this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2023
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If we're talking about an honest accident then how long do you think the jail term should be?
"honest accident" is the crux of the question. If the driver was doing everything perfectly and some other party was entirely responsible for the accident, not much (maybe none?).
But, at least in my corner of Canada, most drivers are not behaving responsibly or adhering to the law. Speeding, following too closely, illegally passing, and using phones while driving are common. If a driver kills someone while doing something overtly dangerous, they deserve jail time.
I hate that speed(ing) always gets lumped in whenever "dangerous behavior" comes up. Going faster than an arbitrary road sign says you should isn't inherently dangerous.
It's about the conditions of the road, paying attention, signaling to other drivers what you're trying to do, and being prepared for people and animals to do something dumb.
These things are on a whole other level than speeding or "illegally" passing. But the person who can't keep their car centered in the lane, wrecks every other winter, doesn't use their turn signal, doesn't notice an ambulance right behind them, and drives too close to the car in front of them will say "I'm a GOOD driver because I don't speed. Shame on all these bad drivers that pass me!"
Even worse some of those "GOOD" non-speeding drivers will try to "police the roads" and prevent people from getting around them which has literally resulted in completely pointless deaths during emergencies.
Googling around, it looks like there's a strong relationship between increased speed and accident severity. The reasons cited are increased kinetic energy of the vehicle, decreased effectiveness of the built-in safety equipment, and a higher risk of rollover. It's particularly dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.
Increased speed also increases the risk of an accident, since it reduces the amount of time drivers have to react, and increases the vehicles stopping distance.
From
(Interestingly, speeding decreases fuel efficiency, but that isn't what the original post was about)
Yes, but in Texas you'll find the interstate speed limit is 85 and in Ohio it was 65, now it's 70.
There's not some fundamentally crazy difference between Ohio and Texas roads that results in Texas accepting 20mph higher speed limits than the rate Ohio was using within the last 10 years or so.
There is a history of speed limits for fuel efficiency and scarcity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Maximum_Speed_Law. Which is more evidence that speed limits do not inherently correspond to safety. Driving the limit, over the limit, or under the limit doesn't "magically" make you safer.
Sure, if you're in an accident two objects traveling faster are going to cause more damage to each other than two objects traveling slower. However, getting into that accident in the first place has little to do with speed and a lot to do with situational awareness and giving yourself enough time to stop in case of emergency (i.e. how close you're following the car in front of you, how fast you're passing kids on the sidewalk, etc).
You'll note speed is always blamed for increasing severity (i.e., it's a factor in the severity of the accident). Unfortunately the links don't work anymore to get to the underlying source but https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/09/18/is-driving-faster-safer/ states "A study conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation says that accidents that were caused by speeding is actually 2.2%." The Autobahn is another great example. Speed is very rarely cited as the primary cause ... because speed isn't really the issue.
We should be focusing on issues that actually cause accidents like tailgating, blocking the left lane, failing to signal, etc.
If it were an honest accident then nothing. If it were due to neglect or lack of due diligence then maybe a few months of of weekend jail or month of full time jail.
For killing someone? Causing someone's death due to negligence is only worth a month of jail to you?
In the US that's called "involuntary manslaughter" and presumably the sentences are shorter, but also still exist so people can't throw up their hands and go "whoops! That was totes an accident" and get off scot-free.
There is no such thing.