point.
Please visit the website to learn more and watch the trailer:
http://www.1320movie.com
Or, watch the trailer on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVrOAw4xGs4
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Look at that twisted hunk of metal that used to be a car...it's amazing they both survived.
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