A maximum penalty of one year for plowing into a car and causing a death? HUH???

[tdn]

@Lemur866

You do know that in many jurisdictions the cops will ticket YOU for driving too slowly?

And that has always bothered me. I could get a ticket for breaking the law, and I could get a ticket for following the law. I guess I’m just lucky that I’ve never gotten a ticket.

If you routinely drive slower than everyone else you aren’t preventing accidents. In fact, you are likely to cause an accident. You are a reckless driver, that is, one who’s actions are likely to cause an accident.

Well, I’ve never been in an accident. (OK, one, but it clearly was not my fault. Had I been travelling faster, it would have been far more serious.)

I keep seeing that claim that slowness causes accidents. Is there a cite for it? Or can you explain how it works? Because it makes no sense to me.

Ever driven when you were tired? Angry? Upset? Ever looked out your car windows at the scenery? Read a road sign? Looked down at your speedometer? Fuel gauge?

Again with the speedometer. What, do you people fixate on the fucking thing? Here’s a driving tip from tdn the Widomaker: Keep your eyes on the road. Every few seconds, glance quickly down then quickly up. Process what you’ve seen while still watching the road. It takes about .3 seconds. If you’re not tailgating, nothing should pop up in front of you unexpectedly.

So take your sanctimony and shove it. You’re a dangerous driver, and the fact that you never exceed the posted speed limit is irrelevant. Actually, the fact that you brag about angry drivers piling up behind you is proof you’re a dangerous driver, since you care more about following the letter of the law than about reducing accidents.

And you’re calling me sanctimoneous? You’re being an ass.

[Muffin]

@Sarahfeena

No one can maintain an even speed constantly.

Cruise control.

[tdn]

@Sarahfeena

Her point is that if the speed limit is 40, and you are attempting to maintain that limit, you will hover AROUND 40…sometimes a little over, sometimes a little under, unless you are staring at the spedometer and concentrating on maintaining exactly 40.

OK, you caught me. Once, for .00001 seconds in the sixties, I did 41 in a 40. Happy?

Split hairs much?

The point is, in such a case, you can glance down and adjust accordingly. One need not ignore the speedometer completely.

And maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve always driven cars that didn’t go from 40 to 70 instantaneuously, magically, with no warning whatsoever. Yes, Virginia, it is possible to maintain a pretty constant speed.

[Uvula_Donor]

@Common Tater

Negligent homicide shows an intent not to drive safely, and probably should be punished pretty severely in order (hopefully) to dissuade others from doing the same.

Good thing she wasn’t charged with “negligent homicide” then, isn’t it?

[Q.E.D]

@tdn

I keep seeing that claim that slowness causes accidents. Is there a cite for it? Or can you explain how it works? Because it makes no sense to me.

Ok, then:

Crash-involvement rates decreased with increasing speeds up to 65 mi/h (105 km/h), then increased at higher speeds. Further, Solomon reported that the results of his study showed that “low speed drivers are more likely to be involved in accidents than relatively high speed drivers.” Cirillo (1968) in a similar analysis of 2,000 vehicles involved in daytime crashes on interstate freeways confirmed Solomon’s results, extending the U-shaped curve to interstate freeways, as illustrated in figure 1.

…

Munden (1967), following a different approach, reported similar results for drivers in the United Kingdom who habitually drive at deviant speeds. The speed of selected drivers were observed and compared to the four preceding and four following vehicles. For drivers observed more than once, those traveling more than 1.8 standard deviations above or below the mean traffic speed had significantly higher crash rates.

[Cheesesteak]

@tdn

I keep seeing that claim that slowness causes accidents. Is there a cite for it? Or can you explain how it works? Because it makes no sense to me.

Variations in speed make accidents more likely. It’s safer to have everyone going 10mph over the limit than it is to have 99% going 10mph over and 1% going the limit. The reality is that your unusual fixation on going the speed limit (while most other traffic exceeds it) makes it so that others constantly change lanes in order to get around you.

You can feel free to blame that on other’s ‘excessive’ speed, but if your car disappeared the roads would be safer.

[Sarahfeena]

@Muffin

Cruise control.

I thought about that after the post, but didn’t think it was enough to bother with using the “edit” function for!!!

@tdn

OK, you caught me. Once, for .00001 seconds in the sixties, I did 41 in a 40. Happy?

Split hairs much?

The point is, in such a case, you can glance down and adjust accordingly. One need not ignore the speedometer completely.

And maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve always driven cars that didn’t go from 40 to 70 instantaneuously, magically, with no warning whatsoever. Yes, Virginia, it is possible to maintain a pretty constant speed.

I think you were unclear in your first post, then. You said:

@tdn (post #8)

I’ve driven over the speed limit once in my life.

So, please clarify…does this mean you only drove over the speed limit INTENTIONALLY once in your life, and unintentionally you might have sometimes gone somewhere between 1 MPH and 30 MPH over the speed limit? (Basing that last part on the following quote…)

@tdn

And maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve always driven cars that didn’t go from 40 to 70 instantaneuously, magically, with no warning whatsoever.

[Leviosaurus]

I agree that we shouldn’t ruin people’s lives over what is essentially an accident. At the same time, I also think we need to leave more room in the sentence guidlines for drivers who are straight up culpable.

Picture, if you will, a junkie with no license and no insurance, who somehow has convinced some idiot to lend them a car. This junkie is driving way over the speed limit erratically, veering around the lane. He drops his lighter, and gropes around the floor for it, neglecting to watch where he’s going. He crosses a center line and smashes my beautiful new car to smithereens. Yes, it actually happened, and because I wasn’t injured, he was not charged with any crime other than reckless driving which resulted in… him *still * not having a license. Woop de doo.

If this idiot hasn’t killed someone yet, he will eventually. The cop at the scene took him off to jail, telling me ‘That’s where he belongs’ but the inability to produce a charge meant he walked. I lost my car and my deductable. If he’d stolen my car instead of destroying it, he would have gotten charged with a real crime. If he had walked to me up on the street and punched me in the face, I could have had him booked for assault, but because he used a car and destroyed my property instead of my nose, he goes free. There’s something wrong with that.

[Antinor01]

From what I’ve read, Brandy was not speeding. She was driving 65 mph on the 405 just south of the 101 and traffic slowed, she was unable to slow in time and hit the car in front of her. This is not a case of someone driving at a reckless speed. (That stretch of highway is about 2 miles from my house)

65 is a perfectly normal speed there but it does have a tendency to slow or stop quite suddenly and accidents are not uncommon. Should she have been more cautious? Certainly. Should she spend years in prison over this? Not at all.

[Miller]

@tdn

Self-righteous? I think not.

Oh, I think so:

@tdn

Call me a liar if you want, but I have no sympathy for those that speed.

I think it’s very precious that you’ve never but once gone over the speed limit, Miss Daisy, but in that second quote you’re using that dubious distinction to set yourself over 95% of the driving population of the planet. That’s pretty fucking self-righteous, from where I’m sitting.

[tdn]

Wow, I’m such a fucking menace to society. Fear my engine, hear it roar, in slowness to slow to ignore.

@Cheesesteak

Variations in speed make accidents more likely. It’s safer to have everyone going 10mph over the limit than it is to have 99% going 10mph over and 1% going the limit.

That makes sense. But what you’re stating is not that slowness causes accidents, it’s that it is safer when everyone holds hands and breaks the law together.

The reality is that your unusual fixation on going the speed limit

Unusual fixation? Unusual fixation? Yeah, I admit, I have a stash of magazines with pictures of speed limit signs. “Traffic porn”, as some call it. Unusual fixation? Are you high?

Look, before the lynch mob finds a suitable tree, allow me to explain myself further. (No doubt this will earn me accusations of backpeddling, and the hairsplitters will have a field day. Hey, go for it. Life is short.)

When I say I’ve never sped, what I meant was I never did 55 in a 40. I may have thrown caution to the wind, and done a wacky and reckless 42, or even an insane 45, but I always tried to be mindful of the posted limits. I also took the flow of traffic into account, as well as road conditions. When travelling on a 55 highway, I might have done anywhere from 53 to 61, but I always kept in the right-hand lane. I certainly never did 70.

Most times, I did well under the speed limit. So did everyone else. In Boston during rush hour one can’t really build up a lot of speed. As to the times when traffic built up behind me, there were conditions such as ice, or fog, or unfamiliar roads. I travelled at a speed that I deemed I could handle. If people behind me got impatient, then fuck 'em. Better than me dying.

For those of you who deem this to be not good enough, put your minds at rest. There is no need to keep your daughters and street signs locked up. I no longer own a car.

[Uvula_Donor]

@tdn

There is no need to keep your daughters and street signs locked up. I no longer own a car.

Yeah, well, do you ever get into a cab and tell the driver to “step on it” then? Huh?? Bastard.

[DrDeth]

@Q.E.D.

A year of incarceration seems excessive for what is essentially an accident. It’s a shame someone was killed, but at the risk of sounding callous, shit happens. Putting this woman in jail for a year does no good for anyone. It could have happened to any one of us, and if you’re going to claim you’ve never once driven faster than you should have, I’m going to call you a liar. Note very carefully that she was not accused of exceeding the speed limit, she was accused of driving faster than was prudent or safe for the road conditions; if it’s raining and the speed limit is 55, you are possibly in violation, even if you’re doing 54. Something very nearly every single one of us who drives has done.

Right, any jail time for an accident (unless drugs or booze were involved) is silly. There can be serious economic penalties and even loss of driving privileges, but no long jail time. Maybe one day overnight just to scare them.

[Kalhoun]

@DrDeth

Right, any jail time for an accident (unless drugs or booze were involved) is silly. There can be serious economic penalties and even loss of driving privileges, but no long jail time. Maybe one day overnight just to scare them.

I’d agree, with the exception of reckless driving, i.e., someone gets killed drag racing or someone is deliberately racing through a kid zone or something. I think those would warrant some jail time.

[tdn]

@Sarahfeena

So, please clarify…does this mean you only drove over the speed limit INTENTIONALLY once in your life, and unintentionally you might have sometimes gone somewhere between 1 MPH and 30 MPH over the speed limit? (Basing that last part on the following quote…)

I’ve already clarified, hopefully to your satisfaction.

But have I ever unintentionally gone 30mph over the speed limit? Fuck no! Have you? Has anyone that wasn’t drunk? The speedometer is there for a reason. You’re supposed to occasionally check it. If you see that you are doing 95 in a 65, then SLOW THE FUCK DOWN BEFORE YOU HURT SOMEBODY. To not notice a speed like that at all is about as reckless as you can get.

Seriously – who goes 30 over unintentionally? Anyone?

[tdn]

@Uvula Donor

Yeah, well, do you ever get into a cab and tell the driver to “step on it” then? Huh?? Bastard.

Not at all! I tell them to run over kittens. Is that so wrong of me?

[DrDeth]

@tdn

And that has always bothered me. I could get a ticket for breaking the law, and I could get a ticket for following the law.

I keep seeing that claim that slowness causes accidents. Is there a cite for it? Or can you explain how it works? Because it makes no sense to me.

If you are going too slow, you’re not “following the law”, since there is also a law about “impeding traffic” (of course this varies wildly state by state). You may be following one section of the law (Speed limit) but just because you don’t exceed that speed limit while driving doesn’t mean you can’t break other laws. Let me give you a couple examples- traffic is heavy, the speed limit is 55, which is exactly how fast you are going. But you are driving 5’ behind the dude in front of you. The CHP pulls you over for Tailgating. Does the fact that you were going the speed limit get you out of the tailgating violation? No.
Going too slow causes accidents as dudes who are going with the flow of traffic will constantly have to swerve around you, which can cause an accident. Now, I know you’re going to say “But they caused the accident for swerving!”. Well, no, if you were going with the flow of traffic, there’d be no swerving in the first place.

[Q.E.D]

@tdn

Wow, I’m such a fucking menace to society. Fear my engine, hear it roar, in slowness to slow to ignore.

…

But what you’re stating is not that slowness causes accidents, it’s that it is safer when everyone holds hands and breaks the law together.

And there’s that self-righteousness you claim you’re not exhibiting.

[Q.E.D]

@Kalhoun

I’d agree, with the exception of reckless driving, i.e., someone gets killed drag racing or someone is deliberately racing through a kid zone or something. I think those would warrant some jail time.

Those aren’t accidents in the normal sense, though. Those are felonies.

[Sarahfeena]

@Kalhoun

I’d agree, with the exception of reckless driving, i.e., someone gets killed drag racing or someone is deliberately racing through a kid zone or something. I think those would warrant some jail time.

I think that’s kind of the key…defining what is “reckless.” Driving on a highway, the same general speed as everyone else, is not what I would call reckless.

I agree with what you said earlier…I feel sorry for the girl. If I were her, I would probably spend the rest of my life trying to figure out what I should have done differently to avoid the incident. I think that’s a worse punishment than a year in jail.