Which offence is MOST likely to cause an accident.

[Jantar]

The items about the the teenager who caused a crash in a stolen Mercedes which killed two people, and the guy who was so pissed he fell asleep while filling his car have helped to highlight some extreme inconsistancies in applying penalties. So steal a car, run from the police, kill two people and injure another two and the penalty is 3 months. Drink & drive with the potential to cause harm, but not actually injure anyone, and the penalty is 18 months. It is way past time that a more coherent penalty system was put in place.

But any new penalty system must be consistant right across the spectra of offences. Which of these offences do you consider most likely to be the primary cause an accident.

[Grahameeboy]

Well both have the potential but the police chase has the MOST.

I know the guy stole a Merc, however, the question is "How more likely is an accident in a Police chase"..........

[rwh]

So steal a car, run from the police, kill two people and injure another two and the penalty is 3 months. Drink & drive with the potential to cause harm, but not actually injure anyone, and the penalty is 18 months.

You missed what I feel is the most important point when trying to compare those sentences - the teenager's was restricted by the limits of the youth court. We don't know what it would have been in the ordinary one.

I pick the red light, on the basis that it's the one that gives the other traffic most confidence in what you're doing.

Richard

[Motu]

Were there any vehicles involved? Like - failing to give way at a give way sign sounds pretty dangerous....but failing to stop at a stop sign not a problem.However if I failed to stop at the stop sign and there was a car coming,then it changes the possibilities.So,in all these activities,was an iniment collision in the mix?

[paturoa]

Tail gating!

The entire AK roading network is covered with about 20mm of tail light plastic and headlignht glass.

[Ixion]

You need to factor in the average serious of the accidents caused, and the delta for repeat offences (eg, you can get a whole string of failing to give ways, same penalty every time, indefinately, whereas a second or subsequent drink drive charge will winch the penalty way up.)

Also, some offences don't in themselves necessarily have an accident causing propensity, but tend statistically to be associated with increased accidents (eg disqualified driving)

[Dafe]

I'm telling you - Both cases have highlighted new blood for prospective future employment as Labour Cabinet Ministers.

[Hitcher]

I remember reading something somewhere once that three things most likely to cause motorcyclists to have an accident were: themselves; intersections and group rides.

[onearmedbandit]

Failing to keep left.

[scumdog]

Watching 'Minority Report" ( and having a drop of red) and I think we need something like that here.

BTW Imagine if the drunk dick had fallen to the grond, dragged the running nozzle with him and the resulting split fuel had caught fire????????

[Hitcher]

Watching 'Minority Report" ( and having a drop of red) and I think we need something like that here.

What, some raving incoherent scantily-clad bint in a sensory deprivation tank?

[scumdog]

What, some raving incoherent scantily-clad bint in a sensory deprivation tank?

Sounds like the story of my life...............

[Jantar]

I'm not going to get into "What If" scenarios with this poll, and there are also some serious accident causing situations that I've not included. (Like fatigue). Instead I've aligned this poll to match some data I'm getting from the MoT via the SafeAs website in order to make a more detailed submission to the MoT.

I realise that this poll is not a random cross section of the motoring public, but the results I use will note this.

[Macktheknife]

Most likely to cause an accident in the list given is the 'fail to stop at red light', because there is most chance of another vehicle coming through on the opposing green.
However, there are many mitigating factors in almost all of the circumstances you have mentioned. Such as time of day/night, road conditions, traffic flow and weather.
E.g.; riding outside of licence conditions while speeding on a sunny country road at 2pm is quite different to say, doing the same on the Auckland motorway system at 5pm on a week day in the rain.
Additionally there is the impact of repeat offending, I read somewhere recently that a guy went to court in NZ on his 17th DIC offence, this man is clearly a menace to society and should be locked up. He also had no licence so this is obviously not enough to stop him.
I take your point about consistency but would advise caution on comparing some things, discretion is a valuable and important part of true justice. (which sometimes happens here honest!)

[inlinefour]

The items about the the teenager who caused a crash in a stolen Mercedes which killed two people, and the guy who was so pissed he fell asleep while filling his car have helped to highlight some extreme inconsistancies in applying penalties. So steal a car, run from the police, kill two people and injure another two and the penalty is 3 months. Drink & drive with the potential to cause harm, but not actually injure anyone, and the penalty is 18 months. It is way past time that a more coherent penalty system was put in place.

But any new penalty system must be consistant right across the spectra of offences. Which of these offences do you consider most likely to be the primary cause an accident.

You have actually missed the item that I consider to be the biggest contriution to MVAs in New Zealand, fatigue. E.G. Falling asleep at the wheel/handlebars/woteva...