STOP...using cars as a weapon.

[MarkF]

What?
Child Deaths from Traffic Accidents under 16 years of age 2011 - 60 http://makingthelink.net/child-deaths-road-traffic-accidents

Wow! That (if correct) is incredibly low, suggesting the UK's drivers are, in general, very careful around schools and urban areas. Yet the OP wants to compare a driver who makes an error to a "kiddy fiddler"? Even more incredible.

When driver demonisation threads pop up I always think of Dr Thomas Munch-Petersen who lost control of his car after dropping a mint, killing 3 people. He pleaded guilty and was jailed. One of the victims mother's said this:-

"My family and I feel that to send Mr Petersen to prison would serve no purpose at all. This man and his family have suffered enough. Lives have been broken without further adding to the tally.Throughout life, we all make mistakes. Most pass without future incident. A few have tragic results."

 

[User6179]

If you act stupid, drink and drive, drive while sleepy or anything else along those lines, you could kill someone. Would you like someone running around with a loaded gun in any of those situations?

I don't think you have thought this through !

 

[glenn forger]

The paedo threat screamed from the rooftops is the fear of paedophile abduction and murder, these run at about 8 a year, a tragic figure that hasn't really changed since WW2. Meanwhile, ten children every day are KSId on the roads. Road accidents account for a third of accidental deaths among 0-14 year olds and over half of accidental deaths for 5-14 year olds.

 

[Alex H]

Wow! That (if correct) is incredibly low, suggesting the UK's drivers are, in general, very careful around schools and urban areas. Yet the OP wants to compare a driver who makes an error to a "kiddy fiddler"? Even more incredible.

When driver demonisation threads pop up I always think of Dr Thomas Munch-Petersen who lost control of his car after dropping a mint, killing 3 people. He pleaded guilty and was jailed. One of the victims mother's said this:-

"My family and I feel that to send Mr Petersen to prison would serve no purpose at all. This man and his family have suffered enough. Lives have been broken without further adding to the tally.Throughout life, we all make mistakes. Most pass without future incident. A few have tragic results."

Perhaps not, the statistics for seriously injured in the same year are 2,352, then with slight injury 17,062

 

[MarkF]

Perhaps not, the statistics for seriously injured in the same year are 2,352, then with slight injury 17,062

Or maybe so? Only 60 deaths but 2352 serious injuries, only a 2.5% death ratio per serious incident involving child versus vehicle, in highly urbanised/centralised country? I am still surprised at the 60.

 

[glenn forger]

The number of people killed or seriously injured in hit-and-run incidents on London’s roads rose last year by more than 12 per cent.

On average, 66 people were injured in such collisions in the capital every week.

Fatalities for the year rose by one to 15, while the number of victims seriously injured rose from 306 in 2011 to 345 last year, according to the Transport for London figures obtained in a Freedom of Information request. Altogether, 3,452 people were victims of hit-and-run accidents in London in 2012.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/3400-londoners-hit-by-cars-that-didnt-stop-8834639.html

In London alone nearly ten people every day are hit by cars that don't stop at the scene.

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Wouldn't it be good if careless/dangerous driving / speeding/ hit and running were given the same social stigma as kiddy-fiddling...?

So doing 35 in a 30 limit is the same as fiddling with kids ,, your a freak

 

[Boris Bajic]

If you act stupid, drink and drive, drive while sleepy or anything else along those lines, you could kill someone. Would you like someone running around with a loaded gun in any of those situations?

On a serious note, is it really possible to be running around with a loaded gun while drink-driving?

Running around is running around, while drink-driving is (by definition) drink-driving.

It is possible to act stupid while running around with a loaded gun, but you do not define what you mean by 'act stupid'. This could be a reference to acting in a way that might suggest to the casual observer that you are stupid, thereby to gain some tactical advantage in a deadly game of death.

I'm guessing here.

But I'm sure my broader point is clear to the more astute reader.

The safety catch is the key. Not in the car; on the gun.

 

[Sara_H]

Take the bus driver in the video where he rammed the cyclist....what was he charged with?

GBH and dangerous driving.....

Now I drive 10 tons of metal at someone and my 'supposed' intent is not to kill them?

What do people think will happen to a human being hit with a ton of metal, let alone10 tons?

We seem to be apologists for the abysmal driving we're now subject to?

That does boggle my mind. Even when drivers clearly deliberately use their car to inflict injury, charges brought are often fairly minor.

 

[glenn forger]

That does boggle my mind. Even when drivers clearly deliberately use their car to inflict injury, charges brought are often fairly minor.

Because of a reluctance to charge someone with manslaughter in an RTC. Perhaps a middle ground would be the American Assault With a Deadly Weapon?

 

[fabregas485]

On a serious note, is it really possible to be running around with a loaded gun while drink-driving?

Running around is running around, while drink-driving is (by definition) drink-driving.

It is possible to act stupid while running around with a loaded gun, but you do not define what you mean by 'act stupid'. This could be a reference to acting in a way that might suggest to the casual observer that you are stupid, thereby to gain some tactical advantage in a deadly game of death.

I'm guessing here.

But I'm sure my broader point is clear to the more astute reader.

The safety catch is the key. Not in the car; on the gun.

What I said stems from a saying that is repeated to me almost daily. Driving is dangerous, but care can be taken to reduce the risk.

 

[ComedyPilot]

I marshalled at a road race once, and a 'driver' pushed his way through to the front of the queue of cars waiting and tried to force his way past. I explained the brief closure and then he revved his engine and drove at me. No injury caused, but his intent was clear - "Get out of my way, or I will use this ton of metal to do you harm"

I was f*cking livid, and he wouldn't step out to speak to me, locked his doors, and other marshalls had to hold me back.

His explanation to the police was that his foot slipped on the throttle...My f*ckin @rse did it........

He was using his vehicle as a weapon to try and get his way, and people supporting bad drivers are nothing but apologists for these thugs that kill and maim INNOCENT and VULNERABLE road users EVERY day....