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If we put all the at fault drivers who have accidents resulting in a death in prison we would have absolutely no space for real criminals.
Correct.
Wonder why those accused of murder can be given bail? Because there's no room for them to sit in jail while they wait for their court date.
You can't solve a problem with more arrests. You solve a problem through education and rehabilitation.
Scandinavian prisons look like college dorm rooms because they're actually trying to rehabilitate their inmates, and not just punish them. Which means less will be re-peat offenders and less jails will be over crowded
I read a book one time about killing people, although you're innocent, like running a pedestrian over outside a crosswalk.
Do you realize how traumatic that could be, seeing a body hurled at your windshield, dripping blood? In the book, there was a case where it was so traumatic for the driver, he/she went home and committed suicide. Yes, suicide!
A nurse I worked with hit a pedestrian on her way to work one day and she was so out of it, the Administator told her to take a week off to try and recover.
And best you not know something about this pedestrian as it could only rub salt into your wounds.
A mother, who ran out of milk, leaves her 2 children at home, to run across the street to a convenience store and gets hit, killed. The children: Where's Mommy? Does it take her 2 hours to go across the street to buy milk?
If we put all the at fault drivers who have accidents resulting in a death in prison we would have absolutely no space for real criminals. What purpose does it serve to imprison those involved in at fault traffic accidents? Are these people a real danger to society? Anyone who drives an automobile could have an accident. Do those who support locking up drivers who have accidents prepared to go to prison if they make a mistake? Are you ready to see your wife or husband off to prison? Your child or grandchild? Your elderly mother? Not quite as easy to condemn people for this when you look at it like that is it?
Most people involved in fatal car accidents are normal people who made a driving error. It is the nature of our very busy road system. What on earth does it prove to lock these people up. An 80 year old who runs a red light and hits someone does not belong in a prison cell. Neither does a 30 year old soccer mom who was not paying as much attention to the road as she should have been.
Having said all that I have a much different opinion of the drivers are drunk, high or engaging in obvious reckless behavior. In those cases the book should be thrown. We should have no tolerance for drunk or high driving.
I'd say there is a huge difference between "the sun blinded me and I couldn't see the pedestrian I hit" and "I was driving 100mph in a 45mph zone and hit a pedestrian because I was being reckless".
The second person most definitely deserves jail time because their behavior shows they aren't capable of being out in public and not acting like an a-hole.
Quote:
Originally Posted by T. Damon
This, is exactly the overview of the legal system and typical driver attitudes in the U.S (uniquely so in the world) in regards to overtly aggressive and dangerous drivers who kill other road users with wanton abandonment in regards to sharing the road, following basic safety rules and other’s well being.
The US has such a laissez-faire attitude to driving. I regularly see people driving 20mph above the speed limit, weaving in between lanes, while also having expired license plates and I'm assuming no license. People who are caught doing these things should lose their driving privileges PERMANENTLY and have their car impounded and crushed. These people put everyone's lives at risk and in my opinion are just as dangerous as the idiot cleaning the gun without checking whether it's loaded.
Maybe if we increased the requirements for getting a license, fewer idiots would be on the road. I lived in France previously and almost never saw crazy drivers because when you pay several thousand dollars (most of this is for the driving education courses that take months) for the privilege of driving, you are more inclined to take it seriously.
Think about all of the people who have been killed by motor vehicles. I personally know 4 people who have died in a car, bike, or motorcycle crash.
I'd say there is a huge difference between "the sun blinded me and I couldn't see the pedestrian I hit" and "I was driving 100mph in a 45mph zone and hit a pedestrian because I was being reckless".
The second person most definitely deserves jail time because their behavior shows they aren't capable of being out in public and not acting like an a-hole.
Yes, but a percentage of the blame needs to be placed on the 'motor vehicle'...right? (because that is what was used to kill someone?)
Or, do the positives of 'motor vehicles' outweigh the negative human toll?
This, is exactly the overview of the legal system and typical driver attitudes in the U.S (uniquely so in the world) in regards to overtly aggressive and dangerous drivers who kill other road users with wanton abandonment in regards to sharing the road, following basic safety rules and other’s well being.
Bicyclists often ride irresponsibly, disregard traffic laws, cut off traffic and take extreme risks. The worst part is that they can't maintain the prevailing speed of traffic and are a barrier to traffic flow. I can see them on side streets, but keep them off main streets of towns, and narrow backroads with significant traffic. We need to designate some roads as "no bicycle" routes. Not all-but apply some common sense.
I am a road biker and I agree bikes should largely stay off of busy arteries, and we shouldn't be wasting lane space making more bike lanes either. There should be off road bike lanes, or they should widen sidewalks. This idea that bikes can't ride on the sidewalk always struck me as strange.
It's not like we have that many people even using the sidewalks in most of the country, much less the bike lanes which nobody uses in my town... they are a total waste of space. I ride on lightly traveled roads or dedicated bike trails personally.
This is one of those issues where a few people scream loudly and city councils listen... this bike lane is made and it gets almost no use. Maybe in more dense cities or warmer climates they make more sense, but not around this area. I do love rails to trails projects though. That's my preferred way to bike ride.
If Sioux Falls didn't have the best bike trail in the upper midwest I probably wouldn't still be here.
If we put all the at fault drivers who have accidents resulting in a death in prison we would have absolutely no space for real criminals. What purpose does it serve to imprison those involved in at fault traffic accidents? Are these people a real danger to society? Anyone who drives an automobile could have an accident. Do those who support locking up drivers who have accidents prepared to go to prison if they make a mistake? Are you ready to see your wife or husband off to prison? Your child or grandchild? Your elderly mother? Not quite as easy to condemn people for this when you look at it like that is it?
Most people involved in fatal car accidents are normal people who made a driving error. It is the nature of our very busy road system. What on earth does it prove to lock these people up. An 80 year old who runs a red light and hits someone does not belong in a prison cell. Neither does a 30 year old soccer mom who was not paying as much attention to the road as she should have been.
Having said all that I have a much different opinion of the drivers are drunk, high or engaging in obvious reckless behavior. In those cases the book should be thrown. We should have no tolerance for drunk or high driving.
It makes perfect sense to put people in prison that kill others through their actions (assuming the victim was within the law and operating safely and responsibly. The fact that "you're sorry" doesn't bring back your victim. Nor do these stories act as any kind of deterrence to other offenders. If we start holding people accountable that kill others-maybe more people will actually pay attention. Get off the phone, stop playing with your kids while you're driving and focus on the road.
Now, are you saying that we shouldn't put a drunk driver in prison that kills someone? I don't know of any time they did so deliberately. Instead we have harsh penalties-including vehicular homicide, in these cases. Why? Because it makes others think before they jump in their car after a few drinks. Same for incompetent driving, the punishment should be the same as a drunk that kills someone-the victim is just as dead. And the deterrent effect would be the same if we make the punishment the same.
Now, not every case is the same. For example, a jaywalker, at night, in the rain, wearing a dark outfit that gets hit, well, that's a little chlorine in the gene pool. Same with bicyclists that cut around traffic in the turning lane and get hit by a car making a right turn. But those are the exceptions, not the rule.
I am a road biker and I agree bikes should largely stay off of busy arteries, and we shouldn't be wasting lane space making more bike lanes either. There should be off road bike lanes, or they should widen sidewalks. This idea that bikes can't ride on the sidewalk always struck me as strange.
It's not like we have that many people even using the sidewalks in most of the country, much less the bike lanes which nobody uses in my town... they are a total waste of space. I ride on lightly traveled roads or dedicated bike trails personally.
This is one of those issues where a few people scream loudly and city councils listen... this bike lane is made and it gets almost no use. Maybe in more dense cities or warmer climates they make more sense, but not around this area. I do love rails to trails projects though. That's my preferred way to bike ride.
If Sioux Falls didn't have the best bike trail in the upper midwest I probably wouldn't still be here.
From what I see while out driving for work on a daily basis, there are not enough bike riders to even justify special lanes or sections for them to ride on!
I am a road biker and I agree bikes should largely stay off of busy arteries, and we shouldn't be wasting lane space making more bike lanes either. There should be off road bike lanes, or they should widen sidewalks. This idea that bikes can't ride on the sidewalk always struck me as strange.
It's not like we have that many people even using the sidewalks in most of the country, much less the bike lanes which nobody uses in my town... they are a total waste of space. I ride on lightly traveled roads or dedicated bike trails personally.
This is one of those issues where a few people scream loudly and city councils listen... this bike lane is made and it gets almost no use. Maybe in more dense cities or warmer climates they make more sense, but not around this area. I do love rails to trails projects though. That's my preferred way to bike ride.
If Sioux Falls didn't have the best bike trail in the upper midwest I probably wouldn't still be here.
All true. We should be charging a registration fee on bicycles in order to generate revenue to provide dedicated bicycle trails, not on major city streets. I'm not anti-bicycle, I used to ride a lot. But the irresponsibility and arrogance of so many riders not only is annoying but makes them a danger. When I ride, if I'm holding up traffic, I pull over, or pull off the road, and let traffic pass, not block a line of traffic.
If you think it is bad now, just wait until we have all self-driving cars. If a car hits and kills someone and there was no driver, who do you blame?
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