Whoooboy....

[shogun32]

Do you think I have any recourse if I'm hurt due to poor maintenance of the roads or dangerous conditions caused by the road design?

in VA you do. Granted it'll be a tough slog to get DMV to pay up for damaged equipment or worse. But strictly speaking it's on the books and has been successfully pursued.

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[MAGS1]

Interesting discussion and a lot to think about in this thread.



I'm pretty sure there's a thing called manslaughter and you can get up to 15 years + a $30,000 fine here in MN if you hit and kill someone.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609.20

I remember in the book "Starship Troopers" Heinlein talks about a society with that sort of capital punishment. When I first read it in grade school I liked the idea. I still do.




I remember hearing that 20+ mph over the speed limit was a felony here in MN and that they could take your car away. I just looked it up and it's a petty misdemeanor. Even reckless driving can be a misdemeanor. It probably depends on circumstances. I think MN is probably tougher than a lot of places.


I submit to you the ultimate pro racing driver, Lewis Hamilton.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...azil-day-later-F1-world-champion-claimed.html



Good post. I'm with you on this, bro.



So you don't find it interesting to discuss whether the punishment is appropriate. Gotcha. I think it's an interesting topic.

I don't agree that everyone who uses public roads has the right to be safe as possible. I think you drive at your own risk. Yesterday I was driving and I saw a hole in the side of the road. I probably missed it by a foot or so. It was deep and big enough that I'm positive I would have crashed and totalled my car if I had hit that hole. Big potholes were one thing that really freaked me out when I used to ride motorcycle. I often felt like I was foolish to ride, no matter how careful I was. So I stopped.

Do you think I have any recourse if I'm hurt due to poor maintenance of the roads or dangerous conditions caused by the road design?

Why doesn’t everyone have the right to use a public road in a manner that’s as safe as possible? If the state or local municipality doesn’t fix a hole in the road that is clearly their responsibility, they should be liable for any damage to you and/or your vehicle. And I think as taxpayers, we should expect and even demand that the entities we pay to maintain the roads should do so timely and properly (except that almost never happens because let’s face it, the government can mess up a 1 car procession).

With regards to the punishment, I never said you couldn’t debate amongst yourselves (I never even said I agreed with it, I understand why it’s set as such a harsh punishment), I said it doesn’t matter what anyone’s opinion is because it’s not going to change (unless you live in Indiana and can petition your local government officials to change said punishment, which I also stated in an earlier post). What I don’t understand is how someone can think a crime wasn’t committed when a posted speed limit was clearly broken (which is a crime) and the guy got caught and now faces the punishment as determined by the state. That is the rule of law in its simplest terms, although real world application is more complex and inconsistent as we all know.

Long winded response but those are my thoughts and opinions.

 

[Hack]

Why doesn’t everyone have the right to use a public road in a manner that’s as safe as possible? If the state or local municipality doesn’t fix a hole in the road that is clearly their responsibility, they should be liable for any damage to you and/or your vehicle. And I think as taxpayers, we should expect and even demand that the entities we pay to maintain the roads should do so timely and properly (except that almost never happens because let’s face it, the government can mess up a 1 car procession).

With regards to the punishment, I never said you couldn’t debate amongst yourselves (I never even said I agreed with it, I understand why it’s set as such a harsh punishment), I said it doesn’t matter what anyone’s opinion is because it’s not going to change (unless you live in Indiana and can petition your local government officials to change said punishment, which I also stated in an earlier post). What I don’t understand is how someone can think a crime wasn’t committed when a posted speed limit was clearly broken (which is a crime) and the guy got caught and now faces the punishment as determined by the state. That is the rule of law in its simplest terms, although real world application is more complex and inconsistent as we all know.

Long winded response but those are my thoughts and opinions.

I would love for the state to automatically pay people for damages, but even better would be maintaining the roads properly. This year they collected a huge excess of taxes in MN, but yet the roads I drive daily have dangerously large holes in them. I'd prefer they spend more of the money to make the roads safe.

I frankly just think the word "right" is excessively abused and over-used nowadays, so I disagree with it. No way does anyone have the right to a safe environment on the roads. Roads are inherently dangerous. I drove home tonight in a winter storm and I chose to take the freeway. I narrowly missed being involved in a 5+ car pileup last winter and I'm still somewhat traumatized from it. My Fiesta ST had snow tires, which is one reason why I got out safely. Also, the owner of the F150 immediately behind me who probably didn't have snow tires and couldn't stop quickly enough was a super nice guy and decided to hit the pile of cars on the side of the road rather than smashing into the back of my car. I owe that guy big time, but I don't think he should be denied the right to drive a huge vehicle or the right to choose not to buy snow tires just because both of those choices make the roads more dangerous for other people.

For the record, I agree speeding should be a crime and I agree a crime was committed.

 

[MAGS1]

I'd prefer they spend more of the money to make the roads safe.

100% agree with you there, the roads here in the Chicago area suck too. I wish we had a tax surplus issue here, don’t think I’ll ever see that in my lifetime. Corruption is expensive!

 

[Strokerswild]

This year they collected a huge excess of taxes in MN, but yet the roads I drive daily have dangerously large holes in them. I'd prefer they spend more of the money to make the roads safe.

This. The roads are a bombed out war zone after this winter....

 

[ice445]

This. The roads are a bombed out war zone after this winter....

We have pretty nice roads here and they've taken a beating from this winter, that's for sure. Plows seem to have to run weekly if not even more often, lol. Curious to see if we can reach 300% of normal snowfall this year lmao

 

[RagmopInKona]

Problem with that though is if his first cuffing involves casualties it's a little too late for the innocent parties. Maybe this will be a small dose of reality check, that serves the public interest. Unfortunately probably not.

30 days jail, forfeiture of car - even better he gets to push the button on the crusher, and 1 year no license. Hey he can bloody well Uber. Or ride a push bike.

Problem is the FELONY charge. sorry. That is over the top. You are going to destroy this kids life for ever over speeding ? Sure put the fear of god in him. so he thinks next time. but Put a felony charge on, and now this kid has ZERO reason to not just keep on breaking the rules and having a totally ADGAF attitude . THis was 130 in a newish car. with no one around, and no harm, no fowl.
I question why some are owners of these cars. I am sure you were complete angels when you were a teen/ 20 somethings. RIGHT.
I know I wasn't. I did the early morning banshee runs.
You did stupid crap at that age also.
Stop with the holier than tho. act.
No one is buying it. You didn't wake up one day in your late 40's and say. I like the feeling of quick and fast speed and go by a mustang. We all got the bug from doing stupid crap on the roads.

 

[shogun32]

Problem is the FELONY charge. sorry. That is over the top

as said previously - charged != convicted. If it's not on the law books beforehand, the Judge can't MAKE it a felony. But the judge/prosecutor also don't have to apply it. See the difference?

Given the circumstance and lucky outcome and the age of the perp they may in fact waive the felony THIS time. The kid probably has no earthly clue he ran afoul of a felony. They don't teach the law in Driver's Ed or in the DMV handbook for license.

Will this kid shape up? I sure hope so but I give it "one chance in three"

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