It is un-reasonable to incarcerate someone for simple negligence.

And BTW, simply changing a law can have very unintended results. Bad ones.

Back in the day, in England, shallow-sighted people thought that thieves should get the death penalty. They enacted such a law because they thought it would reduce thefts.

The result? The murder rate went up. Turns out that thieves would kill their victims because the penalty for stealing was the same as killing, and they figured they might as well get rid of any witnesses.

Like I said in an earlier post. Folks need to think this issue through, instead of reacting emotionally.

Bob

We can agree to disagree here. Ultimately it's academic. Unless you can make the entire world bike-weenie friendly (and you can't) and make them give a **** about cyclists and motorcyclists (ditto) you seriously might consider getting a handle on what you can and can't control. Start here:

Stuff in the world you can NOT control: 99.99%

Stuff in the world you CAN control: .01%*

* This does not include your teenage children, the Chicago Cubs' inability to win a World Series for the last 80+ years or the propensity of bike weenies to wring their hands over meaningless topics like 'why didn't that other cyclist wave at me?'.

By the way, if you disagree with any of this, I can send you the 'Patentcad Master of the Universe' instructional video I made in my clueless youth.

Do you consider unsafe operation of a motor vehicle to be simple negligence?

Could be "yes", could be "no", depending on the facts.

Hypothetical #1: Road rage incident where truck driver tries to "scare" a cyclist who flipped him off, and so drives perilously close to the cyclist. Underestimates how far his mirror extends and clips the cylist, killing him. Drives off without stopping.

Hypothetical #2: Soccer mom gets call from baby-sitter that 4 yr. old child at home is vomiting and in convulsions. While speeding to get home, and talking on the cell phone with the child's pediatrician, she drifts 30" to the right and clips a cyclist, killing him. Stops immediately to render aid and calls 911.

Both drivers above were operating their vehicles in an "unsafe" manner. IMO, #1's actions clearly exceeded simple negligence. #2's actions were simple negligence.

And this actually makes my point. Some folks here are advocating a cookie-cutter approach: Any at-fault motorist who causes a cyclist's death should [...insert draconian penalty here...] regardless of how the accident happened. I think that calmer, rational thought is called for. We've all heard the saying: "There but for the grace of God, go you or I".

Bob