Drinking and driving and the consequences

[TheBoss]

h

[36Drew]

So charge the person with 1st degree murder, throw as many fines at them as you can and ensure they never drink and drive again and if they do then be more aggressive with them.

You should read up the difference between murder (first and second degree) and manslaughter. Then you might understand why we don't charge drunk drivers with murder.

(Hint:. They would always.Be acquitted)

[TheBoss]

h

[36Drew]

Yes i know the difference between 1st 2nd and manslaughter. The laws need to change and become more strict.

Murder requires proof of actual intent. As in, the crown could prove that the charged actually set out with explicit intent to kill or cause bodily harm with the intent to kill the victim.

The laws don't need to change.

[Even Steven]

You can't just say "well, let's call all driving deaths murder". Doesn't' work like this.

[TheBoss]

You decide to get behind the wheel after drinking and kill someone should be the same as murder. You made the choice to end someone life that night. Sometimes it doesn't happen and when it does happen someone should pay the price.

Yes accidents happen, medical conditions etc. Then no don't charge those people with anything unless there is proof that it was due to some other circumstance.

It's disgusting that woman only got three years. She does have to live with that guilt and remorse for the rest of her life. Where was that guilt when she knew she wasn't safe to drive.
She could of called a service called Driving Hands, Where they come pick you and your car up and drive you home. It's only 20-30 dollars, tip is optional. My buddy works for the company and he has seen people try to drive when they shouldn't and thankfully someone was able to stop them and get them a cab instead. He loves the service, it's cheap, effective and safe. They defiantly need more people to provide more service.

[36Drew]

You decide to get behind the wheel after drinking and kill someone should be the same as murder. You made the choice to end someone life that night. Sometimes it doesn't happen and when it does happen someone should pay the price.

You didn't set out with the specific intent to kill a specific individual. Don't let your petty sense of retribution and gross misunderstanding of the legal process in Canada cheapen the meaning and purpose of the specific charges.

Yes accidents happen, medical conditions etc. Then no don't charge those people with anything unless there is proof that it was due to some other circumstance.

It's disgusting that woman only got three years. She does have to live with that guilt and remorse for the rest of her life. Where was that guilt when she knew she wasn't safe to drive.

So it sounds like you're simply not happy with her sentence, not the charge. She could have been sentenced to 14 years - but the judge decided otherwise. I know the lady (not a friend - I just know her). Here's what she's lost (and this is publicly stated in various news articles so it's not like I'm revealing anything that's not public knowledge).

1 - She lost the jobs that she held at the time (she had two).
2 - One of her professions was as a paralegal. I won't name the other as I don't believe it was mentioned - but it was relevant to her crime.
3 - She hasn't been able to replace said jobs. You can probably imagine that no one wants to hire someone accused of manslaughter, who's name is in the media, and it looks like they'll be going to jail soon.
4 - She has kids - and she was, until today, their primary guardian. They've now lost their mother for the next three years. You may have very little empathy over this - but it's not the kids' fault their mother made a poor choice.

None of the above makes up for the loss of life of the one victim, nor the hardships placed upon the other victim. However, there's more than just a little guilt and remorse. Maybe it's enough to make up for the light sentence. Maybe it's not.

She could of called a service called Driving Hands, Where they come pick you and your car up and drive you home. It's only 20-30 dollars, tip is optional. My buddy works for the company and he has seen people try to drive when they shouldn't and thankfully someone was able to stop them and get them a cab instead. He loves the service, it's cheap, effective and safe. They defiantly need more people to provide more service.

She could have. Instead of being petty and misrepresenting what the law is and isn't, maybe you can actually figure out how to use this very tragic loss of life as a lesson to teach others. $20 could have saved one life, and removed the impact and hardship place on so many others.

On the subject of driving under the influence...

http://forums.castanet.net/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=63415&p=1907566#p1907566

I drive after smoking a doobie, now depends on a few things, I'll usually try not to drive right after smoking wait about an hour or so, never have had an issue.

The only difference between yourself and the convicted subject of this thread is that you "never have had an issue" - yet. When you finally kill someone after driving impaired, I'll point out to the next idiot demanding a murder-one charge that there's a difference. You're welcome.

[GordonH]

The moment a person after drinking (or stoned on drugs) decides to get behind the wheel of a vehicle and drive away, is same moment they place a loaded gun in their hand and just aim down the road.
Oncoming traffic has absolutely no idea this is happening then all of a sudden crash (hopefully only injuries happen).
Unfortunately death also happens, at the moment the victims family & friends hear of what happened. Beside overwhelming sadness, comes angry.... why the hell did this as hole kill my loved one/friend. Yes those who go threw this want blood for blood.

I've lost family & good friends to as holes who clearly have absolutely no basic common sense, to use another way to get home after drinking.
So yes I don't have any compassion for those who drink & drive, they can all rot in jail.

[Grandan]

The consequences are quite often borne by the passenger. Some famous people obtained their fame by doing something incredibly stupid, such as falling out of the back of a pickup truck.
Because it is now unlawfull to ride around in the back of a PU truck we rarely hear of such of incidents unless it is on some mountain backroad.
And then there is this:
http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#190109

A woman who hung out of a moving pickup was sent to hospital with serious injuries when she was thrown from the vehicle.

Police allege the Dodge Ram was being operated by an impaired driver about 11:15 p.m. Saturday when it crashed on the 10000 block of Bottom Wood Lake Road in Lake Country.

The woman apparently lifted herself so she could hang outside the truck's window. She was ripped from the vehicle after her body struck a street sign.

Thinking that you can hang out the window of a vehicle without consequence means you win the Darwin award. Man, that must have hurt real bad, she was lucky she was not killed although she is likely maimed for life.