Car beside suddenly changing lanes
Wind gust
Low noise that startled driver
Helicopter suddenly flies over
Bee inside car
Avoiding object in the road
Cell phone rings
Reaction to medication
Sneezing
Coughing spell
Spilled coffee
Lens falling out of eyeglasses
Worrying about a sick relative


I could go on and on but there are things that cause even the most careful driver to loose attention and control of their car. They aren't reasons for people to go to jail.

Losing control of your car in it's self is not going to send you to jail, but killing or causing life altering injuries to someone in the process should be another matter, and should carry more extensive convictions than running into someones fence post.

I have a seizure while driving due to a condition of which I was unaware and run off the road, obliterating a couple mailboxes. In an alternate universe, the same thing happens but I hit a pedestrian. Which charges and punishment are appropriate in which situation? Let's stick with criminal penalties in this case - though I do feel that civil suits may be more appropriate for those injured or their families in an "accident" situation.

I can sympathize with the arguments for tougher penalties on poor drivers, but calling it "murder" is a stretch, even on the internet.

Are you joking? I seriously hope so. There isn't a single item in that list that is a valid excuse for losing control of your car - not a single one. The car beside you changing lanes is an accident caused by another person, not by you - unless you over-reacted and lost control for no reason.

Ok, maybe I'll give you the medicine one - but only if it doesn't have a warning about driving on it, AND if it's a severe reaction - like seizure-inducing.

Umm... your honor, I killed Mrs. Jones and her three kids because I can't drive and sneeze at the same time.

Geez, Stan, can you send me your driving itinerary? I'll avoid being anywhere in the area, since your cell phone might ring, or you might get a bee in your car. :eek:

I'm sorry, this is just one more murder. Unless the driver was incapacitated by a previously unknown illness or heart attack.

people need to learn to slow down when something distracting occurs. They also need to learn to ignore the unimportant, such as phone calls. The sad thing is, texts and phone calls have resulted in traffic deaths, but subject of those communications was likely to be frivolous. A cellphone using "distracted" driver crossed the centerline and got within a few feet of hitting me. He was just a few feet from hitting the ditch and having a single car accident as well. I'm sure he didn't even hang up the phone and took no notice of the danger this posed to me and to himself. It's totally pointless and irresponsible.

"A motor vehicle operating license is too easily obtained, and too hard to revoke."

Amen.

Maybe over-reacting to a noise, worrying about a sick relative etc. don't mean you should go to jail. But it means you're unfit to drive a big metal thing around other people.

NY Times had a big story this weekend about states trying to ban cell phone use while driving. The idea that hands-free devices are not much help is finally entering mainstream. I cannot believe that I am the only one that noticed (after I got a cellphone for the first time) what a major distraction it is (not just the dialing, but the talking).

Fortunately, the state has to prove that it wasn't un-preventable.