value of a cyclist's life

On Monday, March 6, 2017 at 6:41:04 AM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote:
On 3/6/2017 3:01 AM, wrote:
On Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 8:14:46 PM UTC+1, wrote:
On Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 5:57:03 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 10:57:12 PM UTC+1, wrote:
On Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 10:26:54 AM UTC-8, Sepp Ruf wrote:
wrote:
On Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 8:59:50 AM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote:
We were aghast last autumn when a suburban Chicago judge
fined a driver $150 for killing a cyclist walking her bike
in a crosswalk. The bar is now lower, only 80 GBP:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...yclist-9962117

You would think that in a country that is actively pro-cyclist that they
would have taken a lot more interest in bicyclists safety.

You are correct, of course. In fact, the transport secretary himself teaches
*free* civics & cycling safety classes:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/15/chris-grayling-sent-cyclist-flying-with-his-car-door-video-shows

There are certain advantages to the US ability to sue hell out of people that do those sorts of things.

Tell me Tom what do you think is an appropriate penalty for this woman who made a mistake with tragic consequences?

lou, I wasn't in the courtroom and I didn't hear the evidence. And I don't know what occurred under the table in the negotiations between the prosecutor and the defense.

This DOES seem extremely light. But then seeing rapists get off with a slap on the wrist and being on the jury of a pedophile who got 60 days in jail to be served one day a week (remember you get one day off for one day of good behaviour) makes me wonder what sort of justice system we have and what a life is really worth of a government.

There are some criminals that are ALWAYS criminals except in extremely rare circumstances - pedophiles are ALWAYS pedophiles. Arsonists are ALWAYS that way. Illegal drug addicts that have used for more than a couple of months are ALWAYS addicts though they can stop for short periods with very large incentives. But the second there are additional stresses they are back on the stuff. Serial rapist are mentally ill and cannot be stopped except with grave threats of punishment. That's why they have to wear leg bracelets and even then will rape.

I suspect but don't KNOW that speeders and drunk drivers with more than one charge are addicted to those actions as well.

On the other hand it is unusual for a murderer to repeat. 90% or more murders are crimes of passion. You can remove the incentives to rob and steal. Drunkenness in and of itself is not criminal. Drunks can learn not to drive while drunk.

So the answer is that I don't know enough about the specific case to judge anything about it and the media are nothing but a bunch of lying *******s. While I was in Vietnam my older brother was studying journalism in college and he served apprenticeship at a major news paper. After what he saw he quit and went to work for the railroad. He is so distructful of the media that he doesn't even believe that 9/11 was committed by Arabs.

Thanks for your explanation. I don't know why Andrew post these things but to me they seem judgemental without knowing the whole story.

Lou


I post them from time to time as an exercise in the
perceived place of cyclists in society.

And I appreciate them. But I think that you are often likely to personalize these things more than they are in reality. Because you ride a bicycle people do not think you worthless. And the occasional driver that hits people from carelessness (or doors them) and isn't properly punished isn't anything other than a blot on a justice system that has gone so far to the left that crime is hardly recognized anymore.