SUV driver charged with murder for running over cyclist in Paris.
SUV driver charged with murder for running over cyclist in Paris.
It wasn't even an accident, he just killed a cyclist because he wanted to drive on a bicycle path without being, rightfully, called out for it. Bonus points for having his child in his car.
What a piece of shit. I hope he gets the book thrown at him.
He won't, because he's rich. The article is so apologetic already, several paragraphs about how bad this poor guy feels. Bonus points for mentioning he's a father of four (nothing is mentioned about the victim's family). "I'm not a thug!'. You disregarded other people's safety and well being for your own benefit, when being called out, you used unreasonable force. That's a thug to me.
This is partly a cultural difference. In Europe, there is just less emphasis on the retribution aspect of punishment. For an extreme example that's impossible to imagine in America, see the case of the Norwegian shooter.
And yes, I do think Europe does things better. The reality is that retribution serves no practical purpose. The kind of person who commits an awful crime is, by definition, not the kind who thinks hard about consequences, or else like here it's done in hot-blooded anger. Either way, the abstract fact of punishment is not going to function as a deterrent. So all we're left with is the primal urge to inflict suffering on the perpetrator. Personally, I like to think that we can try to rise above that.
This article ruined my day when I read it in the newspaper.
Somebody does something absolutely retarded in traffic and if you criticize them you get run over.
No wonder I hate going outside.
And this is exactly why its so important to have protected and raised cycling paths to prevent altercations between the different modes of transportation.
This is also the exact same reason we have pedestrian sidewalks separated from vehicle traffic to prevent altercation such as this, and its why things like bollards, planters, curbs, and trees are so important between roadways and pedestrian zones to minimise stress both ways.
Safer roadways are not where we remove barriers for cars, but put up barriers to make traffic flow more efficiently and effectively.
ie. Barriers are things like signaled intersections, crosswalks, curbs, curb extensions, bollards, painted lanes, raised sidewalks, raised cycling paths, planters.
If you were the only person in a vehicle on the road stopped by a signaled intersection its probably very inconvenient for you, and you may ask for the signal to be removed as its a barrier. But if you add in the other vehicle traffic that uses the road with you, that signal now serves a very specific purpose to make your commute more efficient and safe. Without that signal, that exact same intersection would now be completely gridlocked with probably a few collisions, meaning you would get no where quick.
“I reduced the insolent crowd of carriages which cumber our streets, for this luxury of speed destroys its own aim;” —Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar