In the scene when the cattle truck first runs a stop sign in front of Meeker and Craig; Meeker's cycle won't start. A pretty girl had just sat down on a bench and Meeker gives her a look. Is it implied that Meeker's character deliberately faked engine trouble so he could stay and talk to the pretty girl?
shareI think so and that is why he said the body on the ground should have been his body.
shareIt could be, but O'Flair's bike had been giving him trouble. Whenlon mentions that and tells him he should have gotten it fixed before. That's why O'Flair blames himself - because he knew his bike needed repair but ignored the problem, leading to Whenlon having to go on the fatal stop. If the girl was part of it, the hint was subtle, and this isn't exactly a subtle movie.
O'Flair's ogling did cause him to miss the truck's violations entirely, which makes the subsequent events rather ironic: If Whenlon hadn't been there, the truck would have continued on its merry way unnoticed, and no one would have died except the cattle.
Note to self: When driving a truck full of rustled cattle through the streets of Los Angeles, observe all traffic laws.