>-----Original Message-----
>From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] 
>On Behalf Of Gerhard Fiedler
>Sent: 23 September 2004 13:08
>To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
>Subject: Re: [OT] rules, was Yes, I canned Olin again. Focus 
>on the REALproblems
>
>
>> A good test is to ask "If someone else killed my family 
>because  they 
>> did xxx would I consider that they were acting in an 
>acceptable manner  
>> and that it was 'just an accident'?".
>
>This accident thing is really strange. Think about it... 
>someone running around in a crowded city swinging a hammer and 
>eventually hurting or killing people, not many, just one or 
>two every few years -- he would obviously get prosecuted. But 
>his friend, taking is 2 ton hammer on wheels every night to 
>the bar, also eventually hurting or killing people, also not 
>many, is only causing "accidents".
>

They are very different scenarios though, not really comparable.  No-one (or
at least very few) people drive a car with the actual intention of killing
someone, they simply want to get from A to B.  Wandering around in a crowed
area swinging a hammer has to rasie some doubts about that persons intention
does it not?

>We've gotten to accept most anything that happens on the road 
>as an "accident", as if it were god-given and not a matter of 
>choice. In Germany (and I suspect in most countries) there is 
>a basic /law/ that says you may only drive as fast as is safe 
>within the circumstances. In my interpretation, that means if 
>you hurt or kill somebody, you drove too fast, or in the wrong 
>place, and violated the law.

But do you also agree that pedestrians and cyclists should be held
accountable for their actions rather than simply blaming car drivers for
every accident on the road?

Mike

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