And for those of you who wish to read the article yourself:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-crash24may24,0,5531460.story

Come on LLN, give 1 good reason why you felt it not necessary to link to the article?

Karma’s a b1tch.

Ahk-Med: That’s not the article. That article was linked in the last report on the crash. Get your facts straight.

Serves that officer right. Damn hypocrites always get what they deserve.

speed is not always a factor in accidents. I do not care if you are a ferrari or a suburban.

guns do not kill people, people kill people.

speed does not kill, reckless/careless driving kills. Speed plays a part in the severity of the crash, but the crash itself is not a result of speed.

Example: Locked, loaded, caged, 4wd buggy rolls over at 2mph while traversing a trail. This happens all the time. Driver hops out, rights the buggy, continues on. Take this same scenario when the driver is not wearing a seatbelt or harness. Diver falls out, buggy crushes his skull. DOA by the time the chopper arrives to assist.

Does LLN really beleive that the speed is what killed this officer and his friend?

Like I said on the other posting of this “news.”

Shouldn’t he (the cop) have known better?

Mike: LLN beleives that the officer was speeding. When they say they’re trying to determine if speed was a a factor, they usually mean they aren’t sure if the car was speeding or not. Chances are he was speeding by a LARGE margin.

Really the statement was just an observaion. Even in more broad sense, speed *IS* always a factor. Regardless of the “law,” the man was obviously going too quick for a) his skills or b) the road. So that’s why speed is a factor. It has nothing to do with what the posted sign says.

how did a cop get a ferrari?

My point, to Jon and LLN (as a collective in this case) is that the speed alone does not kill.

Jon. Would you consider the factory driver who hit gravel at 150mph on a public road to have been driving recklessly? I would hope so.

I admitted in my post above that speed is merely a factor in the severity of the accident. The accident itself is caused by the careless or reckless decision of whomever is behind the wheel.

Jon. A gun is ONLY as dangerous as the person holding it.

Mike: You’re absolutely right. Speed and guns don’t kill.

I guess my arguement is that in this case speed was the “reckless decision.” There are certain speeds that no one should ever drive on certain roads (100 mph, for example, in on narrow residential street.)

Whats a police officer doing in a ferrari? He probably wouldnt be able to afford it unless he got some outside sources of money(Inheritance, lottery, etc.

Jonas- The cop probably bought one used for $65K with inherited money.

Jon- Don’t be gun hating. People kill people, regardless of the weapon or method. Most guns that are used in crimes were obtained illegally. If you’re talking about machine guns, there has been ONLY ONE case of a legally-registered machine gun used in a felony. Please don’t perpetuate anti-gun sentiment. It doesn’t fly. Besides, more people are killed with cars than guns.

Most cops have second jobs. Usually their salaries don’t suffice. Especially in LA county.

You don’t get it, do you? The point is that guns make it easier. You want to make it harder for one person to kill another, not easier, don’t you?

Jon.

Knives make it easier to kill than rocks, lets ban knives too.

wait, rocks make it easier to kill than bare hands, lets ban rocks.

wait, bare hands can kill? cut them off, or let the government regulate them to the point that nobody wants them…

It just goes to show…Just because you can find the means to buy a sports car doesn’t mean that you have the skills or ability to handle one. When it is a Ferrari or a Lamborghini it is a high profile accident. What about these kids who add tons of mods to their Civic, Neon, etc… making them extremely dangerous due to going beyond the cars frame and body stress tolerences? These cars wreck and kill people every day, but you almost never hear about it.

By the way, in response to the gun thing…more people are killed or injured world-wide by knives than guns. With a knife, it is more personal…you don’t have random drive-by stabbings.

Jon, I appreciate that concern immensely. I don’t want to be shot. I just hate it when gun laws are created that affect only people who obey the law. Criminals are still gonna get guns. As a law-abiding gun owner, why should my guns be taken away and criminals still have theirs?

Agreed. Its sad to see a police abuse his position. From my understanding, cops are held to a higher standard both on and off the job. I’m curious to see if the CHP puts out a response to what happened.

[...] An off-duty CHP officer, who was part of a special team tasked to crack down on speeding, lost control and crashed his Ferrari (probably whilst speeding and driving recklessly). The officer and his passenger died at the scene. A California Highway Patrol officer was the driver and owner of the 1993 Ferrari Testarossa that crashed in Los Angeles yesterday. Derek Midollo, 39, died at the scene, as did his passenger, David Bjorklund, reports the LA Times. The Ferrari went out of control on a residential street, flipped over, and hit a pole, according to witnesses. Midollo was an officer from the Woodland Hills and was a member of the special enforcement teams used to enforce speed limits on hillside roads, according to ABC7. “I heard it coming. I heard the engine revving high,� one witness told the Associated Press. Police officials told ABC they were trying to determine if speed was a “factor.� The Leftlane Perspective: When a Ferrari ends up on its roof, speed is always a factor. [...]

Speed is always a factor in a car accident.
Simply because a stationery car cannot hit anything and even 1 m.p.h. is a speed.

He was abusing his position as a police officer because he was breaking the law that he is sworn to uphold. What do you say if he had hit a little kid playing on the lawn where his car ended up upsidedown? No biggie, he was only speeding. Speed limits aren’t technically a law? no, he was driving recklessly: without disregard for others’ safety, forget his own. You can also determine reckless driving by counting at least 3 broken laws in the course of driving. In every state in the USA, reckless driving is considered much seriously than speeding. He knew better, I don’t care what kind of advanced drivers training this guy had. He abused his position and, as a result, paid the ultimate price: he got his Ferrari destroyed? no, he killed his friend over whom he was responsible and he got himself killed.

Also, the fact that he flipped a Ferrari Testarossa (of all cars) goes to show he was speeding. They aren’t exactly top-heavy high profile vehicles. I don’t live in LA so I missed the news reports, but I bet that the traffic investigation showed that his speed was more than the posted limit. I don’t think you can flip a Testarossa at 25 mph (the speed limit that most residential neighborhoods are posted at). I think its great that the cop got his dream car. It is possible to save up and buy a Ferrari on a CHP salary, especially if you don’t have other expenses. I don’t think its great that he was completely irresponsible, though. After having some police training myself, I understand that police officers are held to a higher standard. If you don’t believe that, then you have no idea what you’re talking about.

By the way, since you say you knew them, I’m sorry for your loss.

The skid marks don’t start until the road straightens out.

They start in the southbound lane and then gradually drift off to the left.

They run all the way to the end of the pavement and to the left of the telephone pole.

They maintain a uniform distance for their entire duration and there are only 2 marks.

The left front of the car struck an embankment and spun the passenger door into the pole.

If he was such a skilled driver, why didn’t he release the brakes when they first locked and the car was pointed straight down the road?

I guess thing really happen fast at 35 mph.

I’ve gotten 2 tickets from Officer Midollo. The first, crossing the double yellow on my bike to pass a car. Guilty. The second, driving my lil dirt bike with no helmet on the shoulder of the road. On both occasions Derek was very stern yet cool. On the helmet ticket he asked me to give’m one good reason not to impound the bike. I replied with a humorous, “I’m a Christian?” He smiled, but it didn’t fly. I then looked at his name and said, “Hey come on Pizan!” I am Italian too. He did not impound my bike. We rapped further and told him that I’m a stuntman and he was really interested in what I’ve done. I was stunned when I heard the news. I live a couple miles away from the crash site and it still boggles me why he chose THAT road to carve on? I liked the guy. I hope he knew Jesus. Peace Derek…

wouldn’t suprise me if he was drunk driving too. I know a lot of CHP officers that drive drunk all the time and get let off just cuz they’re cops.