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Old February 9th 18, 12:13 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Tim McNamara
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Posts: 6,945
Default Dickens:"The law is a ass."

On Thu, 8 Feb 2018 13:29:04 -0800 (PST),
wrote:
On Wednesday, January 31, 2018 at 2:48:49 PM UTC-5, AMuzi wrote:
https://nypost.com/2018/01/30/trucke...anks-lax-laws/

I'm curious why so many cyclists think death of a cyclist in an accident is a crime.
Murder requires intent. Manslaughter requires "gross negligence." Accidents are not a
crime, even if there is negligence, even if people die. Unless the driver did
something way out of the ordinary that caused the accident- no crime occurred. The
lawyer is absolutely right, the lapsed license is utterly irrelevant to the cause of
the injury.


We tend to frame it that way because we deal every day with inattentive and or
incompetent drivers who avoid killing or maiming us only because we take the action to
compensate for their inattention and incompetence. Our lives are beneath their notice or
concern.

It may not be murder (e.g., no formulation of intent to kill the other person) but it is
more frequently manslaughter than drivers are charged with. The police and prosecutors
do not want to ruin someone's life just for killing a cyclist, so they accept "I didn't
see" him or her as a valid defense (instead of the admission of negligence that it really
is. Question: how the hell do you not see someone who is dressed like a 200 lb canary on
a bike? Answer: you weren't even looking. Comment: it was your job to look.).

Now, there are cases where the cyclst ran a red light or a stop sign into a vehicle with
the right of way (or some other scenario where it is the cyclist that caused the
collision). Just as it would be if the cyclist was in a car, the cyclist is at fault.

How are most cyclists injured or killed in accidents? They are struck from behind by an
overtaking motor vehicle. Those are the driver's fault in the majority of cases.
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