Road rage takes life of CPO Zach Buob
Several people have sent links to the reports of the road rage murder of Chief Petty Officer Zach Buob, a 20-year veteran of the Navy and assigned to the Navy Special Warfare Command in San Diego. It looks like this person, Darla Jackson ran the sailor down. Her mother says that it was an accident, not murder, but, in this world of camera-phones, the video shows something different;
From Fox News;
Jackson was booked into jail and is being held without bail pending an arraignment on June 2. The station spoke to Jackson’s mother, who said her daughter had been wrongly accused.
The woman said her daughter, the mother of a 3-year-old, was the victim because the motorcyclist was driving erratically.
“The motorcycle was trying to cut through some cars and for whatever reason he kicked the side of my daughter’s car,” the woman said. She said her daughter took off after the motorcycle to get the driver to pull over.
“She went on to follow him trying to get information for the insurance and what have you,” said Margie.
So, even if it happened the way Jackson’s mother says that it happened, Buob deserved a death sentence for it? Nice.
Category: Crime
That sucks.
I just remember what I was told long ago…”Just walk away Sarge, just walk away.”
I hope she fries. She had that opportunity to not escalate it and she did.
Motor Vehicle vs. Motorcycle, guess who wins and who loses? Everybody.
The accounts include that the two had an argument, whatever that means. Looking at the video, I can see that he could have accelerated or taken some other action to separate from her. Bottom line: I have no idea who did what. Did he bring a bike to a car fight or was he truly the victim here? I don’t know. Either way, the result is the same: he’s gone.
^^^ This ^^^
***Disclaimer, I didn’t watch the news story***
I imagine the Chief kicked the side of the door because the driver was coming into his lane in order to avoid an accident.
Of course a mom is going to defend her child…I don’t care how ‘good’ your child is, that doesn’t mean they didn’t commit the crime.
One last item…Liberty (reporter) you need to eat a damn hamburger girl.
Let me correct myself, i watched, i just didn’t listen to the story.
If getting info for insurance was so important all she had to do was memorize the license plate number on the bike.
At least the video shows her behavior, which was intentional.
One other thing. The video camera was locked on before the collision, strongly suggesting that the two were doing something that was ‘of interest’ to the person recording the event.
Murder One. Life sentence or death, and nothing else.
Been riding for over 30 years and I have to say it does seem that the Chief could probably have avoided this. Whether the car driver was at fault or not for the initial confrontation, escalating it (which is what appears to have happened from the video) was not smart.
When it comes to car/motorcycle encounters, the best advice to any rider is, as they used to say in Vietnam, “Break Contact and Continue Mission” (your “mission” being to arrive at your destination safely.) A car/MC road rage incident almost always ends badly for the rider, no matter who is more “at fault.”
I’ve ridden for about 20, and have myself kicked a few car doors when I was a young sailor. We just don’t know how much riding experience the Chief had, Martinjmpr. He may have been terrified to whack the throttle of that Ducati, or he may have not been too comfortable steering in traffic. I highly doubt he brake checked a car that was right on his ass and whose driver had already shown that she had no problems bumping him.
Witnesses say she sideswiped him a few times. The correct procedure is not to hit the gas, aggravate the situation and endanger other people but to calmly pull over and let the cunt keep going or get her teeth busted in by a swinging helmet if she gets out of the car. Or to pump fake a pull over and haul ass out of there after they get out of the car. (I did that one in Phoenix after some douche in a lawn care truck tried repeatedly to hit me and then got out of his truck holding a tire iron.)
Sad story all around.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3105324/San-Diego-woman-25-kills-Navy-sailor-road-rage-incident-charged-degree-murder.html
Reporting a charge of murder 1.
Oh. and #BikeLivesMatter
RIP, Buob.
If I were to give cardinal rules for motorcycle riding (especially in heavily urban environments like the Greater San Diego area where this happened) it would be:
1. Assume that you are invisible to cars
2. Stay out of the blind spot
3. Always have an escape route,
and, most importantly:
4. DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY!
Also dress for the stop not the ride.
Whoops, I hit the enter key to soon.
Unfortunately, the motorcycle community is full of guys (pretty much exclusively guys) telling war stories about the time they “taught a lesson” to some dumbass in a car who almost killed them: Stories where riders kicked in someone’s door, ripped off a mirror, threw ball bearings, etc, are often heard on motorcycle message boards and FB groups.
Obviously these stories are either fantasies (“I should’ve….”), embellished, or outright fabricated. But they’re out there and every rider has heard them.
And it’s BS because unless you are riding a police motorcycle and have a badge and gun, your “mission” is not to teach stupid drivers to look out for bikes or to punish them for their transgressions. Your only “mission” should be to arrive home safely each day. You do that by AVOIDING dangerous drivers, not by “confronting” them.
Taking it personally, or appointing yourself as the “Deliverer of Highway Justice to Dumb Car Drivers” will get you killed, and maybe someone else, too. If you can’t ride without accounting for the danger of riding (which includes the fact that car drivers often don’t see motorcycles) then stick to 4 wheels.
Very well said.
And kicking at a car is even more stupid than kicking at a dog, good way to lose control and end up in a high-side in the middle of traffic.
Okay in the video she is riding his MC’s bumper. Not necessary. If she wanted his insurance info, then back off, follow him until he stops and talk then. After she hit him, why did she not slam on the brakes? That would have been my first instinct. But to continue on and drive over him, I say that’s intentional rage in action. Yes he should have taken all matters available to stay out of her way. That does not excuse her from driving over him after hitting his bike and not stopping. So, yes I think that was intentional and I think that makes it murder. I hope she is convicted too. I have had bike riders act goofy and abrasive when driving near me. I just give them room and let them go their way. I’m in a 2 ton car, they are exposed.
Understand, I’m not saying she shouldn’t be prosecuted to the full extent of the law – she absolutely should be.
It’s just that if at the very first instance of dangerous behavior (which I’m assuming was something like her swerving into his lane) he had simply rode away and put as much distance between them as possible, he would never have been in the position for her to hit him.
There’s no car available to the masses that can catch a rider on a sportbike who wants to get away.
<blockquoteThere’s no car available to the masses that can catch a rider on a sportbike who wants to get away.
That’s easy to say, but having been on the receiving end of a couple of psycho, road-raging assholes, I can tell you that it can be harder to break contact than you might imagine, even on a sportbike. True, in an ideal scenario, a sportbike should be able to easily out-accelerate basically any car that doesn’t cost a quarter-mil or so. But, in the real world, with traffic, stop lights, pedestrians, etc., it’s not so easy. Especially when you are dealing with some douchebag in the grips of full-on road rage who doesn’t care about his/her own life, much less yours or any innocent bystander.
For all we know, the CPO may have thought that he had broken contact, only to be rammed from behind after he thought the incident was over.
That certainly is a possibility and I suppose we’ll find out more when/if this goes to trial.
However, there are hot headed motorcycle riders who take shit personally and I’m not willing to let the Chief off the hook here until I know more.
It’s hard to imagine that she’d be road raging like this if it wasn’t part of some escalating encounter, an encounter that requires two active participants.
Riding a motorcycle is a choice and it comes with a large assumption of risk. Those who aren’t willing to assume the risk or modify their behavior so as to mitigate that risk should confine their riding to the track or the dirt.
I certainly do not disagree with you that there are motorcyclists out there who behave like assholes as well.
One common denominator is that our roads seem to be filled with assholes these days.
I know Zach. I also know he would be very slow to anger. He has been riding since he was a kid. I know if he had known that woman was on his tail he would have been out of there. He was a loving, caring human being and is very loved by all who knew him.
Murder one charges are almost unheard of in “road rage” type situations. CHP wouldn’t have booked her on Murder 1 unless there was pretty good indication that the car driver was (a) the primary aggressor, (b) she acted with malice aforethought.
As an avid motorcyclist and military veteran, I would love to see this oxygen bandit get some real hard time. But, given that this is California we are talking about, I fully expect it ultimately to be pled down to vehicular manslaughter or some such bullshit, and for her to walk with time served and probation.
Either that, or some idiot jury buys her “he swerved in front of me and I didn’t have time to stop” B.S. defense and acquits her.
Call me cynical, but I’ve seen this movie before and didn’t like the ending.
In any case, RIP CPO Buob. Thank you for your service to our country. Gone far too soon.
That video is going to iron out a lot of the warm fuzzies she’ll try to hand a jury about whatever he did or didn’t do. When a motorcycle’s back wheel disappears below the sightline of your hood, YOU’RE TOO CLOSE. The only time I keep the golden “five car lengths” between me and the motorist in front of me, it’s with a motorcycle, because if a mistake gets made, the RIDER is the one who will most likely suffer the consequences, not me.
PN. There is no fixed number of lengths. The distance to be kept behind any vehicle changes with the speed at which you and it are traveling. Keep five lengths behind a sedan traveling 65 mph and if it stops short, you’ll get a face full of airbag. Throw in all of those variables such as tire tread, brake function, weight of vehicles, and reaction time and it may be the other vehicle’s airbag that strikes you.
Sorry AC, you’re correct with what you say. When I wrote that, I was specifically thinking of having to stop behind a motorcycle, or follow one in close traffic.
No problem. I just don’t want to hear that you were in an accident due to the golden rule!
Thank you very much for your concern. When I’m on my bike, I don’t consider anyone responsible for my safety other than me, and I ride accordingly. But when I see a car driver who is trying to be especially courteous and safe about motorcycles, believe me, it is noticed, and it is appreciated.
+1. Exactly.
When some dumb car driver swerves into my lane I don’t get angry at him for not seeing me, I get angry at me for not being aware of him.
It’s not his job to look out for me, it’s my job to look out for me.
IMO riding angry is riding distracted and that’s never a good idea. Get past the danger and enjoy the ride. That’s why we ride, after all, because it’s enjoyable.
I believe the CPO was a NSW Tech. Meaning Combat Services Support Team (CSST) or Non-SEAL.
The eye witness accounts will fry this POS, she won’t make bail!
A schitty way to go for the Chief!
This Navy Chief was a Special Boat Operator. This particular boat guy or SWCC was part of the 2003 Iraq War and returned to the northern Arabian Gulf a short year later. God , Country , and Fast Boats. You will be missed my friend.
I’ve waited a bit to comment. As a rider of 40+ years and riding on the streets for 37+ years, I have seen most all of it. I have seen douchenozzles on “crotch rockets” doing the most stupid shit imaginable, which makes it worse for those that obey the rules. I have seen morons behind the wheel that do see the motorcycle and just don’t care. I have had people pass me on a 2 lane city street without going into the oncoming lane to do it, because they figured they were in a car and I was only on a bike (one actually brushed my leg with his car), so they own the road. I have lost friends to motorcycle accidents. One was run off the road in a curve, according to the investigating officers, and went off a semi-steep grade into a clump of trees and broke his neck. No witnesses, just tire marks on both the pavement and the gravel shoulder, and no one ever prosecuted or confessed.
In this case, it was supposedly rush hour, so the accelerate out of danger option might not have been available to him. From viewing the video, she was intentionally trying to run him down. There’s no doubt in my mind that she should be charged with 1st degree murder. She knew full well what she was doing and didn’t care. Fuck her with a pineapple.
+100 on all of this.
You’re indeed correct on the “cyclists doing stupid sh!t” part, Old Trooper – and ditto for auto drivers.
The stupidest stunt I ever saw – and I saw this one personally – was by a motorcyclist when I was a teen. We were coming back from the beach, probably doing about 65 or 70. We were meeting another oncoming car on a 2-lane highway.
The idiot passed between us as the cars were passing each other. He had to have been doing 80+, min. By the way he blew past us, I’d guess he was doing 90 or more.
I used to own a largish road bike (I don’t any more). Best advice I ever got for riding was only two words: “Ride paranoid.”
It’s not bad advice if you drive a small car, either.
RIP, Chief Buob. Gone far too soon.
Another reason why I used to ride dirt bikes, but my love of motocycles ends at the pavement.
Too many idiots who never see you, or who just don’t give a shit.
And a 5000 lb car or truck will win against a 400 lb bike. Every. Single. Time.
I hope that very shortly, some is ramming her from behind.
/ya gotta laugh to keep from crying sometimes.
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/da/dae86aab16f6c332271e25e033dab9c21c40bb56302a6ebdf13ed02c349df6d6.jpg
As a biker I know how you have to watch out for and be very careful around cars, especially the ones that are acting stupid.
Sometimes you just get caught at the wrong place, wrong time.
I damn near got killed last week by some stupid SOB passing another car on a back road here in the Houston area. He saw me and continued in my lane, I slowed way down, (quick reflexes) took the shoulder, said a full Rosary, Downshifted 3 gear’s, dumped the clutch, laid on the horn and flipped him off enough that everyone around saw it happen!
Amazing what you can do in about a tenth of a second.
OK I’ll do it….
Here ya go Thunderstixx
http://site.unbeatablesale.com/img2002/das1207.jpg
Yeah, I had a biker zoom past the other day going about 80. No problem, except that the road is full of side streets, many hidden by the ups and downs of the road, and the speed limit is 45. First I said aloud, “Dumb shit” and then I said a prayer for him. Let me ask you bikers something. Is it as deadly as it seems to be on two wheels at high speed if one blows?
If youre lucky, its your back tire that blows. Most of the time, you will be able to get it to a controlled stop. If it is the front tire, then youre basically at the mercy of the pavement gods
Thanks for the response.
I watched some jackass in an SUV pass me despite an oncoming bike last week. He jumped in the other lane since I had the audacity to be doing only 58 in a 55 and ignored the bike–didn’t even punch to gas to hurry up and get over. I slowed waaaay down, probably to 35 or so, but they still took their time getting back in the proper lane. Biker didn’t look happy…
I’ve thought of getting a bike in the past, but I kind of like my full sized truck. Harder to ignore, safer if I get in a wreck, and the dog can ride. Maybe I will buy a bike, though. I’ll keep it strapped down in my truck bed. 🙂
Yeah, Memorial weekend brought out every dumbass you could think of. I ride defensively, always, and had a couple of events to do where riding to get there was………interesting. A few of us rode together to one event and we were in the left hand lane on a 4 lane freeway and I was watching this chick in an SUV in the right lane and as we got closer, I slowed down a little, because the 6th sense told me she was gonna be stupid. Sure as shit stinks, she darted over into our lane with no turn signal, no looking, no nothing. Because I knew she was going to do it, I was able to stay out of danger, but had I been giving her the benefit of doubt, about being an asshole, I would have been put in a situation where I would have been in deep trouble at 60 mph.
Don Vito Corleone: There are people in this world who go about demanding to be killed. You must have noticed them. They quarrel in gambling games. They jump out of their automobiles in a rage. They humiliate and bully people whose capabilities they do not know. These are people who wander through the world shouting, “kill me”. And there’s always someone ready to oblige to them.
I don’t know for sure who is at fault, but I do know for sure that someone is dead, and the mother of the killer has strong motivation to lie. Further, there is nothing in any news story that I have read so far that places the mother in the car. Finally, somebody else in traffic at the time took some video and said this:
“William Touch, a witness who recorded a video of the car and motorcycle moments before the crash, gave a different account of the incident.”
“Touch told NBC 7 that he witnessed the vehicle “sideswiping” the motorcycle three times.”
I’ve tried to avoid motorcycles for a very good reason. If you have seen some of the accidents I’ve seen, e.g., a biker ran into a deer at dusk, you’ll understand why I avoid riding one of those 2-wheel death machines, as well as why I drive wide of them. I saw a biker on a green light intersection T-bone someone running through the cross-street red light and go right over the car’s roof. It was not a pleasant thing to see.
If this female with no self-control has been arrested for and charged with road rage murder by the CHiPs, and the video backs up the witnesses, she’s not going to get out of it. There’s no excuse for what she did, and her mommy needs to know that her precious girl is not quite so precious.
My grandfather rode them in the 1920s until he lost his big toe in an accident.
He always called them “Murder-cycles”
Semper Fi Chief. For whatever reason this story made me tear up. It just sucks
This makes me so angry. I don’t ride motorcycles, but to think that someone would do something so vicious and purposeful- and take the life of a 20-year veteran & senior NCO like that…I’m seeing red. Godspeed, Chief.
^^This
All the shoulda woulda coulda is a load of crap. She purposely took the life of another and I hope justice is served.
Rest in Peace, Chief.
She definitely did the crime, but some people go too far. She already got a couple facebook pages where someone went on her page and stole photos of her. She is a POS for doing what he did, but leave it at that.
I had a friend teach me how to ride a motorcycle some years ago and thought it would be fun to ride and own one, but I’ve seen a few times too often where good, cautious, experienced, and defensive riders paid the price for others’ stupidity and inattention (My youngest sister who is a practicing CRNA refers to them as “donor-cycles”) This woman needs to face vehicular homicide charges at the very least and do her prison time for it once she’s convicted and sentenced. R. I.P., CPO Buob, you were senselessly taken from us far too soon.
I’ve been reading the comments and I do chuckle at those that think motorcycle riders are dead men walking. As I said, in a previous post, I have been riding on the streets for almost 4 decades. I have had my share of close calls on 2 wheels, but I’ve never been injured while riding on the streets. I say that as a qualifier, because I used to race them, also, and I have been injured doing that. However, I have been seriously injured while driving on 4 wheels through no fault of my own. I have watched people being rolled into sheets at motorcycle crashes where it made no sense as to how they could have been in that bad of a sitation, by looking at the scene. I have seen others walk away from crashes where you looked at the scene and figured there was no way anyone lived. My point is; you can take every precaution there is in life, but you’re still headed for the grave. You may arrive there in a pristine condition, but you’re still there. Did you live life to the fullest, challenge yourself, do a few crazy things? Or, were you too worried that something might happen and never take the chance? Jumping out of perfectly safe airplanes isn’t a natural act, but people do it all the time. I did that, too.
Neil Peart, the drummer for Rush, wrote a book about his motorcycle journey, after his daughter and wife died, where he travelled 4 years and 55,000 miles all over North and Central America. It was his way of healing and his therapy. You don’t find motorcycle parking in front of a therapist’s office.
If you’re afraid to take chances; are you really living? Some do it by falling out of the sky, some do it by running with scissors. Others do it on 2 wheels. I like 2 wheels, the open road, and the wind in my face. It’s my therapy.
Sometimes it’s not the afraid of taking chances that changes things, but responsibility to family. I was riding my Yamaha FJ1200 when a woman put her right blinker on and turned left while driving a Chevy Suburban. She certainly fooled me into thinking she was taking a right. When I hit the Suburban I discovered that a motorcycle doesn’t push a Suburban out of the way. I flew over the top of the Suburban along with the bike (angular hit not square T-Bone hit or I’d have been dead) landed on my face (thank you Mr. Simpson for making great head gear) and snapped my right leg in three places. Being in a bit of an adrenaline heightened state I stood up and picked up the bike turned off the gas and the switched off the ignition. As I was doing so the State Trooper asked if I saw where the body of the biker landed, when he discovered I was the biker he was visibly relieved and I realized I was almost dead over a moment of mistaken trust in another driver. I had two young children at the time and a stay at home wife. It occurred to me that while I loved riding it was appropriate to make sure I was alive to provide for my family. Life insurance does cover a great deal and I always carry a lot of it, but my kids deserved to have their father around until they were at least 21 years of age. I stopped riding on the street. My brother and I get crazy on the dirt at his place and I enjoy it immensely. I have found that taking chances can be done in a variety of other ways that bring that adrenaline rush from white water canoe/kayaking to sky diving and a host of things in between. Even though my kids are grown I now have 4 grandkids with a 5th on the way. I coach soccer with the grandkids and I guess I’ve decided that I owe them a presence as long as I can provide… Read more »
Oh, I agree that we all make our choices based on what we think is the best path for longevity. I have kids and a grandkid. I, in my lifetime, have been shot, stabbed, had myriad broken bones, I have a 10″ steel plate and 8 screws in my arm (car accident)I have been lucky in that I’m still upright and warm with all this shit I’ve had happen. When my time comes, it comes, and there isn’t anything I can do about it. I could get run over by some old lady on her rascal scooter as I walk down the aisle at Target, or I could tip over after the Vikings win the Superbowl (from pure shock).
My point was that some of the commenters seem to think that riding a motorcycle is just asking to be taken deep (the whole dead man walking thing). I disagree with that opinion.
I’ve seen a lot of stickers and patches saying “Loud pipes save lives”, but not always. I was heading out of town on a four-lane highway one day behind a Biker who was “Out for a ride”. He had loud pipes and all, but was nearly killed by some idiot passing me pulling a trailer behind his SUV. I make it a habit to give a motorcycle more following distance than I do a car because it’s a fact that most bikes have a shorter stopping distance than cars. Anyway, said numbnuts didn’t check his or her mirrors after passing and damn near smacked said Biker into oblivion with the trailer when he or she changed lanes, the Biker hit his brakes, and since I gave him extra following distance, I easily avoided hitting him when he had to avoid that idiot. That Biker was doing everything right, but he almost got killed thanks to one inattentive idiot, that’s what keeps me from enjoying motorcycling.
Darla seems like a real class act. “Darla Renee Jackson Loves Motorcyclists on facebook”
Definitely not playing with a full deck, hope her anger issues come up at the trial.
This is a local story, The chick is weapons grade crazy., Two of her ex-boyfriends have restraining orders on her for stalking and threatening to kill them. She actually,, get this,, tried to run one of them down with a car….
Just saw that myself. Yeah, she is a deep-ender. How often do you hear about a guy getting a stay-away order to protect himself from a female? How many times have you ever heard of two ex-boyfriends of the same female doing it? For me, counting this time, once. Apparently, her rage wasn’t reserved for the road.
From: http://www.10news.com/news/woman-arrested-accused-in-fatal-road-rage-crash-052915
According to Department of Motor Vehicle records, Jackson’s license had been restored in January following a two-year suspension for “lack of knowledge or skill.”
This is such an obvious plea bargain. The DMV doesn’t take away a license for two years for no reason. There had to be a pretty serious incident or incidents for her to lose her license for an entire two years. She just got her license back and now she’s killed a SO Sailor.
I am not on our bike because my back is imploding on itself, but when I was it did make me feel better to be on a “Big Bike” with a very experience rider who taught me to be an experienced passenger. You have to watch out for everyone, all of the time. There is NO excuse for this woman. She got mad, she was in a ? lb. vehicle and when she wanted to get even, she did exactly that, she got even and for that she should pay the same price that CPO Buob paid.
RIP Chief and Thank you for your Service and Sacrifice.