KILL A PEDESTRIAN WITH YOUR CAR IN NYC: GET A TICKET

On 29 May 2006 16:58:57 -0700, "Bob" wrote:

According to the PC monitors labeling traffic crashes as accidents
minimizes the responsibility of those involved.

On this page the word accident does not appear at all:

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Bill Baka wrote:
Bob wrote:
Sorni wrote:

That's intersting, Bob, thanks. So what's un-PC about "accident
reconstructionists"? That it pre-judges the crash as an accident?


According to the PC monitors labeling traffic crashes as accidents
minimizes the responsibility of those involved.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Bob,
If you go much further on this line of thought you will be blaming the
pedestrian for being on the sidewalk. Screw PC for once, how about
justice, as it was intended? Did accountability go away with PC?

Bill, try -- just once -- reading with comprehension. You might like it.

Sorni wrote:
Bill Baka wrote:
Bob wrote:
Sorni wrote:

That's intersting, Bob, thanks. So what's un-PC about "accident
reconstructionists"? That it pre-judges the crash as an accident?


According to the PC monitors labeling traffic crashes as accidents
minimizes the responsibility of those involved.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Bob,
If you go much further on this line of thought you will be blaming the
pedestrian for being on the sidewalk. Screw PC for once, how about
justice, as it was intended? Did accountability go away with PC?

Bill, try -- just once -- reading with comprehension. You might like it.


You I never comprehend. The whole point of this was that a stop sign
runner caused a death and was given a slap on the hand. Bob says the law
prevents this from being pursued any more.
Something is wrong here and it isn't me.
Bill Baka

Bill Baka wrote:
Sorni wrote:
Bill Baka wrote:
Bob wrote:
Sorni wrote:

That's intersting, Bob, thanks. So what's un-PC about "accident
reconstructionists"? That it pre-judges the crash as an accident?


According to the PC monitors labeling traffic crashes as accidents
minimizes the responsibility of those involved.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Bob,
If you go much further on this line of thought you will be blaming
the pedestrian for being on the sidewalk. Screw PC for once, how
about justice, as it was intended? Did accountability go away with
PC?

Bill, try -- just once -- reading with comprehension. You might
like it.
You I never comprehend. The whole point of this was that a stop sign
runner caused a death and was given a slap on the hand. Bob says the
law prevents this from being pursued any more.
Something is wrong here and it isn't me.
Bill Baka

A) That's not what he said at all; and B) your post (above) shows a clear
misunderstanding of that /separate/ subtopic, as well. (Hint: you mixed up
what the "PC" thing was in his example.)

Whatever...

Michael Nitabach wrote:

Negligent homicide is a crime in New York.


True. Now read how NY defines criminal negligence and then the statute
making negligent homicide a crime. You'll find criminal negligence
defined in NY State Consolidated Statute Section 15.05 (4) and
criminally negligent homicide defined in Section 125.10. You should
also look at Sections 125.12 and 125.13. In each of those sections the
negligent act must be the proximate cause of death.
This particular incident is a Catch-22. The vehicle that disobeyed the
stop sign undoubtedly set in motion a series of events that caused the
pedestrian's death but except in television dramas "setting a chain of
events in motion" does not equal "proximate cause" so can we then blame
the speeding vehicle that actually struck the pedestrian? No, because
the speeding was also not the proximate cause of the pedestrian's
death. Don't like the law? Change it. Just don't be surprised when the
law of unintended consequence kicks in and *really* makes a mess of
things.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Bill Baka wrote:

Bob,
If you go much further on this line of thought you will be blaming the
pedestrian for being on the sidewalk. Screw PC for once, how about
justice, as it was intended? Did accountability go away with PC?
Bill Baka

Huh? I was answering a question about why accident reconstructionists
are now generally referred to as traffic crash reconstructionists. How
that in any way leads you to believe I might blame the pedestrian for
simply being there escapes me.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Bill Baka wrote:

You I never comprehend. The whole point of this was that a stop sign
runner caused a death and was given a slap on the hand. Bob says the law
prevents this from being pursued any more.
Something is wrong here and it isn't me.
Bill Baka

No, Bill. What I said was that, based on my understanding of NY law and
US law in general, the peculiar circumstance surrounding this specific
death preclude charging either driver criminally. I specifically added
that civil actions under the law are still available to the decedent's
survivors.
Had the stop sign runner's car struck and killed the pedestrian I could
see charging that driver with criminally negligent homicide but that's
not what happened here.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Don Wiss wrote:
On 29 May 2006 16:58:57 -0700, "Bob" wrote:

According to the PC monitors labeling traffic crashes as accidents
minimizes the responsibility of those involved.

On this page the word accident does not appear at all:

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/


Don't you feel safer now that the NHTSA has totally eliminated traffic
accidents? g

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Bob wrote:
Bill Baka wrote:

Bob,
If you go much further on this line of thought you will be blaming
the pedestrian for being on the sidewalk. Screw PC for once, how
about justice, as it was intended? Did accountability go away with
PC?
Bill Baka

Huh? I was answering a question about why accident reconstructionists
are now generally referred to as traffic crash reconstructionists. How
that in any way leads you to believe I might blame the pedestrian for
simply being there escapes me.

One word, Bob: Bakaville.

On Mon, 29 May 2006 12:50:02 -0700, Bob wrote:

I'm not defending either driver. I'm simply explaining that criminal
charges have to be based on what the laws actually say, not on what we
might *wish* they said. There are no laws that allow charging someone
with a felony violation of "stupid in a no stupid zone". If there were,
we'd all have arrest records. g

If your stupidity (negligence) results in the death of another, you can be
charged with manslaughter. In CA manslaughter AFAIK is a misdemeanor,
though like murder there are several degrees. It may be different in
other states.

Matt O.