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I just saw it in another thread. Sounded strange. That's unintentional.
The way the person described it,the man's breaks failed on his SUV and it killed a woman in a sedan.
Something has got to be missing...
I was just thinking "well,what if my breaks fail?"
I'm guessing if a person driving whatever senses their brake pedal is low or they hear grinding when the brakes are applied, that might be cause for a cop to write a ticket and charge someone for operating in vehicle in disrepair. I've heard of what your thread describes before.
Sometimes on some cars, if there is a brake malfunction, and light on the dash will illuminate to tell the operator there is a problem with the braking system.
Maybe the investigators turned on the ignition key, started the vehicle and noticed the brake light on the dash was illuminated? concluding that the vehicle had a brake problem? or maybe investigators pulled the wheels/brake drums and inspected the brake linings or maybe they found hydraulic leaks?
It's hard to say.
Years ago when I lived in Missouri, they made vehicle owners take whatever they were to inspection stations, and they'd give your car/whatever a going over and note defects to be corrected before you would be issued a plate for it.
Probably depends on the situation. For example, was there a way for him to safely leave the road like to a grassy side or center area? Did his emergency brakes work? And is it possible he is simply lying about the brakes not working to cover up his mistake? Seems there's a lot more to the story. Could you post a link to the original news story?
He would have to prove that the brakes failed suddenly and not because of poor maintainance. The DA only has to prove poor maintainance or that the person was lying.
Most likely the brake failure was an excuse for something that really caused the accident, like the guy was drunk and speeding when he killed the ped. If you do something stupid like drinking and/or speeding, and kill someone, you aren't going to admit your screw up, you're going to grab the first excuse you can come up with.
Brake failure is rare, bet it didn't happen, it was just his excuse...
Brake failure is always the first excuse one can come up with when they f**ked up..!
Most likely the brake failure was an excuse for something that really caused the accident, like the guy was drunk and speeding when he killed the ped. If you do something stupid like drinking and/or speeding, and kill someone, you aren't going to admit your screw up, you're going to grab the first excuse you can come up with.
Brake failure is rare, bet it didn't happen, it was just his excuse...
Brake failure is always the first excuse one can come up with when they f**ked up..!
I believe you have given the answer. If you are impaired in any way and then have an accident ,any accident you are then part of the cause . There is no law to punish a person when he has an "unforeseeable" mechanical problem. Slick tires and worn down brakes , or even texting and cell phone use etc are not considered unforeseeable. Once I adjusted the brakes on a school bus. That afternoon the bus crashed into the rear of another bus . The first thing the driver said was he had brake failure. Several other mechanics asked me if there was a chance I had "done something wrong" and I just laughed because there is only one was to adjust the brakes on a school bus and that is the proper way. After an investigation and inspection the bus brakes were found to be in good condition and adjusted properly and they quickly fired the driver....
Most likely the brake failure was an excuse for something that really caused the accident, like the guy was drunk and speeding when he killed the ped. If you do something stupid like drinking and/or speeding, and kill someone, you aren't going to admit your screw up, you're going to grab the first excuse you can come up with.
Brake failure is rare, bet it didn't happen, it was just his excuse...
Brake failure is always the first excuse one can come up with when they f**ked up..!
If a person is stupid enough to drink and drive, and kills or injures someone, the best thing that driver can do is keep their mouth shut, and not say anything. It's up to an investigator cop/DA to draw a conclusion and charge. Many defense attorneys will tell a person not to say anything.
In general it is if someone KNOWS something SHOULD be repaired in a certain manner, and if that is not done KNOWS the vehicle will not be able to stop. And KNOWINGLY repairs / does not repair in a manner which will cause the problem...
And the lawyer on the other side can PROVE all that.
So just your regular car owner would not be expected to know all about brakes and would not know the problem would happen. (If they knew that would happen, you could argue they would not have driven the vehicle.)
But say a brake repair shop which intentionally sends out vehicles with faulty brakes. And there have been other accidents and they have continued doing this - Well they are going to let them have it with every legal charge in the book.
And if a car owner KNEW the brakes were not working, drove the vehicle, and drove it FAST, then I suppose that could qualify for a manslaughter charge...
Technically, you can be CHARGED for just about anything. The question is, what can a prosecutor actually prove against you within the framework of the law? If this actually happened, and someone was charged with manslaughter, my guess is that there were extenuating circumstances, and the only reason that the prosecutor chose that angle was because they were anticipating a plea deal later on, and wanted to have some additional leverage.
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