Driver that struck teen suing dead boy's family

[HawkMan]

It's also worth noting people talking about stopping distances at 10km/h over and other such.. And it's all very valid on paper.. real world, you get even more variation in those distances just based on your tires, tire-wear, breaks, break-wear, the load in your vehicle, the actual quality of the asphalt you are on, etc.

 

yeah, but it doesn't make the math any better, only worse. 

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Judge Judy should hear this case...

[Dashel]

yeah, but it doesn't make the math any better, only worse. 

Which still belies your base assumptions about posted limits in regards to who is setting them and how.

 

What exactly would you hold her guilty for?  How does violation of the limit in your absolutist view play out if she was only doing 1km over?

[adrynalyne]

Dont they teach basic geography in Ireland any more??

Ironic that there was a thread not too long ago blasting Americans for not knowing or caring about geography.

[compl3x]

If speed is such an irrelevant factor why would the police even ask her if she was exceeding the limit?

[Ryoken]

If speed is such an irrelevant factor why would the police even ask her if she was exceeding the limit?

No one said it's an irrelevant factor, just not the be-all end-all she was speeding ergo all her fault.

 

Also, we don't know the road conditions.. If it was heavy rain then even going the speedlimit is too fast.. if it was a light drizzle then meh.. not really an issue.

 

As for why the cops ask, because they always ask. It's one of the first questions you ask when there's a traffic accident, even moreso when people die from it. Next question is if you've had anything to drink tonight, are on any medications, etc.

[rfirth]

Had she been driving the speed limit, breaking maths say that she likely wouldn't have injured them, and possibly wouldn't even have hit them. 

 

It doesn't much matter if you hit someone at 55 mph or 50 mph, they are toast.

I see people walking all too frequently in the dark, in the middle of the road, wearing dark clothing... often in turns in the road. If it's dark and you don't have lights and you're in the road, you need to move out of traffic.

 

Simple common sense and it's usually the law, you don't ride your bike in the dark without a bike light on a road with a 50 mph posted speed limit.

 

A bright flashing taillight on his bike would have saved his life. You can't risk someone not seeing your reflectors.

[HawkMan]

It doesn't much matter if you hit someone at 55 mph or 50 mph, they are toast.

I see people walking all too frequently in the dark, in the middle of the road, wearing dark clothing... often in turns in the road. If it's dark and you don't have lights and you're in the road, you need to move out of traffic.

 

Simple common sense and it's usually the law, you don't ride your bike in the dark without a bike light on a road with a 50 mph posted speed limit.

 

A bright flashing taillight on his bike would have saved his life. You can't risk someone not seeing your reflectors.

 

the thing is she probably did start to break and didn't hit them at max speed. and as I said before, the difference between 80 and 90

 

80 you will just be able to stop in front of the obstacle

90 you will hit the same obstacle at 50

 

not adding in delays from your brain and foot reacting and increased tunnel vision. or the fact that she likely drove more than 10 over seeing as that's what she admitted to. 

[+Warwagon MVC]

Judge Judy should hear this case...

 

[Sir Topham Hatt]

North America, America, USA... it's all the same muddled mess to me  :blush:

 

I guess you could apply that to over here with people calling Ireland part of the UK.

[Rippleman]

Ironic that there was a thread not too long ago blasting Americans for not knowing or caring about geography.

outside US and Canada, almost all people of the world consider Canada and the US as the same country but with Canada being the nice Americans... serious.

[FloatingFatMan]

outside US and Canada, almost all people of the world consider Canada and the US as the same country but with Canada being the nice Americans... serious.

 

I've never encountered anyone with any intelligence who confused the two...

[Obry]

Sociopaths everywhere what are you gonna do... Sad 

[Navan]

Man, if everyone did that, think of all the Law Suits I would get for Emotional trauma from my bad jokes!

You finally cracked a good one ! :O

[Pow]

I've read online (reddit), that apparently that stretch of highway has quite a few hills, and has a long stretch of unlit road. Doesnt seem the best place for kids to be riding around.

 

Secondly... I havent read all the replies here, but isn't this a counter suit? Didn't they try say the person was drinking etc?

 

I saw a reply on reddit that made me change my mind a little towards the person who hit them. Read below. 

 

"Before this lady is crucified here in the "court of Reddit opinion," let's consider all sides. Playing devil's advocate, put yourself in her shoes. You're driving home one evening on a dark road. You're sober, you're paying attention to the road, you're not texting or even adjusting the radio. You might have edged a bit above the speed limit hurrying home, but doesn't everyone? The road is clear and you're the only one around.

Suddenly you see a flash of bicycles immediately in front of your headlights and slam on brakes a split second before feeling the horrible bump and crunch. Someone is screaming. You're stunned for a moment in complete disbelief - where could they have come from? You never took your eyes off the road! How could you not see them? You push it from your mind and jump from the car to help. One kid is running up from a ditch, screaming his friends' names as he runs to the nearest. That boy is howling in agony, severely injured but alive. As you approach, both start swearing at you, calling you names and telling you to get away, to call the cops. You saw another bike go flying over your car, so you run back to a shadowy figure on the road behind, dialing 911 as you go.

Dear god. That kid is torn to pieces. You've never seen a human being in that shape before and you have no idea what to do. How do you aid him? Do you touch him? You try talking to him while you look for an uninjured place to lay a hand for comfort. Maybe you try to hold his hand and keep it together even as you want to panic, retch, run, scream. How the ###### did this happen?

You're pretty traumatized during the questioning, but sometime the next day you're allowed to go home. Nothing in the world looks the same though. The boy you tried to talk to is dead, another might not make it. It's weird to see the sun shining and cars driving by like nothing happened as your spouse drives you home. He calls a psychiatrist as soon as you've settled into a chair, staring out a window, replaying everything that happened. Your mind relentlessly questioning why didn't you see the boys. Telling you this was your fault. If only you hadn't left so late. If only you'd had your high beams on. If only...something.

Your story makes the local news and you see the memorial, the grieving family. You wish you could do something for them. Go to the funeral, send flowers, tell them you're sorry. But they don't want to hear from you. To them, you're their son's killer. You understand, so you sit home, unable to eat or even talk. In fact, by the time the police return to talk about the investigation, you're suffering from PTSD as surely as any war veteran.

The cops tell you that the two survivors and evidence have painted a clear picture. The boys were wearing dark clothing on bikes with hardly any reflectors. They road three abreast and did not move to the shoulder even though they surely saw and heard you coming long before you could have seen them. It was a tragedy, but it wasn't your fault. It could have been anyone. Nobody would have been able to see them and stop in time. There will be no charges. It's little comfort to you, though. Survivor guilt eats at your mind as you go through the motions of daily life. Nothing will ever be the same after seeing what you saw that night. You haven't driven since and never want to again. Just riding in a car makes you panicky and distraught. You can't go back to work. You can't resume your normal activities. Happiness ended that night, and you're just going through the motions now, no matter who was at fault. But for the sake of your sanity and your family, you try. The psychiatrist is helping a bit. You're holding up as best you can. Your attorney tells you that the families aren't happy with the investigation results; their child is gone and they want someone to be held responsible. You try to be understanding. They're grieving and want more answers. You cooperate and wait for the second investigation to be finalized.

Then your friend or your son or someone else says, hey...I gotta tell you something before you hear it elsewhere. That's when you learn that the parents are spreading rumors. They say you were drunk or texting. They're telling everyone and it's spreading like wildfire. People stare and whisper at the grocery store. Maybe someone even yelled "murderer!" as you picked up your mail. Prank calls start, maybe some anonymous mail or ugly posts online show up. You tell the police and shut down the avenues people have to harass you, alienating yourself from your extended family and friends as you do.

Then it hits: you're being served with a massive lawsuit, formalizing those allegations. They want to take everything from you and from your family, to leave you bankrupt if they can. The panic attack hits like a freight train as you digest the news. You break down completely and terrifyingly. Maybe it is your fault. You deserve this. Why weren't you the one who died? You've killed a child, you've ruined your family.

Those around you are outraged. They know you didn't text and weren't drunk. You don't deserve this. They want you to heal and move on. You're so emotionally wrecked, you can barely even speak with your own attorney. But your husband is standing strong and tells him to fight it. You've already lost thousands in missed work, paying doctors and psychiatrists and lawyers for something that wasn't even your fault. It's not right, and someone is going to fight for you in this. The attorney tells you that the best course is to offset their demands with a counter-suit for all the suffering the accident has caused you. You are also a victim here, but instead of letting you heal, these people have dragged matters out, ruined your reputation, unraveled your mental and emotional progress and now threaten you with financial ruin, all for an accident that the police already determined wasn't your fault.

But even this gets taken out of context by the family's lawyers who want to torture you further. They feed a story about how you're suing the victims you killed, as if that's all anyone needs to know. On Reddit, they've rushed to judge you a psychopath, a worthless piece of garbage. But really, you just wish it had been you who died that night. You don't want this lawsuit, but you do want this nightmare to end. It won't though. The nightmare of running over three kids will replay in your mind for the rest of your life."

[Rippleman]

I've never encountered anyone with any intelligence who confused the two...

 

not confused... lumped together as one... maybe you just are part of an elite intelligence group

[HawkMan]

outside US and Canada, almost all people of the world consider Canada and the US as the same country but with Canada being the nice Americans... serious.

 

whaat ? In europe everyone is quite well aware of the difference between Canada and USA. we consider Canadians somewhat civilized. 

[FloatingFatMan]

not confused... lumped together as one... maybe you just are part of an elite intelligence group

 

See below!

 

whaat ? In europe everyone is quite well aware of the difference between Canada and USA. we consider Canadians somewhat civilized. 

 

Indeed! For one, they can cook decent bacon! :p

 

They also have ice hockey, which rules. ;)

[Rippleman]

whaat ? In europe everyone is quite well aware of the difference between Canada and USA. we consider Canadians somewhat civilized. 

based on your comment and even fatman's comment, maybe then not so much in europe, but most of the time when meeting new people from Asia and Africa they always say "OH, you from nice part of America...". I know about a dozen or so Europeans and the ones that I have met in person have said basically the same thing. But i guess not most then :)

[HawkMan]

Well to be fair, there's nothing wrong with that statement. Canada is in America ;p

[MikeChipshop Member]

It's times like this when Neowin should allow swearing because i'd be allowed to type what i'm thinking.

She was speeding, end of story. If the judge doesn't throw it straight out, they're as bad as her.

 

Not being funny though, the kids really should have had adequate lights on their bikes also. 

based on your comment and even fatman's comment, maybe then not so much in europe, but most of the time when meeting new people from Asia and Africa they always say "OH, you from nice part of America...". I know about a dozen or so Europeans and the ones that I have met in person have said basically the same thing. But i guess not most then :)

 

Hate to break it to you, but Canada is in America, and yeah, it is a nice bit of America.

[HawkMan]

I'd say it's usually more likely that peopl over here mean USA when they say America and don't consider Canada part of American than that they think canada is part of USA. 

[Ryoken]

They also have ice hockey, which rules. ;)

Lets just clear up one thing.

 

It's not "Ice Hockey", it's just Hockey. It's not "Field Football" or "Field Cricket".. Hell even in Tennis where they DO change surfaces it's still just called Tennis.

 

Hate to break it to you, but Canada is in America, and yeah, it is a nice bit of America.

No, we aren't, cause there is no such thing as "America" apart for the shortened name of the United States of America.

 

There is no "America" continent, it's North America, or South America. At no point is one of both of those either just "America".

[HawkMan]

And together they make the continent of America.

[bonalste]

Lets just clear up one thing.

It's not "Ice Hockey", it's just Hockey. It's not "Field Football" or "Field Cricket".. Hell even in Tennis where they DO change surfaces it's still just called Tennis.

No, we aren't, cause there is no such thing as "America" apart for the shortened name of the United States of America.

There is no "America" continent, it's North America, or South America. At no point is one of both of those either just "America".

You are entirely incorrect. 'Hockey' is played on either ice or field, and is as such termed either "Field Hockey" or "Ice Hockey", all falling under the 'hockey' category. Just because you don't play much other than Ice Hockey where you are, doesn't mean that every other culture in the world has forgotten its real name. Field hockey is played a lot in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand... basically the rest of the world. The reason you only call Ice Hockey 'Hockey' is because you don't play field hockey and therefore have no need to add the term 'ice' in front of it.

As for the naming of America, your logic is obviously flawed. Why is the USA called the "United States of America", if there is no such thing as 'America'? Shouldn't it be the "United States of North America"? The fact of it is that 'America' has been the name given to the combined land masses of the Northern and Southern continents for centuries. Actually, the name 'America' was originally given only to the Southern continent, as the North hadn't been explored at the time of naming, and it wasn't until 1538 that the name was applied to both. So if anything, 'America' should refer to the South American continent. The term 'America' had been in use as the name for both continents for 250 years before the USA even existed, which is longer than the USA has currently existed.