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Popa, you shouldn’t text while drive, not only because of the statue
i dont understand. is there a certain statue near where popa lives that is particularly prone to being run into by a distracted driver?
80,
Wrong thread.
popa
“If I had to guess, it would have to go into a vehicular manslaughter one”
First degree is the harshest. Being that she had no priors and was sober she definitely wouldnt receive that charge. You can argue Vehicular Manslaughter in the second degree but TWD was only a secondary offense until recently, and Vehicular Manslaughter is generally reserved DWI/DUI.
Hmm. I didn’t read the statute. What does it say?
Also, are all vehicular cases limited to those two categories, or can you do criminally negligent homicide in a car also?
daas yochid – lol! Thats what keeps things fun here!
the same way they have loads of anti smoking commercials showing what a persons lungs etc look like from smoke, they should show what a person who texts and gets into an accident looks like.
This is not really my field of Law but…
You can be charged w Criminally Negligent Homicide w the use of a vehicle.
Criminally Negligent Homicide has to be something so serious that there is significant risk and a likelihood that someone WILL get hurt. For example, drag racing under the influence on a city street.
http://courts.state.ny.us/ad4/court/Decisions/2006/07-07-06/PDF/0764.pdf is a case where the state supreme court ruling defines and clarifies what may or may not constitute CRIMINAL negligence.
mewho. There is a British PSA (public service announcement) created in August of 2009 that is so lifelike, so gory and so scary once you watch it, you wont want to text within 50 yards of a car.
I would put up a link, but I know that the mods would never allow the link. Google it.
Do you need a conscious adverting to a substantial and unjustifiable risk?
Because I would never do that.
apy
I guess I missed the upgrade. I know they are going out for blood on this but I dont see (I hope) how they can make it stick.
I agree one shouldn’t text while driving. However, so many other things are just as much of a distraction and are legal. The bottom line is you have to act responsibly and drive safely.
So the case apusheteyid is citing shows that NY considers criminal negligence to be recklessness, which requires consciously ignoring the risk. It is a pretty high standard, and I don’t imagine it can be easily used for texting.
I am guessing the states attorney is trying to see whether the courts will allow it and is using this as a test case.
They are going to have a hard time pushing it as Criminal Negligence.
Then again it was a highly publicized case that got Albany to pass legislation…
I hope it works out for her.
TO: “dunno”
I disagree.
I don’t think there are many things that are AS MUCH of a distraction while driving as texting is.
Don’t forget, – to text you have to be LOOKING at the keypad (NOT the road) AND using your hand/s on the keypad (NOT the steering wheel). – Not to mention that your mind is distracted as well.
Also, unlike the distraction of adjusting a radio, for example, which is just for a second or less, texting can keep your attention for several seconds (at least) – definitely long enough to cause an accident.
IF you are right, and there ARE other activites equally distracting, then the answer is not for texting to be legal, but for those other things to be illegal as well.
Popa. I dont think they will have that hard a time (although I wish they do) proving “consciously ignoring the risk”. Its not an obscure, arcane law or concept that nobody is familiar with.
apy
Yes, but the fact that TWD wasnt a primary offense when she got into the crash, will hopefully work to her credit.
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