If we’re talking about an honest accident then how long do you think the jail term should be?
If it were an honest accident then nothing. If it were due to neglect or lack of due diligence then maybe a few months of of weekend jail or month of full time jail.
“honest accident” is the crux of the question. If the driver was doing everything perfectly and some other party was entirely responsible for the accident, not much (maybe none?).
But, at least in my corner of Canada, most drivers are not behaving responsibly or adhering to the law. Speeding, following too closely, illegally passing, and using phones while driving are common. If a driver kills someone while doing something overtly dangerous, they deserve jail time.
I hate that speed(ing) always gets lumped in whenever “dangerous behavior” comes up. Going faster than an arbitrary road sign says you should isn’t inherently dangerous.
- Going faster than the arbitrary road sign can be dangerous.
- Going the speed the arbitrary road sign says can be dangerous.
- Going slower than the arbitrary road sign can be dangerous.
It’s about the conditions of the road, paying attention, signaling to other drivers what you’re trying to do, and being prepared for people and animals to do something dumb.
- following too closely
- using phones while driving
These things are on a whole other level than speeding or “illegally” passing. But the person who can’t keep their car centered in the lane, wrecks every other winter, doesn’t use their turn signal, doesn’t notice an ambulance right behind them, and drives too close to the car in front of them will say “I’m a GOOD driver because I don’t speed. Shame on all these bad drivers that pass me!”
Even worse some of those “GOOD” non-speeding drivers will try to “police the roads” and prevent people from getting around them which has literally resulted in completely pointless deaths during emergencies.
Googling around, it looks like there’s a strong relationship between increased speed and accident severity. The reasons cited are increased kinetic energy of the vehicle, decreased effectiveness of the built-in safety equipment, and a higher risk of rollover. It’s particularly dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.
Increased speed also increases the risk of an accident, since it reduces the amount of time drivers have to react, and increases the vehicles stopping distance.
From
- https://nacto.org/docs/usdg/relationship_between_speed_risk_fatal_injury_pedestrians_and_car_occupants_richards.pdf and
- https://www.emcins.com/losscontrol/insights-d/2020/08/speed-increases-risk/#:~:text=For every 10 mph of,damage to vehicles and property.
(Interestingly, speeding decreases fuel efficiency, but that isn’t what the original post was about)
