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Just 27 months for killing a cyclist and lying to the authorities.
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destructdisc lemmy.world destructdisc@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-12
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318   Original
brem lemmy.world brem@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-06-09
#2 · Quote Reply

Where I'm from, if you don't lie.. you can just drive away from it, if your car still works. True story :(

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saltesc lemmy.world saltesc@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-01
#3 · Quote Reply

I went to court once because the morning after a party, I still blew just over 0.05.

While there, I saw a guy who had his lawyer dad there speaking for him. The guy was in stopped traffic, mounted a sidewalk, hit a child on their bicycle, and fled the scene, later telling his dad who called the police.

He got a 1 year suspension on his licence, no jail time, and fine like 900€. I remember hearing the person behind me say, "Fucking bullshit" as we waited for our turn.

In comparison, I got 300€ and a six month suspension, no record. I was told it would be worse, but it was clear that I was unaware that I may have still had alcohol in my system. Which is true, because I stopped and went to bed early, knowing I had to be up early to drive to the markets.

Apparently I could've also hit children and sped off the road to get around traffic for just 600€ more...

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whyNotSquirrel sh.itjust.works whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-10
#4 · Quote Reply

Callaghan said Stechman, who was on a learner licence, had been aggressive from the start of his interaction with Huntsman, which was an aggravating feature of his offending.

He said Stechman drove up behind Huntsman tooting his horn, even though Huntsman had been cycling at around 58 kilometres per hour in the 50 zone.

There wasn't even any reason to overtake him, I'm sure it's the kind of guy that will tell you cyclists don't respect the rules

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danekrae lemmy.world danekrae@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-11
#5 · (edited) Quote Reply

Where I'm from, if you don't lie.. you can just drive away from it, if your car still works. True story :(

Who decides if something is a lie or not

Edit: The comment made it sound like people could just drive away from the scene of the accident.

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lntl lemmy.ml lntl@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-06-04
#6 · Quote Reply

He looks awfully sorry tho

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wopalopa lemmy.world wopalopa@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-12-17
#7 · Quote Reply

i once watched a documentary about some of the most wanted criminal in japan. basically there's a guy thats been to prison. in there his cellmate told him that the easiest way to kill a person is just hit them with a car, because its so hard to prove the murder intent they just charge you with negligence.

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lntl lemmy.ml lntl@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-06-04
#8 · Quote Reply

Who decides if something is a lie or not Edit: The comment made it sound like people could just drive away from the scene of the accident.

The judge.

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Viking_Hippie lemmy.dbzer0.com Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2024-12-04
#9 · Quote Reply

Callaghan said Stechman, who was on a learner licence, had been aggressive from the start of his interaction with Huntsman, which was an aggravating feature of his offending. He said Stechman drove up behind Huntsman tooting his horn, even though Huntsman had been cycling at around 58 kilometres per hour in the 50 zone. There wasn't even any reason to overtake him, I'm sure it's the kind of guy...

Huntsman had been cycling at around 58 kilometres per hour in the 50 zone

If that wasn't downhill, Huntsman was FAST! 😮

Sorry for the digression, but as an avid but slow long distance cyclist, I gotta give props where they're due 😁

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brem lemmy.world brem@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-06-09
#10 · Quote Reply

Who decides if something is a lie or not Edit: The comment made it sound like people could just drive away from the scene of the accident.

Lies expose themselves? Have you not seen guilt wither the truth? It happens so much today. With enough time, a lie rots. Super easy to see. It's not immediately physical. But it does take a physical toll. On both those who see it and those who create it.

A lie is the opposite of truth. No judgement can change this decision. It exists, does it's damage, and then the truth comes along and mops the lie up..and we start over again.

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Viking_Hippie lemmy.dbzer0.com Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2024-12-04
#11 · Quote Reply

Who decides if something is a lie or not Edit: The comment made it sound like people could just drive away from the scene of the accident.

Tom Hanks.

No idea why, that's just who they picked 🤷🏻

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Steve communick.news Steve@communick.news
Joined: 2023-08-05
#12 · (edited) Quote Reply

That sounds like plenty of time to me.
Though I believe, nearly all criminal sentences are shockingly too long, and punitive punishment is primitively barbaric.

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naught101 lemmy.world naught101@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-05-08
#13 · Quote Reply

I think it would be a very bad idea for "lying to the authorities" to be a crime...

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PlaidBaron lemmy.world PlaidBaron@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-30
#14 · (edited) Quote Reply

That sounds like plenty of time to me. Though I believe, nearly all criminal sentences are shockingly too long, and punitive punishment is primitively barbaric.

'Prmitively barbaric'. I have never heard a combination of words that so easily betrayed pseudo-intellectualism before. That's impressive.

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Steve communick.news Steve@communick.news
Joined: 2023-08-05
#15 · Quote Reply

'Prmitively barbaric'. I have never heard a combination of words that so easily betrayed pseudo-intellectualism before. That's impressive.

What would be a better term?

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PlaidBaron lemmy.world PlaidBaron@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-30
#16 · Quote Reply

What would be a better term?

Just barbaric. Why add a useless qualifier?

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Steve communick.news Steve@communick.news
Joined: 2023-08-05
#17 · Quote Reply

Just barbaric. Why add a useless qualifier?

There are modern barbarians. But I can see your point. Fixed

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Bieren lemmy.today Bieren@lemmy.today
Joined: 2026-03-01
#18 · Quote Reply

What’s wild to me. Isn’t that abhorrent lack of justice here. But that so so so so many people are totally willing to kill someone with their car. Walking, running, riding a bike, doesn’t matter.

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Carl anarchist.nexus Carl@anarchist.nexus
Joined: 2026-06-08
#19 · Quote Reply

Huntsman had been cycling at around 58 kilometres per hour in the 50 zone If that wasn't downhill, Huntsman was FAST! 😮 Sorry for the digression, but as an avid but slow long distance cyclist, I gotta give props where they're due 😁

Yeah, this immediately jumped out at me too. Dude was fucking booking it. He was riding that shit like he was being chased, before the asshole even pulled up behind him.

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PlaidBaron lemmy.world PlaidBaron@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-30
#20 · (edited) Quote Reply

There are modern barbarians. But I can see your point. Fixed

You know what. Props for editing your comment. I still may not agree with you, but I can appreciate you listening to criticism.

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JoeBigelow lemmy.ca JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-07-06
#21 · Quote Reply

Yeah, this immediately jumped out at me too. Dude was fucking booking it. He was riding that shit like he was being chased, before the asshole even pulled up behind him.

Could be riding a pedal assist e-bike too no? Or do they stop helping above a certain speed? He was going ~36mph for any other freedom unit cyclists, which is pretty damn quick for any kind of bicycle!

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JoeBigelow lemmy.ca JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-07-06
#22 · Quote Reply

You know what. Props for editing your comment. I still may not agree with you, but I can appreciate you listening to criticism.

You came across like a massive ass, the fellow capitulated, and you continue to patronize him. Do you think you're some sort of positive influence here?

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JoeBigelow lemmy.ca JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-07-06
#23 · Quote Reply

That sounds like plenty of time to me. Though I believe, nearly all criminal sentences are shockingly too long, and punitive punishment is primitively barbaric.

Dude don't listen to that ass he probably got his socks wet this morning.

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PlaidBaron lemmy.world PlaidBaron@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-30
#24 · Quote Reply

You came across like a massive ass, the fellow capitulated, and you continue to patronize him. Do you think you're some sort of positive influence here?

Get over yourself.

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AngryCommieKender lemmy.world AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-02
#25 · (edited) Quote Reply

Could be riding a pedal assist e-bike too no? Or do they stop helping above a certain speed? He was going ~36mph for any other freedom unit cyclists, which is pretty damn quick for any kind of bicycle!

Not an E-bike, no. My E-bike can technically go up to 25mph before it stops assisting, but I, and everyone else I know that owns one, have it set to cutoff at 20mph. Not because 25 is particularly fast around here with good bike infrastructure (for the US,) but because I had it set to 25 for about 600 miles and the motor started making a loud high pitched whine anytime it went over 20. I didn't want to burn up the motor, so I set it to 20mph max. I now have 4000+ miles on that bike and add 150-200 miles a month.

Electric motorcycles are a different story.

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TrickDacy lemmy.world TrickDacy@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#26 · Quote Reply

What’s wild to me. Isn’t that abhorrent lack of justice here. But that so so so so many people are totally willing to kill someone with their car. Walking, running, riding a bike, doesn’t matter.

Yeah, it's absolutely bizarre how normalized the idea is that "car is standard, everyone getting killed by not being in one was just asking for it"

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BillCheddar lemmy.world BillCheddar@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-02-16
#27 · Quote Reply

Get over yourself.

lol can i log onto amazon and ship you a mirror? good lord.

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TrickDacy lemmy.world TrickDacy@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#28 · Quote Reply

I think it would be a very bad idea for "lying to the authorities" to be a crime...

"would"? that's pretty standard everywhere already. I'm pretty sure most people who do it and are caught either get away with it Scot free, or it's added alongside another legit charge, like murdering someone in a car.

Curious, why is it a very bad idea?

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PlaidBaron lemmy.world PlaidBaron@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-30
#29 · Quote Reply

lol can i log onto amazon and ship you a mirror? good lord.

Ew. Dont use Amazon. Buy it from a small local store or something.

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Scrollone lemmy.zip Scrollone@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-10-12
#30 · Quote Reply

I went to court once because the morning after a party, I still blew just over 0.05. While there, I saw a guy who had his lawyer dad there speaking for him. The guy was in stopped traffic, mounted a sidewalk, hit a child on their bicycle, and fled the scene, later telling his dad who called the police. He got a 1 year suspension on his licence, no jail time, and fine like 900€. I remember heari...

Yes, exactly, it's truly fucked up. We should put people in prison for traffic violations, because when you drive a vehicle and you don't follow the rules you risk killing people.

Looking at your phone while driving? Going faster than the speed limit? You may kill somebody.

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JoeBigelow lemmy.ca JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-07-06
#31 · Quote Reply

Get over yourself.

I don't think I will, and it seems like the majority agrees with my statement. Maybe you should take your own advice.

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PlaidBaron lemmy.world PlaidBaron@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-30
#32 · Quote Reply

I don't think I will, and it seems like the majority agrees with my statement. Maybe you should take your own advice.

Oh no. Random people on the internet dont like me. Whatever will I do?

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mrgoosmoos lemmy.ca mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2025-03-24
#33 · Quote Reply

Yes, exactly, it's truly fucked up. We should put people in prison for traffic violations, because when you drive a vehicle and you don't follow the rules you risk killing people. Looking at your phone while driving? Going faster than the speed limit? You may kill somebody.

a sad thing is that just operating the vehicle is now often less safe than a decade ago

i.e. you can get a distracted driving ticket for using your phone mounted on your dash for navigation (zooming out / panning), but you won't get one for adjusting touch screen climate controls on your super shitty unintuitive dashboard UI, a much more difficult task

i.e. you can get a ticket for driving 5 km an hour over the limit, but you won't get one for having LED headlights so bright that they completely hid a pedestrian in a crosswalk at a four way stop and the oncoming driver nearly ran them over (I have seen this happen multiple times in my own neighbourhood)

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ChickenLadyLovesLife lemmy.world ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-16
#34 · Quote Reply

Yes, exactly, it's truly fucked up. We should put people in prison for traffic violations, because when you drive a vehicle and you don't follow the rules you risk killing people. Looking at your phone while driving? Going faster than the speed limit? You may kill somebody.

Looking at your phone while driving?

I'm a school bus driver. My coworkers frequently use their phones while driving the buses -- even though we have cameras mounted inside and they keep getting caught at it. Somehow nobody has gotten anything except a warning from the boss for doing it. I just do not understand how they're getting away with it.

Some of the drivers also vape on the buses.

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ChickenLadyLovesLife lemmy.world ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-16
#35 · Quote Reply

a sad thing is that just operating the vehicle is now often less safe than a decade ago i.e. you can get a distracted driving ticket for using your phone mounted on your dash for navigation (zooming out / panning), but you won't get one for adjusting touch screen climate controls on your super shitty unintuitive dashboard UI, a much more difficult task i.e. you can get a ticket for driving 5 km...

i.e. you can get a ticket for driving 5 km an hour over the limit

I'm a school bus driver and my superior once tried to tell me that it was legal to drive 5 mph over the speed limit. I laughed and said "what the fuck are you talking about?" TBF it's de facto legal to do it because you're extremely unlikely to get a ticket for it and you could argue in court that a recorded speed 5 mph over the limit is not statistically different from the actual limit, but that's not the same as actually "legal".

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JoeBigelow lemmy.ca JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-07-06
#36 · Quote Reply

Oh no. Random people on the internet dont like me. Whatever will I do?

A normal, decent person might be self critical for a moment and use this as a learning experience, and be more kind in the future.

But a keyboard warrior just screams reeeeee and smashes the mountain dew cans off the desk like a child.

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mrgoosmoos lemmy.ca mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2025-03-24
#37 · Quote Reply

i.e. you can get a ticket for driving 5 km an hour over the limit I'm a school bus driver and my superior once tried to tell me that it was legal to drive 5 mph over the speed limit. I laughed and said "what the fuck are you talking about?" TBF it's de facto legal to do it because you're extremely unlikely to get a ticket for it and you could argue in court that a recorded speed 5 mph over the ...

lmao I don't think I've ever heard anyone argue that it's legal, only that it's expected or that it's standard practice. but oh boy do people ever complain about how speed cameras would ticket people for going "only 5km/h over the limit in a school zone" (context: my province recently banned all speed cameras and took them all down. yes, all of them. it's dumb as fuck)

to add some clarity to my previous comment, I was thinking of a 60 km an hour stroad where it's designed for 80+ and you can comfortably drive 90 because it's two lanes each way with shoulders, divided, and a separated sidewalk that nobody uses because it's unpleasant as fuck. in that case, driving 65 in a 60 is just.. it makes no difference. the road is designed for 80.

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Mab_813 fedi.at Mab_813@fedi.at
Joined: 2022-11-20
#38 · Quote Reply

I went to court once because the morning after a party, I still blew just over 0.05. While there, I saw a guy who had his lawyer dad there speaking for him. The guy was in stopped traffic, mounted a sidewalk, hit a child on their bicycle, and fled the scene, later telling his dad who called the police. He got a 1 year suspension on his licence, no jail time, and fine like 900€. I remember heari...

@saltesc You were over 0.05.The person who did something worse than you also got a worse sentence than you. Not sure why you are complaining. And the court also believed you and told you your sentence could have been worse.How about you take responsibility for your mistake instead of whining?

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PlaidBaron lemmy.world PlaidBaron@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-30
#39 · Quote Reply

A normal, decent person might be self critical for a moment and use this as a learning experience, and be more kind in the future. But a keyboard warrior just screams reeeeee and smashes the mountain dew cans off the desk like a child.

I only value the opinions of people I respect. I dont know you so why would I respect your opinion?

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saltesc lemmy.world saltesc@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-01
#40 · Quote Reply

@saltesc You were over 0.05.The person who did something worse than you also got a worse sentence than you. Not sure why you are complaining. And the court also believed you and told you your sentence could have been worse.How about you take responsibility for your mistake instead of whining?

Okay

1
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