The day I accidentally killed a little boy • Hacker News Board

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#591

Post by LocalH » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 2:23 AM UTC

drewm1980 wrote: post #473

androck1 wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lesson of this article is that unfortunate things, that come with a lifetime of grief, happen to good people. And perhaps more importantly, that empathy and understanding are incredibly powerful. It is true that we should take "the responsibility of driving a lot more seriously, and treating driving as something risky" but treating this as a story about driving less broadly misses the point.

I agree with you about how the article is written, but "bad things happen to good people" isn't an idea that will save lives. "Find a way to stop driving, because it IS your fault if you kill someone with your automobile" is. She chose to drive, killed someone as a direct result of her decision, and then chose to continue driving. She was surround by car culture enablers (her dad immediately fixing the car instead of…

I dispute your notion that the driver of a vehicle is automatically to blame if there is a collision between the vehicle and a pedestrian.

https://www.google.com/search?q=insurance+fraud+dash+cam

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#592

Post by taneq » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 2:34 AM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #583

hermitdev wrote: post #573

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speed, in of itself, is not dangerous. What is more dangerous on highways is differential speed. i.e. if you're driving 60 mph when the traffic around you is doing 80 mph, you're the problem. Probably exponentially so if you're driving slowly in the "fast" lane. While rarely enforced, most states in the US have laws that require you to pull to the right if you're impeding traffic (usually defined as holding up +2 veh…

Speed, in of itself, is not dangerous Certainly! Falling from great height isn't dangerous either, you know.

"It's not the pace of life I mind, it's the sudden stop at the end."

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#593

Post by beardog » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 2:37 AM UTC

chris_7 wrote: post #75

If someone fires a gun randomly down the street, not aiming at anyone, but happens to hit someone, they'd certainly be arrested. Drive a multi-thousand-pound projectile down the street, kill someone, and it's just an "accident". The default needs to move to charging every driver involved in a fatal crash with manslaughter. Currently the police won't even perform basic investigative work that would make any charge pos…

>The default needs to move to charging every driver involved in a fatal crash with manslaughter. Currently the police won't even perform basic investigative work that would make any charge possible.

On top of the other points people have made about why this is a bad idea, it would also probably make people somewhat more likely to avoid reporting the crime all together in situations with no witnesses.

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#594

Post by rasz » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 2:41 AM UTC

larrymcp wrote: post #523

MollyR wrote: post #284

I'm a mother with a young child. I don't think the childless and males can ever really understand the process of being pregnant for 9 months and then giving birth. I empathize with her, but if she killed my child. I could never forgive her.

In this case it sounds like it was the child's fault though? Reading the article I can't quite agree with the notion of "she killed the child". Rather, the child killed himself. He suddenly darted out into the street in front of a moving vehicle. So to me the accident sounds like the child's fault rather than the driver's.

At this age its ultimately parents fault.

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#595

Post by GIFtheory » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 2:55 AM UTC

This story reminded me of how this morning, while commuting via bike to work in the rain, I was tailgated by an SUV. If I had slipped and crashed on some wet leaves, I probably would have been crushed to death, and (in a just world) the driver would be guilty of 4th degree murder. Yet we both carried on with our day as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. This is insanity. Why does US society tolerate such casually reckless behavior on the roads?

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#596

Post by rasz » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 2:57 AM UTC

>"In 2003 there was an accident at Santa Monica Farmers Market. An elderly man had ploughed into a group of people with his car and lots of people had been killed and injured. It was just carnage, it was a terrible scene. People were on the TV screaming that this 86-year-old man was a murderer"

86-year-old driver crashing into people IS murder, and not an accident. Lack of vision, pretty much no reflexes, cramps, aching limbs/joints, sclerosis. We (my family) took my great-uncles car keys away before he turned 80 because it was becoming apparent he has trouble with basic tasks, like backing up/parking/or even remembering to signal. Letting person this old drive is a gross negligence.

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#597

Post by sjg007 » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 3:00 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #310

luckroy wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like CA and IA work differently. 45 is the speed limit for that highway because it's windy. On the straighter roads, the limit is usually 50-55. However, there are still no speed zones (as you call them) for small clusters of houses.

The whole west works different I think. I mean, who in their right mind would build their house right next to the highway (without a fairly long highway) if they didn't have to? As long as you have the land, you would build it 50-100 meters back! The only time I see otherwise is if mountains or rivers are involved, or there is density (in which case it is sure to be zoned!).

It's common in the midwest and becoming an issue when towns expand and traffic picks up. Mailboxes on the opposite side of a county road should be illegal. I'm surprised actually that they are not.

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#598

Post by newfoundglory » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 3:05 AM UTC

alien_at_work wrote: post #329

fjsolwmv wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe this story, unless this child has some sort of medical frailty. Your post complains that helicopter parenting causes broken bones, meanwhile other anti-helicoptering activists argue that breaking bones is a necessary part of healthy development, that helicoptering prevents.

I'm having trouble seeing your argument for all the straw people. I don't care what you believe, I watched her walk down my steps one step at a time, both feet stable on that step before taking the next one. Why? Because her whole life she's hearing "NO! BE CAREFUL! STEPS ARE DANGEROUS!" so of course she's terrified and has no confidence that she can do it. >meanwhile other anti-helicoptering activists argue that bre…

I'm guessing that their argument is "it is likely that child has underlying medical problems that caused the movement issues and made it easier to break her bones".

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#599

Post by aglavine » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 3:14 AM UTC

treyfitty wrote: post #322

Ever since I became a father (2 months ago), I've been seeing the world as a dangerous and an ugly place. This is confounded with the fact that, a month ago, I came to find out that my brother was bullied in HS and was never the same. My brother has been out of high school for about 9 years now, but It took me 6 whole years to consider the possibility that something was wrong. I was in undergrad and focused on my stu…

Life is a miracle, I've accepted that a long time ago.

Re: The day I accidentally killed a little boy

#600

Post by Waterluvian » Wed, Jan 10, 2018, 3:19 AM UTC

softawre wrote: post #536

Waterluvian wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair question. I spend 8 hours a day not near him (at work). Most of that 8 hours is making money I don't need. I'm not a frugal or ascetic person but I have very few wants that cost money.

Is time better spent earning money to help pay for a kids financial future, or better spent playing with the kid? It's a fine line and I'm not sure there's a one-size-fits-all answer.

Unless I already have that future locked down.