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Careless Driving ??

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Careless Driving ??
Local news:

Should a driver be found guilty of careless driving even though he was going the speed limit when he hit an intoxicated pedestrian wearing dark clothing at night who was illegally crossing the street?

Yes, a Yukon trial court ruled in the case of Adam Morrison, who was driving in downtown Whitehorse on Oct. 15, 1999 when he struck a drunk, who had crossed three lanes of traffic before the impact.

The trial judge found that driving at or near the speed limit did not meet the reasonable standard of care required by the section of street, which was not well lit and had several drinking establishments in the area. At the time of the collision, the area was busy with pedestrians.

The judge concluded that the circumstances should have caused the motorist to slow down and look out for pedestrians illegally crossing the street.

Very Interesting !

Kode
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Re: [kode] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
Hmmm thats a debatable ruling.

A speed limit is a speed limit, if he was within it, IMO he shouldn't have been found guilty. It isn't illegal to not be "more aware" when it is dark.
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Re: [Paul] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
The posted speed limit is the 'maximum' speed limit under 'ideal' conditions. If the prevailing conditions change such that a lessor speed would be regarded as safe for the current road conditions, then the motorist would be required to comply in a reasonable manner so as to not pose a risk to himself and others. For example, would you consider it reasonable and legal to drive 80kph in a 80kph speed zone, but where it was heavily raining and the road was awash in water? Short answer is no, and this would qualify as reckless driving. And the same could be said if the motorist was driving at the maximum speed limit if the conditions were dark, where there was a conspicious presence of intoxicated persons meandering across the street in an area where bars can be found. The maximum posted speed is not carved in stone. I believe in this case, that both parties should share liability, and contributory damages awarded in a civil case if either party (or the insurance carrier) litigated.

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Cheers,

Dan
Founder and CEO

LionsGate Creative
GoodPassRobot
Magelln
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Re: [dan] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
Yes, I agree with what you're saying here Dan, so does UK law too -- hence the law of "Driving without due care and attention", which is often stretched and used to catch people that drive without care or attention to the current conditions.

- wil
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Re: [kode] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
I think that the biker should be held liable. From personal experience, I learned my lesson when in grad school (many years ago)...I rode my bike drunk from the bars. I swurved into the left lane (the "wrong" lane in USA) and caused a driver to swurve onto someone's yard.

I was "pulled" over by three campus cops. I was given a reckless driving ticket (well deserved, since in Arizona among many other states, riding a bike is considered a "motorized" - human powered noless, vehicle). I won't go into the embarrassing details, like my blood alcohol level (suffice it to say, I can't believe that I actually made it as far as I did without causing more serious accidents).

While this offense was moved to a lesser offense of "drunk and disorderly", I learned my lesson. And I think the biker in the case you cited should be held responsible for his or her actions.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me

Last edited by:

Stealth: Sep 9, 2002, 10:13 AM
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Re: [Stealth] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
>>
I think that the biker should be held liable.
<<

The biker?
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Re: [Paul] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
Sorry, I meant pedestrian, but same logic applies. The intoxicated person should be held liable for their irresponsible actions, IMO.

Sorry for the confusion.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me
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Re: [Stealth] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
I agree, I think it is unfair to prosecute someone who is driving within the limit and essentially is doing nothing wrong, although I accept Dan's point of view.
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Re: [Paul] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
In Japan the driver is at fault 100% of the time.

We've got old ladies who cross any where and every they wish. Sometimes, they get creamed.

I'm for reasonable accountability and the pedestrian should also be held responsible some what.

My uni in California actively had check points for drunken cyclists. DPI is what we used to call it. I thought that it was pretty ridiculous at times since many students chose a bicycle over there car trying to be somewhat responsible.

openoffice + gimp + sketch ... Smile
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Re: [QooQ] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
>>
Sometimes, they get creamed.
<<

lol that anology made me laugh aloud.
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Re: [Paul] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
Blush

openoffice + gimp + sketch ... Smile
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Re: [Stealth] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
You've got to tell us your blood alcohol level, I need to know if you've broken my record, set July 6th, 2002. 0.3% I wasn't driving but my mates got a cop where we were to check it to see if I had broken any kind of record.

Down here the legal limit after which you can't drive is 0.05%. I have heard of people having a lot hirer then that as well.
Cheers,
Michael Bray
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Re: [Michael_Bray] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
>>
set July 6th, 2002
<<

Which incidentally was the day of my 21st birthday Cool
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Re: [kode] Careless Driving ?? In reply to
The driver is ultimately responsible for the vechicles actions.

The pedestrian is responsible for his/her actions, but got injured so may not have been charged.

The bar may be partly responsible for the drunk pedestrian's state.

It all comes down to : driving is a priviledge and not a right.

Since this is in Whitehorse , Yukon ....Canada..... not a big city, the cops must have had a reason to

forward a charge of careless driving for the crown to examine and pursue.

On TV today is a saftey commercial which points forward from a vechicle driving down a road with parked

cars and the words heard are you are about to meet miss jennie running out from between parked cars.

Then suddenly Mr Doall on a skateboard flies out ! He bounces of the window glass. Ooops !

The answer is slow down as you never know when you will / may need to stop quickly.

Careless Driving here is described as :

(1) A person must not drive a motor vehicle on a highway

(a) without due care and attention,

(b) without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway, or

(c) at a speed that is excessive relative to the road, traffic, visibility or weather conditions.

I think (c) was a factor in this case.

I think the first recorded accident between 2 motor vechicles in the US was in a state with only 2

vechicles at the time. They met at an intersection !

Thanks

Kode