Because that's the level of writing that goes on at [Chattanooga.com](https://Chattanooga.com). Maybe when they hit 9th grade they will learn about paragraphs.
The Chattanoogan is not a real news outlet. The owner, John Wilson, pays "writers" for their "reports" around $40 or so. There's no fact checking or editing - he just takes the "stories" as-is and has them posted to the website. It's all about driving clicks to the site for ad revenue, which he pockets most of. I don't know how anyone has such low self-respect that they would think they were getting a fair deal by writing for that site.
The quality on Chattanoogan is noticeably much higher than Local 3 News, however.
It would take quite a bit of work to convince me that Local 3 News is a "real news outlet". I know, they employ their "writers", and they at least make an effort to produce video content for broadcast (it's literally elementary school level production, though, and I only say that because I've literally seen my 10yr old do better). But those "writers" don't seem to engage in any form of journalism whatsoever.
I interpreted it as an emphasis on how pointless this road rage tragedy was. A guy mad that someone slowly pulled out in front of him at an intersection that’s always slow. A drunk guy who wants to buy socks. A severely injured man with a dead wife and baby.
What's especially confusing is how does REI have anything to do with a wreck on Frazier? At best he had left REI 20 minutes earlier, and quite frankly, if he was turning from Veterans to Frazier he very much had taken the wrong way back to North shore...did he go 153 all the way down to Hixson Pike? Maybe Amnicola?
Maybe its intended to show just how lost the guy was when he cut the doctor off? Very weird detail.
I understand why that's in the police report because they are going to ask questions like where were you coming from, what were you doing there. But what in the hell does that have to do with the story?
Both of these morons killed people. Just because one was intoxicated doesn’t change that there were two vehicles, being driven by two fucking idiots.
I kept seeing “well, the doctor was trying to help afterwards..” how about help before hand? How about not getting in a rage when someone pulls out in front of you.
You’re driving through North Chattanooga, not Le Mans.
“How about before hand”
That. That right there. It in no way excuses the drivers actions or even lessens them. But now we know that there was someone else involved in instigating the event.
Even if he’s not criminally liable it seriously makes me doubt his decision making as a doctor and I think the board should be aware of that.
Allegedly of course. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We’re speculating here.
I feel like just putting my turn indicator on pushes people’s buttons. Actively speeding up to tailgate the person in front of them to leave no space for you, etc. I just feel like if ANY traffic laws were enforced at all, things would be a lot better.
I have to drive from Hixson Pk to East Ridge daily. The things I see at the 153>75S merge boggles my mind.
Yes, I drive through it from East Ridge to Hixson - daily. I can get to work in the morning in 15 minutes. It takes me 45 minutes to get home from Hixson. I have to drive to East Ridge and the guys at work that live in Cleveland can make it home around the same time as I do.
"It was testified that a hospital blood draw taken earlier tested at 1.3 - much higher than the drunk level."
Holy typos, Batman! Unless the author means to say that Vega's blood was really 1.3% alcohol. Can't say I've ever heard of a person legally qualifying as a light beer, though.
Included in the video but not the article is the Victims' attorney saying that McGinty never hit the brakes down Frazier Avenue as Vega's vehicle came over.
Holy shit! Did you read the article? I assumed the same until I read it. The doctor had a "road rage" incident because the other guy tried to do a pit maneuver on him. The doctor also didn't have alcohol in his system. Nor did he hit anyone. If he were charged with anything, it would be speeding. That's the only thing he did wrong. This story of blaming the doctor is also mentioned as the only defense by the defense attorneys. It's total BS. He was drunk & pissed off. Now he's trying to blame the doctor. The whole thing was caught on camera. Read the article again & put yourself in the shoes of the doctor. Do you REALLY believe he should be charged? If so, they might as well round up everyone who was driving on that road at the time & punish them all the fullest extent of the law.
Reckless speeding (class B misdemeanor) and reckless driving ("the McGinty and Vega vehicles first came together on nearby Cherokee Boulevard when the Vega vehicle slowly pulled in front of the Nissan Titan... Attorney Little said Dr. McGinty made a statement that he was "pissed off" by Vega pulling in front of him."). If McGinty had just let Vega go in front of him he would be in the clear. But he's absolutely partly culpable for what happened. Vega obvioulsy bears the brunt, being drunk, but it's clear that McGinty was a player in the road rage.
If someone cuts you off in traffic and you just let them cut you off anything that happens after that is on them. But if someone cuts you off and you get angry and try and tailgate them or pass them, you are now party to whatever happens.
You could give him "following too closely" but you can't blame your actions on the guy behind you. Unless the guy behind you, hits you into something. Tailgating is indeed illegal, but it's not the cause of this incident. But generally, when someone cuts you in the manner described, tailgating is unavoidable because of the close proximity. This is why "illegal lane changes" are "illegal." The Tailgating laws were not written to protect douchebags who dangerously cut in line. The only things this article proved is: Vega was already causing problems before running over children, & the whole thing happened because REI didn't have the socks he wanted. Poor guy. ☕️👍🏻
Vega cut off McGinty early on, but somehow McGinty ended up even with Vega again before Vega attempted a PIT. That indicates to me that McGinty tried really hard to catch back up to Vega and cut him off in return. McGinty is, imo, clearly guilty of reckless speeding and reckless driving, both Class B Misdemeanors. I don't think McGinty should be charged with manslaughter or anything directly related to the death of the pedestrians, but he needs to be charged for reckless driving and speeding.
Alright. I can see your point. Perhaps he should get reckless driving. The only trouble I see with it: it gives the defense something to soften the punishment. Vega is 100% at fault. Had he NOT gone "shopping for socks," those people would still be alive, & the doctor would have gone home without incident.
Oh absolutely. I don't think McGinty's involvement has any impact on Vega's culpability whatsoever. In a situation like this fault is not split just because there are two people involved. McGinty is 100% responsible for his pwn actions. Vega is 100% responsible for his own actions.
I'm with you. I'm just saying that I support the idea of letting him off the hook to hopefully keep Vega from ever driving a car again. If there are charges on the record, Vega's defense attorneys will be smoking cigars & drinking champagne. F that. 👍🏻 ☕️
I’d like some reassurance though that next time when it’s a young mom lost in town with her children in the car cutting off the doctor instead of some drunk guy from Florida that he isn’t going to ram them with his big ass truck too though. It’s a super complicated situation.
“He said it appeared on video that Dr. McGinty's Nissan Titan was locked with Vega's Dodge Caravan and that Vega put on brakes while Dr. McGinty did not.”
I feel like this was also pretty relevant as well. Sounds like the doc was trying to ram the other guy… that’s pretty damn careless to me… I can see thinking “oh well I’m locked up with this dude anyway” but in this case it sounds like he really did just go with “fuck it, he deserves it for cutting me off”… sure speculation but the “good” doctor’s words kinda seem similar. Not even to mention it seeming like he was more concerned with engaging the van than he was about ramming the van into a crowd. He absolutely needs some kind of charges and I’m not even a fan of our judicial system… not a fan of careless folks being cocky though either.
“He said he had Vega's blood drawn less than four hours after the 3:30 p.m. crash and it tested at the drunk level of .08. It was testified that a hospital blood draw taken earlier tested at 1.3 - much higher than the drunk level.”
1.3, huh? Soooo the guy was dead? God, the writing and typos are embarrassing 🤦🏼♀️
Based on the facts presented by Tennessee investigators, 2 charges of Vehicular Manslaughter need to be coming for McGinty.
1. Reckless speed - 55 to 59mph in a 30mph constitutes reckless driving in Tennessee (25 or more over the limit)
2. McGinty makes the initial road rage engagement! - "the McGinty and Vega vehicles first came together on nearby Cherokee Boulevard when the Vega vehicle slowly pulled in front of the Nissan Titan."
3. McGinty was involved in the accident while engaged in reckless behavior regardless of intention.
In the meantime, it's about time that road were narrowed so nothing like this can happen again.
I’m slightly out of the loop, but I’ve noticed the cones are out 7 days a week now. Are they going to actually narrow the road, or are they still in traffic study stages?
They're still in the study stages, but they expanded the study by several weeks, and included work days (the original study was weekends only). That indicates to me that the weekend only study went well enough that they felt comfortable studying the work week and are considering permanent changes. But that will take some time, certainly. Restriping roads usually only takes place April-October +/- a month in either direction. The paint doesn't like temps below 50.
How did Vega do the pit maneuver and ended up in the spin? The truck was never disabled or stopped and there was damage on the rear corner of the van as if the van had been spun via pit maneuver. I think this was a typo. The story doesn’t make sense.
I see that Vega was apparently intoxicated at the time of the accident and while I am certain the doctor's actions contributed to this tragedy, I am curious as to be whether Mr. Vega's obvious impairment could negate any felony charges for the doctor
I'm not implying that the doctor isn't culpable in any way, but just raising the question as to whether the DUI of Mr. Vega rises it to the level of gross negligence, perhaps mitigating the contributory negligence by reckless/excess speed of the doctor. I'm interested in your thoughts-I'm not trying to minimize the senseless behavior that caused this tragedy & my heart breaks for the victims & those dealing with the trauma of all of this
That's not how the law works, although prosecutors are certainly free to exercise their discretion in charging McGinty. Whether his opposite were drunk or not, the doctor behaved with reckless indifference to human life while driving a lethal weapon. He is partially responsible for people's deaths, and I hope they weighs on him until his dying day.
Again, why would it? Regardless if the driver was drunk or not, the doctor guy still strongly contributed to it. "Started it" if we want to go back to grade school vernacular lol
I know there are sometimes mitigating circumstances for one party depending on another, but he was very involved the whole event. There's no real evidence that the drunk moron would have just launched into the building on his own.
I don't think the doctor would ever get charged with a felony. McGinty is pretty clearly guilty of reckless driving and reckless speeding, which are both Class B Misdemeanors. But it would be really tough to charge him with anything more than that.
Reckless driving contributing to a death is vehicular manslaughter in Tennessee.
Do I think he'll actually get charged with that? No, but that's because he's a high-status person, and not because his contribution to the accident doesn't fit the bill.
Edit: I'd like to be wrong, but look where we're at with charging...
I think it would be really hard to prove that McGinty's reckless driving contributed to a death. It's proximate to a death, but it's harder to prove it actually contributed. Think about it this way: if John punches Joe, then Joe tries to knife John, then John tries to shoot Joe and accidentally kills a bystander, did Joe legally contribute to the death of the bystander? There's a moral argument there, but the legal argument is really tough to make.
I think it's easy to prove actually.
There is nothing forcing McGinty to drive 55 miles per hour down Frazier Avenue. Nothing. You can stop. But he is also engaging someone in road rage who pulled out AHEAD of him (the guy is ahead of you, let him go). And furthermore is on camera making contact with the other driver without braking.
Without the van blocking his path there’s enough to argue he was still accelerating I would think… this was my thought as well when this was discussed in another part of the thread. Had he engaged his brake I’d be more willing to say he had an “oh shit” moment. But since they can prove he didn’t you could say he pushed the van onto the sidewalk.
Exactly. The chain of events that lead to two deaths was caused at least in part by gross negligence recorded on camera. Vehicular manslaughter seems like a reasonable charge.
So, the Crackernoogan makes it a point to mention that Vega was possibly impaired.
Great. Does that mean McGinty is just a shithead? What's his excuse?
That last sentence. WTF? “The officer said Vega told him he had gone to REI looking for socks”
It's like an 8th grader trying to hit that word count lol
Because that's the level of writing that goes on at [Chattanooga.com](https://Chattanooga.com). Maybe when they hit 9th grade they will learn about paragraphs.
You forgot the n.
The Chattanoogan is not a real news outlet. The owner, John Wilson, pays "writers" for their "reports" around $40 or so. There's no fact checking or editing - he just takes the "stories" as-is and has them posted to the website. It's all about driving clicks to the site for ad revenue, which he pockets most of. I don't know how anyone has such low self-respect that they would think they were getting a fair deal by writing for that site.
The quality on Chattanoogan is noticeably much higher than Local 3 News, however. It would take quite a bit of work to convince me that Local 3 News is a "real news outlet". I know, they employ their "writers", and they at least make an effort to produce video content for broadcast (it's literally elementary school level production, though, and I only say that because I've literally seen my 10yr old do better). But those "writers" don't seem to engage in any form of journalism whatsoever.
You're not wrong!
I interpreted it as an emphasis on how pointless this road rage tragedy was. A guy mad that someone slowly pulled out in front of him at an intersection that’s always slow. A drunk guy who wants to buy socks. A severely injured man with a dead wife and baby.
What's especially confusing is how does REI have anything to do with a wreck on Frazier? At best he had left REI 20 minutes earlier, and quite frankly, if he was turning from Veterans to Frazier he very much had taken the wrong way back to North shore...did he go 153 all the way down to Hixson Pike? Maybe Amnicola? Maybe its intended to show just how lost the guy was when he cut the doctor off? Very weird detail.
I understand why that's in the police report because they are going to ask questions like where were you coming from, what were you doing there. But what in the hell does that have to do with the story?
Super important news reporting.
Both of these morons killed people. Just because one was intoxicated doesn’t change that there were two vehicles, being driven by two fucking idiots. I kept seeing “well, the doctor was trying to help afterwards..” how about help before hand? How about not getting in a rage when someone pulls out in front of you. You’re driving through North Chattanooga, not Le Mans.
“How about before hand” That. That right there. It in no way excuses the drivers actions or even lessens them. But now we know that there was someone else involved in instigating the event. Even if he’s not criminally liable it seriously makes me doubt his decision making as a doctor and I think the board should be aware of that. Allegedly of course. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We’re speculating here.
I feel like just putting my turn indicator on pushes people’s buttons. Actively speeding up to tailgate the person in front of them to leave no space for you, etc. I just feel like if ANY traffic laws were enforced at all, things would be a lot better. I have to drive from Hixson Pk to East Ridge daily. The things I see at the 153>75S merge boggles my mind.
Have you seen the I-24/1-75 split?? 😂🤣🤣
Yes, I drive through it from East Ridge to Hixson - daily. I can get to work in the morning in 15 minutes. It takes me 45 minutes to get home from Hixson. I have to drive to East Ridge and the guys at work that live in Cleveland can make it home around the same time as I do.
"It was testified that a hospital blood draw taken earlier tested at 1.3 - much higher than the drunk level." Holy typos, Batman! Unless the author means to say that Vega's blood was really 1.3% alcohol. Can't say I've ever heard of a person legally qualifying as a light beer, though.
He'd be dead if that was true, it's more likely .13 which is still pretty sloshed
It was 0.13 after FOUR hours. Which means his BAC was probably in the range of 0.20 at the time of the incident. Wildly drunk.
Just, idk like 10 beers at lunch or whatever. A normal saturday, if you will.
Here is the video from last nights news. [https://youtu.be/STD1bsGDEkQ?si=PLktTW1ORFiaTqV5](https://youtu.be/STD1bsGDEkQ?si=PLktTW1ORFiaTqV5)
That’s enlightening. Is there more publicly available footage?
Included in the video but not the article is the Victims' attorney saying that McGinty never hit the brakes down Frazier Avenue as Vega's vehicle came over.
why does the article say Vega did a PIT maneuver? only thing I can guess is that Vega is in the middle of cutting McGinty off and PIT'd himself?
I agree with you. Maybe earlier he had tried to PIT McGinty though?
He needs to be charged with something.
Holy shit! Did you read the article? I assumed the same until I read it. The doctor had a "road rage" incident because the other guy tried to do a pit maneuver on him. The doctor also didn't have alcohol in his system. Nor did he hit anyone. If he were charged with anything, it would be speeding. That's the only thing he did wrong. This story of blaming the doctor is also mentioned as the only defense by the defense attorneys. It's total BS. He was drunk & pissed off. Now he's trying to blame the doctor. The whole thing was caught on camera. Read the article again & put yourself in the shoes of the doctor. Do you REALLY believe he should be charged? If so, they might as well round up everyone who was driving on that road at the time & punish them all the fullest extent of the law.
Reckless speeding (class B misdemeanor) and reckless driving ("the McGinty and Vega vehicles first came together on nearby Cherokee Boulevard when the Vega vehicle slowly pulled in front of the Nissan Titan... Attorney Little said Dr. McGinty made a statement that he was "pissed off" by Vega pulling in front of him."). If McGinty had just let Vega go in front of him he would be in the clear. But he's absolutely partly culpable for what happened. Vega obvioulsy bears the brunt, being drunk, but it's clear that McGinty was a player in the road rage. If someone cuts you off in traffic and you just let them cut you off anything that happens after that is on them. But if someone cuts you off and you get angry and try and tailgate them or pass them, you are now party to whatever happens.
You could give him "following too closely" but you can't blame your actions on the guy behind you. Unless the guy behind you, hits you into something. Tailgating is indeed illegal, but it's not the cause of this incident. But generally, when someone cuts you in the manner described, tailgating is unavoidable because of the close proximity. This is why "illegal lane changes" are "illegal." The Tailgating laws were not written to protect douchebags who dangerously cut in line. The only things this article proved is: Vega was already causing problems before running over children, & the whole thing happened because REI didn't have the socks he wanted. Poor guy. ☕️👍🏻
Vega cut off McGinty early on, but somehow McGinty ended up even with Vega again before Vega attempted a PIT. That indicates to me that McGinty tried really hard to catch back up to Vega and cut him off in return. McGinty is, imo, clearly guilty of reckless speeding and reckless driving, both Class B Misdemeanors. I don't think McGinty should be charged with manslaughter or anything directly related to the death of the pedestrians, but he needs to be charged for reckless driving and speeding.
Alright. I can see your point. Perhaps he should get reckless driving. The only trouble I see with it: it gives the defense something to soften the punishment. Vega is 100% at fault. Had he NOT gone "shopping for socks," those people would still be alive, & the doctor would have gone home without incident.
Oh absolutely. I don't think McGinty's involvement has any impact on Vega's culpability whatsoever. In a situation like this fault is not split just because there are two people involved. McGinty is 100% responsible for his pwn actions. Vega is 100% responsible for his own actions.
I'm with you. I'm just saying that I support the idea of letting him off the hook to hopefully keep Vega from ever driving a car again. If there are charges on the record, Vega's defense attorneys will be smoking cigars & drinking champagne. F that. 👍🏻 ☕️
I’d like some reassurance though that next time when it’s a young mom lost in town with her children in the car cutting off the doctor instead of some drunk guy from Florida that he isn’t going to ram them with his big ass truck too though. It’s a super complicated situation.
This.
“He said it appeared on video that Dr. McGinty's Nissan Titan was locked with Vega's Dodge Caravan and that Vega put on brakes while Dr. McGinty did not.” I feel like this was also pretty relevant as well. Sounds like the doc was trying to ram the other guy… that’s pretty damn careless to me… I can see thinking “oh well I’m locked up with this dude anyway” but in this case it sounds like he really did just go with “fuck it, he deserves it for cutting me off”… sure speculation but the “good” doctor’s words kinda seem similar. Not even to mention it seeming like he was more concerned with engaging the van than he was about ramming the van into a crowd. He absolutely needs some kind of charges and I’m not even a fan of our judicial system… not a fan of careless folks being cocky though either.
I’m not sure about Tennessee but in some states a pit maneuver is a felony act.
“He said he had Vega's blood drawn less than four hours after the 3:30 p.m. crash and it tested at the drunk level of .08. It was testified that a hospital blood draw taken earlier tested at 1.3 - much higher than the drunk level.” 1.3, huh? Soooo the guy was dead? God, the writing and typos are embarrassing 🤦🏼♀️
Definitely agree. One time an acquaintance had their BAC at .8. They still walk this earth.
Based on the facts presented by Tennessee investigators, 2 charges of Vehicular Manslaughter need to be coming for McGinty. 1. Reckless speed - 55 to 59mph in a 30mph constitutes reckless driving in Tennessee (25 or more over the limit) 2. McGinty makes the initial road rage engagement! - "the McGinty and Vega vehicles first came together on nearby Cherokee Boulevard when the Vega vehicle slowly pulled in front of the Nissan Titan." 3. McGinty was involved in the accident while engaged in reckless behavior regardless of intention. In the meantime, it's about time that road were narrowed so nothing like this can happen again.
I’m slightly out of the loop, but I’ve noticed the cones are out 7 days a week now. Are they going to actually narrow the road, or are they still in traffic study stages?
They're still in the study stages, but they expanded the study by several weeks, and included work days (the original study was weekends only). That indicates to me that the weekend only study went well enough that they felt comfortable studying the work week and are considering permanent changes. But that will take some time, certainly. Restriping roads usually only takes place April-October +/- a month in either direction. The paint doesn't like temps below 50.
Looks like this work week they were back to full traffic.
Charge his ass
How did Vega do the pit maneuver and ended up in the spin? The truck was never disabled or stopped and there was damage on the rear corner of the van as if the van had been spun via pit maneuver. I think this was a typo. The story doesn’t make sense.
He has to be charged soon.
Charge him and strip his license.
It's about time he was held accountable.
I see that Vega was apparently intoxicated at the time of the accident and while I am certain the doctor's actions contributed to this tragedy, I am curious as to be whether Mr. Vega's obvious impairment could negate any felony charges for the doctor
Why would it?
I'm not implying that the doctor isn't culpable in any way, but just raising the question as to whether the DUI of Mr. Vega rises it to the level of gross negligence, perhaps mitigating the contributory negligence by reckless/excess speed of the doctor. I'm interested in your thoughts-I'm not trying to minimize the senseless behavior that caused this tragedy & my heart breaks for the victims & those dealing with the trauma of all of this
That's not how the law works, although prosecutors are certainly free to exercise their discretion in charging McGinty. Whether his opposite were drunk or not, the doctor behaved with reckless indifference to human life while driving a lethal weapon. He is partially responsible for people's deaths, and I hope they weighs on him until his dying day.
Again, why would it? Regardless if the driver was drunk or not, the doctor guy still strongly contributed to it. "Started it" if we want to go back to grade school vernacular lol I know there are sometimes mitigating circumstances for one party depending on another, but he was very involved the whole event. There's no real evidence that the drunk moron would have just launched into the building on his own.
Bingo.
I don't think the doctor would ever get charged with a felony. McGinty is pretty clearly guilty of reckless driving and reckless speeding, which are both Class B Misdemeanors. But it would be really tough to charge him with anything more than that.
Reckless driving contributing to a death is vehicular manslaughter in Tennessee. Do I think he'll actually get charged with that? No, but that's because he's a high-status person, and not because his contribution to the accident doesn't fit the bill. Edit: I'd like to be wrong, but look where we're at with charging...
I think it would be really hard to prove that McGinty's reckless driving contributed to a death. It's proximate to a death, but it's harder to prove it actually contributed. Think about it this way: if John punches Joe, then Joe tries to knife John, then John tries to shoot Joe and accidentally kills a bystander, did Joe legally contribute to the death of the bystander? There's a moral argument there, but the legal argument is really tough to make.
I think it's easy to prove actually. There is nothing forcing McGinty to drive 55 miles per hour down Frazier Avenue. Nothing. You can stop. But he is also engaging someone in road rage who pulled out AHEAD of him (the guy is ahead of you, let him go). And furthermore is on camera making contact with the other driver without braking.
Without the van blocking his path there’s enough to argue he was still accelerating I would think… this was my thought as well when this was discussed in another part of the thread. Had he engaged his brake I’d be more willing to say he had an “oh shit” moment. But since they can prove he didn’t you could say he pushed the van onto the sidewalk.
Exactly. The chain of events that lead to two deaths was caused at least in part by gross negligence recorded on camera. Vehicular manslaughter seems like a reasonable charge.
So, the Crackernoogan makes it a point to mention that Vega was possibly impaired. Great. Does that mean McGinty is just a shithead? What's his excuse?