Forum whore
Yes, it would have.Originally Posted by binklebonk
When toy enter any country you obviously have to abide by all of those countrys rules etc....
This incident doesnt do much for the faith of this countries law .
Ask yourself this , would the verdict been the same if round that corner were a young family on pushbikes and that the result being that one of the kids was killed .
I think not .
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
e mare libertas
I don't dislike your opinion. It just won't stand up outside of the unique arena of your experiences.
Perhaps I'm being a cunt to point that out. I dunno.
Comes down to the ancient question of whether justice should incorporate retribution.
Frankly, I'm not prepared to comment on that one.
kiwibiker is full of love, an disrespect.
- mikey
Scooter boy
Ill ask my friends on the server i belong to in the States what the punishment is....( they military/cop/related services) probably a lot stiffer than here i bet.
But I do kno that from state to state if differs.
A fine cubanslike good coffee,gr8 wine, passionate luv, and riding my bike with U.
Forum whore
This site stinks of hypocrisy.
Hardcore Biker
Cheryl Blair is the offender... Julie Anne Smith is the dead pillion. Just thought I would clear that up.
mini meeeeeee
Well there ya go then. I didn't even spot that and I quoted him!
I lahk to moove eet moove eet...
Katman to steveb64
Forum whore
That's dpex for you.
Hardcore Biker
A good trick for bikers coming here from the US / those going that way would be to attach some sort of trinket to one of your mirrors, can serve as a reminder of which side you should be on etc...
Forum whore
Whenever I have hired a rental bike in NZ, there's usually been a sticker of an arrow with "keep left" on the instruments.
Forum whore
No you're not being a cunt. But you are avoiding the question.
I have another Brother in law who lost an arm and a leg after having him and his VFR400 crushed into a bridge railing by a long term, low life Wairarapa crim. He's only alive because he fell into the stream below that was flooded by snow melt and it dropped his core temp and reduced his arterial blood loss to a trickle. The crim in question was utterly out of his tree on alcohol and his "product". Hes travelling fast enough to barrel roll his panel van into an adjoining paddock. TV3 had the temerity to paint that low-life as some sort of victim when they did a story on the accident and made the Bro in law look like a 2 bit backwoods hick who deserved it.
My point is, and everyone keeps ignoring it, that every other competency tested skill or profession in this country carries heavy penalties if you get it wrong.
Except a drivers license. You can be demonstrably incompetent and it just doesn't matter what you do to anyone else.
It has nothing to do with retribution. It has everything to do with living in a society that is two faced enough to mete out "justice" to a nurse who makes a drug error and kills someone, but can't stomach the thought of applying "justice" to injuries and deaths caused on the road. There is a lot of pointless expenditure trying to convince people that speed and drinking (and increasingly drug use) do not mix, but as "proven" by the pathetically enormous list of pointless convictions given to the driver who led to BADD being created, it just doesn't matter. You can be so horribly incompetent that you kill and maim at will on the road and no one has the will to stop labelling stuff that happens on the road anything other than an accident.
It's a few simple questions that people keep trying to muddy the answer to.
Why is a human life worth less on the road in NZ than in any other situation? Why does no one (for all practical intents and purposes) regard driving or riding as a responsibility? Why is incompetent driving behaviour tolerated?
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
e mare libertas
Is it?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4764119a11.html
(Where an 'apology' was all that was necessary in a fatal case of 'true human error'.)
Like I said, I do wonder whether your perception of the differentiation is valid. I'm prepared to admit that it is - I just haven't seen anything myself that indicates it.
kiwibiker is full of love, an disrespect.
- mikey
Forum whore
But your examples are not entirely analogous.
The person who injured your brother in law did so after a series of volitional acts . Getting drunk, taking drugs etc. In such a case a "lock him up and throw away the key" punishment may be of benefit to society.(Personally, I'd say hang him, gaol costs) . Others who are about to make similar decisions may think twice. "Hey mate,want a drink". "yeah sure - uh , no wait, maybe not, I was watching the story about that guy they hanged for drunk driving earlier, guess you can't be too careful eh".
But in the tragic case of your original post, there was no point at which the woman would have made that "oh - no wait -- " moment. She did not realsie she was doing anything wrong.
You use also the analogy of a nurse who makes a drug error. But that is also not quite analogous. It would be if the Blair woman had been a professional driver, in the course of her job. But she was not. Would you argue for the same draconian punishment for the 80 year old lady who gets muddled and accidently gives her 85 year old husband an incorrect (and fatal) does of his prescription medicine ? (It does happen) .
Where there is some volitional point at which behaviour can be altered, draconian punishment may work (though at an overall cost that society may not be prepared to tolerate). But where there is no volition, no malice, no realisation of negligence, even the most condign punishment will send no useful message.
Hardcore Biker
I think you've probably written a couple of the most heartfelt and completely accurate posts on here in a long time. I don't think some people realise that justice is more than solely what is 'best' for the offender and has to also incorporate the victims views and how the sentence will affect them for the rest of their lives.
I can only imagine the anger I would feel if my wife or other family member were killed in similar circumstances and the 'offender' denied any culpability, dragged on the legal process for as long as she could and then was sentenced to such a pathetic sentence. It makes a complete mockery of the pain and suffering the victims go through, if this lady did have problems in understanding which side of the road she should drive then why in the hell did she drive?
Unfortunately this is a common theme as per this editorial http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10544539
I wouldn't mind the sentence so much if they incorporated life time disqualifications, yet trusting these people to drive again, ever?
Forum whore
Ah yes, dig a little deeper, and you'll find that Nurse has been struck off. She isn't a Nurse anymore. The apology was deemed necessary to avoid a jail term. Yes, I do have inside information on that one.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
e mare libertas
Well, that's hardly surprising.
But losing one's job as a result of a fatal incident isn't really that bad, is it?
I mean, you could argue that a six month custodial sentence (whether or not home detention is granted) is a fair bit worse than having to wander off and reboot your career without any criminal convictions on record.
"You killed a man!"
"Oh. Woops. So sorry."
"Oh, you're sorry? That's OK then. You can't keep your job, but there'll be no criminal charges. Ta ra!"
See what I mean?
It's just not that harsh. She would have gotten off worse if she'd driven drunk and killed someone.
kiwibiker is full of love, an disrespect.
- mikey
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