The price of a human life

[Fusilli]

Well, I saw this topic in the news this morning and it made me think.

Should drivers who accidentally kill a pedestrian be given a community sentence as opposed to time in jail?

I think that there are a lot of cases where it was a matter of wrong place/wrong time, and the driver shouldn't be locked up for it. For example, a guy who is driving round a corner and hits somebody who runs onto the road, killing them. This guy is jailed for over 2 years for this, because he was driving at 35mph in a 30mph zone. Now, this could have happened to anyone, as I know that a lot of people drive over limits. Should this guy really be jailed for 5mph? And say the person who he hit was heavily drunk, or had intentionally ran out onto the road knowing there was a car coming, then it is equally (if not more) the victim's fault.
I think that in cases similar to this the driver shouldn't be given much more punishment than a speeding fine or safe-driving classes or something (depending how far over the speed limit they are) because at the end of the day, yes it is sad that there was a fatality, and the deceased's family would understandably want justice, but is 2 years in jail *really* going to help? And are the family saying that they have never driven over a speed limit before? I don't mean to sound insensitive, I know that if I were in that situation I would want justice aswell, but that doesn't make it right. The driver may ofcourse learn from their time in there and be more careful in the future, but people go over the limit all the time and it could happen to anyone. I think that the driver would learn a lot more if they actually had direct help. And besides, I don't think that it would take a sentence in jail to make somebody be more careful, I think the horror and guilt at having killed someone is sufficient punishment and enough to make them more careful in the future.

There are a lot of incidents though where the death is a result of careless or bad driving, and the driver should have more of a severe punishment than if it was a matter of chance. Things like driving under influence, talking/texting on mobile phones, applying makeup etc.



Opinions?

 

[Dazz]

Yeah it was just 5mph but they know not go over 30mph. There are reasons it's 30 and not 35mph. If the victim dies then the victim may have lived if it was a 30 mph. There is more reaction time more time to stop and it will be a softer collision if there was a collision at all.
I think if they can prove it was entirly the victims fault then the driver should not be punished.

 

[Lirael]

I can see where you're coming from, but where would you draw the line? Anyone could claim it was due to the victim if the victim's dead. It would be hard to know who's telling the truth unless there are eye witnesses who don't know the driver. And speeding is just as irresponsible as talking on the phone while driving. Sure, your attention isn't divided, but 5mph makes a difference between life and death.

 

[Moogles]

Depends on whether the driver was violating a law while he/she killed the pedestrian.

Drunk? To jail with you.
Speeding? To jail with you.
A kid runs out into the street and you can't brake in time? Sucks to lack parental supervision, I guess.

 

[Rockman X]

Well, I saw this topic in the news this morning and it made me think.

Should drivers who accidentally kill a pedestrian be given a community sentence as opposed to time in jail?

I think that there are a lot of cases where it was a matter of wrong place/wrong time, and the driver shouldn't be locked up for it. For example, a guy who is driving round a corner and hits somebody who runs onto the road, killing them. This guy is jailed for over 2 years for this, because he was driving at 35mph in a 30mph zone. Now, this could have happened to anyone, as I know that a lot of people drive over limits. Should this guy really be jailed for 5mph? And say the person who he hit was heavily drunk, or had intentionally ran out onto the road knowing there was a car coming, then it is equally (if not more) the victim's fault.

I agree wholeheartedly. Actually, 35 in a 30 zone shouldn't even be considered, alot of times there can be discrepancies in the actual speedometer. There's actually about a 3 MPH variation between my dad's motorcycle's speedometer and my car.

Also, when I was little and lived in Memphis, one Sunday we were at church and the service suddenly came to a halt because some teenager had ran out into the road intentionally to kill himself. He'd had a history of doing so too...I think he actually was killed that time.

People should also take efforts to make themselves more visible when they're going to be on the street, like jogger's for instance. Alot of times I won't see anyone till I'm almost on top of them because the idiots aren't wearing any bright or reflective clothes.

Jail time is just ridiculous in some situations...community service really would be better...if that was even deserved. Counseling would probably be a better option, I'm sure most people would be traumatized if they accidentally killed someone.

 

[Soul Saver]

Yeah, I totally agree with PA as well. You make a mistake, and kill someone purely by accident, whilst being otherwise in the bounds of the law, you have to live with the guilt for a long, long time anyway. To be punished for something that was either an accident or the victim's fault, is that fair itself? It's not justice, only a show to satisfy the victim's family and friends. In cases where the victim's death is not due to really bad, out of control driving and the driver did not intend the victim's death, I think they should be let off completely. It could happen to anyone, even the most experienced and careful driver. And then you have a family character locked up for an accident.

 

[Rockman X]

Yeah, I totally agree with PA as well. You make a mistake, and kill someone purely by accident, whilst being otherwise in the bounds of the law, you have to live with the guilt for a long, long time anyway. To be punished for something that was either an accident or the victim's fault, is that fair itself? It's not justice, only a show to satisfy the victim's family and friends. In cases where the victim's death is not due to really bad, out of control driving and the driver did not intend the victim's death, I think they should be let off completely. It could happen to anyone, even the most experienced and careful driver. And then you have a family character locked up for an accident.

Precisely. I think alot of the time people know full well the driver isn't to blame, but to make the family feel better and to get "justice", the person is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and has to serve time. But as we all know, the system is completely corrupt and real justice is rarely ever served in the courts.

I guess all we can do is hope to god we never accidentally run over someone...although I'm sure someday I will. Hell, just last week I'm driving up the road to campus (it's a long, zig-zagging road and on roads like that I tend to be paying attention to the actual ROAD) and I nearly hit some dumbass out for a jog. He was running in my lane towards me and he didn't even have on a bright colored shirt, let alone a damn reflective vest. Now he COULD have run along the grass a foot over from the road, but no. If I were to have hit him, it would have been his fault for not taking the proper precautions and being a dumbass, but I would be charged with manslaughter. Bollocks, I say.

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

There is a 10% limit isn't there where if you are in 30mph zone you can go 33mph max... at least it is here in the UK...unless thats been stopped.

Unless, like VoN said, you are drunk or speeding you should go to jail, but if somebody runs in front of the road 10yrds away then what can you do? If you attempt to swerve then accidently hit somebody else or another car then because of the awful policing and government nowdays they would get you for careless driving or something along those lines.

To be honest I think that accidently killing someone is enough punishment in itself, yes the parents and family may want justice but that person has to live with that for the rest of his/her life and imagine how bad it would feel getting into a car again knowing you've killed someone.

 

[Doaj]

I don't think 5 MPH would be enough for them to be jailed. Personally, if I died because they were going 5 miles over, and I was told that if he'd been going the speedlimit I'd have lived, I'd still be more, "Well, I feel stupid. I think next time I'll use the crosswalk...Oh wait, I don't get one. My fault."

If I were the one that did it, I'd probably sue the kid's family to pay for the damage to my car. Unless it's a speedtrap zone, then 5 MPH isn't illegal. Unless its a School Zone or they were under the influence or on their cell phone, then I don't see how it's their fault. (Clearly ignoring the possibility of it being on purpose, which is a different subject).

 

[Fusilli]

If I were the one that did it, I'd probably sue the kid's family to pay for the damage to my car.

Christ, that's a little harsh isn't it? I mean firstly, the family can't be held responsible for their child's actions, and secondly, you would have thought that the kid has paid enough already by... dying and all? I would really think that a grieving family has enough on their mind having just lost a child without the person who, in their eyes is to blame for the whole incident, demanding money off them to fix his poor old car. What would you say to them? 'Hey, your kid dented my bumper whilst he was getting his brains smashed out, money pls.' Somehow I don't really think so.

I think alot of the time people know full well the driver isn't to blame, but to make the family feel better and to get "justice", the person is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and has to serve time. But as we all know, the system is completely corrupt and real justice is rarely ever served in the courts.

Exactly. Drivers who, in a lot of cases, have done nothing wrong apart from being at the wrong place at the wrong time shouldn't be punished to make a family feel better. Yes, it is a terrible shame on them but people deal with grief in strange ways, ofcourse the family is more often than not going to be strongly biased, why should a driver be punished because of this? And you're right, it doesn't bring justice either, things rarely do.