[Unit 5302]

I really doubt they'll go for involuntary manslaughter.

More likely vehicular homicide.

Since both parties were being illegal (reckless driving, failure to yield), and both were in a car going for the actual 3rd degree charge is unlikely. In the case of hitting a pedestrian, they bend the rules to make your car into a deadly weapon so they can satisfy the public's outrage. Of course in that case, the public could be asking why in the hell did the kid run out into traffic in the first place? Best blame somebody not responsible for the lesson's taught to the child, because he didn't get hurt, right? **** that! It wasn't the drivers fault the kid ran into the street. Who's fault was that? Was it the child's? Was it his parent's? Was it the school, or the church, or his friend's, or his friend's parent's?

In the case of the kid getting hit and dying in CA, it's a shame. In my personal opinion, making the driver out to be 100% responsible, or really 1% responsible is hard for me to do. Busting him for a general offense, like reckless driving, reckless endangerment, speeding, etc is perfectly acceptable. The kid shouldn't be running out into moving traffic. Would the kid have lived if he would have run infront of the car when it was doing 40mph? I just don't understand the direct linking of blame do a non-direct illegal action of a driver. Now had the driver veered off and killed the child it would be completely different. In that case the driver's speed could be directly associated with the death.

In the case of the Dakota, the same as above is fine with me. I think he should get the legitimate book thrown at him. Honestly, making him out to be a murderer is stupid. He's a moron for sure, but you know, I've done the exact same. I'm sure sometime I've done 100 in a 45 somewhere. It takes all of 14sec for my car to hit that speed from a dead stop. Well under 10 from a hiway roll. How many of us have noted really dumb speed limits before? I have very little pity for people that do not watch what they are doing on the roads. How many times had that lady pulled out in front of other people causing panic situations and/or accidents? As brutal as it may sound, had she lived I would have liked to see her charged with failure to yield, careless driving, and reckless endangerment. Just because somebody get's hurt, or the worst of it, doens't let them off in my book.

How many times have you or I been speeding along and some j-rod pulls out in front of you, not even checking the passing lane in case you were coming? You slam on your brakes and wonder, if you had hit that guy, would you have had the book thrown at you?

Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of the Joe Schmoe deciding to get outraged and rile up another whole group of people trying to figure out a way to let themselves, and the rest of the no attention paying Corolla driving zombies (no offense to Corolla drivers, just ramdom choice of economobile) off the hook when they get hit because they weren't paying attention.

It's completely understandable that people within a society do and should have the right to decide what is acceptable in public places such as roads, but when the interest of a few big-mouthed, get everybody riled up about people who actually enjoy life losers use their collective power to attempt to represent the greater populations interest, it really pisses me off. What you really get is the far right wing, who feel that they have the right to dictate everything in society because they have the notion that they are such self-rightous individual's everybody should live the way they do. I'm sorry, but I really don't think everybody in this country really wants to have a beige house, drive a Toyota Corolla, have 3 kids, a CR-V, eat only white meat, mow their laws with Honda Harmony's, own high efficiency toilets, go to church 3 times a week, and get their enjoyment from family sing-a-longs.

It's getting to the point now where it's becoming the trend. A small group of self-righteous feeling people with big mouths are dictating that you cannot spank your children, you cannot send them to bed with no dinner, you cannot snowmobile here or there, no jet skies, big wake zones, no fishing, no camping, no speeding (cause if you do we'll lock you up and throw away the key when some idiot who's not watching the road pulls out in front of you gets killed), no this, no that, better do this, or you better have that are controlling what we can and cannot do.