Isn’t the fine for the traffic violation? The compensation from a civil lawsuit will follow I presume.
This makes sense in my opinion. Violating traffic rules should result in the same fine regardless of whether you hit someone or not (like drunk driving isn’t more OK just because you got lucky and didn’t happen to hit anyone). But if you do hit someone, expect to compensate all costs and damages to that person or family on top of the fine (that goes to the state).
That said, I wish traffic violations would be fined much more harshly. Also if you didn’t hit anyone during your reckless behaviour.
Haha, us silly Americans, filing a lawsuit at the drop of a hat.
It seems like every time a cop runs over a bicyclist and the grand sum of their penalty is $35.50, enough money to almost afford pizza for a family of four, somebody has to file a lawsuit!
Yes, the problem is that there is no redress of grievances outside of the legal system.
The only options are
1: to keep things as they are
2: to make it so that if something happens you just can't sue anyone and tough luck, or
3: institute a new system, in which case you have to get such a huge percentage of the population on board with your new plan that it basically amounts to a constitutional amendment.
So you can complain about how often people sue each other all you want, but until you come up with a new and better solution and actually get it passed then all you're doing is griping.
I lived in (and now commute through) a neighborhood of older houses, and higher incomes, so I see a lot of contractor vehicles. It seems like it breaks down as landscapers and lawn services use the pickup trucks; trades companies (plumbers, electricians, HVAC, carpenters, painters, etc.) use vans or box trucks; and the independent guys tend to use Dodge Caravans. Nearby, the university uses fleets of kei trucks (the low-speed versions because “freedom”), Ford Model E vans, and Caravans. I think the landscaping crew has pickups.
There are an increasing number of company pickup trucks, but most of them appear to be pavement princesses, used only for their usual function: transporting egos, not equipment.
From a safety perspective, kei cars have a lot going for them when compared with American-style SUVs and trucks. Their light weight generates less force in a collision, and their stubby front ends reduce driver blind spots. Research suggests that their occupants are equally safe as those inside full-sized vehicles.
At first, I was going to criticize the collision speed of the example study, but found ( ok, I say found, I mean I googled for 15 seconds ) that the average American collision is occurring at less than 40mph, so good to go there.
Second, I was going to comment on the relative safety of being in the Kei truck and being struck by the 2500HD... but that just goes back to the 'participating in the arms race', so feels... stupid.
So, overall: Thanks for providing this. It directly answers the primary concern of 'what if I hit something tho'. There are some other angles I could nitpick on maybe, but they all feel like a kind of 'consolation prize' to the argument.
One thing you also need to remember, is that the smaller car has a far smaller braking distance and is more maneuverable, so is less likely to get in a crash. The lower centre of gravity also decreases the likelihood of a roll-over.
I wish :( The city centers are very walkable and there's plenty of safe bicycle infrastructure, but cars are still very clearly the dominant mode of transport. Every weekend there's queues to the parking garages in every part of the city.
I like the way most city centers are set up but I think public transport coverage should be improved in most places before the government starts trying to push people out of their cars. My local municipality is trying the same thing and making the same mistake, they’re not improving public transport but they are trying to discourage people from coming by car. How is that supposed to work if you can’t even get there properly if you live in a part of town that either has no connection or it takes you 3 to 4 times as long as it would take you by car to take the bus?
Nah that’s nonsense, safety islands are an integral part of good road design. They slow down cars, make it easier to cross and break up the sea of asphalt. You’ll find them all over countries like the Netherlands.
I think the fact he was a cop doesn't have much to do with it.
This country just really doesn't seem to care if someones shitty, aggressive, dangerous driving kills someone (unless they are under the influence then throw the book at them!).
In America if you're a civilian and you run over somebody by accident and kill them you can still be charged with negligent homicide and spend several years in prison for it.
Unfortunately those kinds of simple, logical rules for some reason don't seem to apply to the cops that kill far more people on average than any other group in America.
After the crash, Hartup issued a statement saying that as he was completing a turn at an intersection, “I struck a pedestrian. I immediately stopped my vehicle, grabbed my radio, and started aid to the pedestrian, and called dispatch to send medics.”
It gets a little harder to hate the driver when you find out that they did everything after the crash right. Guy still deserves jail time for fucking up driving again so badly that he ended someone’s life about it, but I’m not about to call for violence against him. Stopping and calling for help immediately is exactly what you should do if you hit a person.
$35.50 is an absolute insult to the victim, though. I hope it’s hard to cope with taking a life knowing that you’ve only paid the equivalent of a tank of gas for it.
Seems like something the prosecution’s lawyer would have an easy time proving by subpoenaing the officer’s dash cam footage. If anything, when the victim’s family takes the officer to court, they’ll subpoena it then. If the camera supports the officer’s testimony, you’ll never see it, because it won’t be used as evidence against him, and no one will bother posting a boring video that just supports a cop’s claims
My biggest problem with them is the noise, but that can be solved with electric bikes.
The thing is, in what I imagine as an ideal city with everything nearby, a motorbike wouldn’t really be that useful as you’d never need to go faster than an electric bike could take you.
Stock, they’re not supposed to be that loud per regulation. Even Harley’s,a brand I particularly dislike. Modern bikes have a computer-controlled valve before the muffler to attenuate noise for bikes over a certain power. This way big engines can be quiet when rolling around neighborhoods, but give you full power when you’re on the track.
That people go wot on the highway, I also am not the biggest fan, but humans who like bikes, like going fast
I’ve ridden the Rennes Metro. It’s basically the only kind of metro that should be built today: driverless with platform screen doors and high frequency.
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