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You’re a Cyclist Who Was Just Struck by a Car Driver. Here’s Why It Was Your Fault
(www.mcsweeneys.net)
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this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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Oh man, this is old, but it didn't pop up as a notification in my app.
Anyway, I think we should apply strict liability standards to driving, like the Netherlands does, and here's why:
First, it's a concept that applies to torts in civil courts, not criminal courts. Nobody would be going to jail for something not their fault. The remedy in tort law is usually monetary damages, so briefly, it would at worst cause insurance rates to go up.
The higher insurance rates would apply more to bigger, heavier, taller vehicles which do more damage to vulnerable road users. That would put a downward pressure on the size of vehicles, which protects everybody.
And, as I see it, nobody is blameless in a collision. Wisconsin (and many other states) has a "modified comparative negligence" system, which assigns damages in court based on each party's percentage of fault. It assigns a certain, low percentage of blame to each party in a collision just for being on the road. So, by that same principal, choosing to drive a vehicle per se assigns fault to the driver. In the case of hitting a vulnerable road user, that decision is almost solely responsible for the severity of the other person's injuries. It might've been their fault, but crushed bones is not a fair and just consequence for a moment of inattention by a kid.
To avoid rambling on longer, the upshot is that I'd trade higher insurance rates for saving children's lives.