Sunday, September 20, 2015

No Such Thing As an Accident in a Car

When the guy hit me with his car while I was riding my Harley, I broke

The First Biker Law:  don't let the bastards hit you.

Note:  he was not a guy, he was a dick.  Presumably he remains one as I never heard anything from him.  I hear from what he broke every minute of every day and, see, that's yer PTSD as any time something gigs me from it I go into that windshield and back to the ground again thinking I'm on fire.

The actual failure is I did not anticipate anything emerging from a blind spot and that brings us to

The Second Biker Law:  there is always something in your blind spot.

And finally

The Third Biker Law is don't get dead.

There are no other Biker Laws.

The failure of the driver of the car was much the same as my own as he failed to anticipate something in the inside lane which was the blind spot for him.  He still should have been shot in the head on the spot because he pulled a New England left turn (i.e. turn the wheel left, close your eyes, and hit the accelerator) or this would not have happened.

However, his failure does not absolve me of my own.  Therefore, this was not an accident but rather the aggregation of three deliberate mistakes.

Note:  I can almost forgive this guy ... except for him being a complete dick.  So maybe I can forgive him but I wouldn't get high with him.


(Ed:  what about a mechanical failure?)

That's mixed as it's said a mechanical failure is what killed Jimmy Clark when he crashed at high speed.

An adequately-maintained vehicle should not fail.  If it's not maintained well enough for vehicle safety then it doesn't constitute an accident when it crashes.  If someone dies as a result, that's not vehicular homicide but murder.  The Jimmy Clark example is not relevant because his deliberate purpose is to drive the car faster than he can possibly react if something breaks on it.


(Ed:  road hazards such as broken glass flattening a tire?)

In most cases such situations are the result of over-driving the conditions (i.e. too fast in darkness, etc).  If you didn't see it coming, just what the hell were you doing.  If you were driving too fast to avoid it then you tell me what the problem was.


(Ed:  kid runs out in front of your car?  That's unpredictable.)

Yah, that's unpredictable and you were driving too fast for an unpredictable situation.   Now the kid is dead and you get a bullet in the head for murder.

Tip:  don't screw with Judge Dredd.  He's merciless and may just be the worst role Sylvester Stallone ever played.


People talk of accountability a lot ... but dismiss the concept altogether with cars.  Unless you do something like crashing into a schoolbus full of kids which is so heinous they can't ignore it, practically anything you do in a car is blown off as an accident.

Judge Dredd:  Pay the fine plus costs.  Next case.

Judge Dredd, you're a damn wuss for putting up with this.  How about locking up some of these killers instead of harmless dopers, cowboy.

Judge Dredd:  charge is disobedient attitude.  Verdict is guilty as charged.  Sentence is ...

Yah, yah ... bullet in the head.

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