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'Common-Sense Legislation' Would Shield Drivers Who Run Over Protesters
U.S. News ^ | Feb. 13, 2017

Posted on 02/13/2017 12:51:19 PM PST by deplorableindc

Drivers who run into protesters would be protected from lawsuits under new proposed legislation in Tennessee.

The bill offered by a pair of Republicans would apply only to instances in which drivers are “exercising due care” when they strike someone “participating in a protest or demonstration” that is “blocking traffic in a public right-of-way.”

A second clause in the half-page bill clarifies, “A person shall not be immune from civil liability if the actions leading to the injury were willful or wanton.”

That distinction sometimes can be fuzzy. Last month, a man drove through a group of protesters in Nashville and wound up with several of them on his hood. He said they jumped onto the car, they said he struck them.

(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: protests
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1 posted on 02/13/2017 12:51:19 PM PST by deplorableindc
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To: deplorableindc

I don’t see why there needs to be a special bill for this. If I stood in the middle of the highway and got hit, no one would be charging the driver with a crime. In fact, if I lived, I’d be charged with the crime. That’s just common sense.


2 posted on 02/13/2017 12:53:15 PM PST by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

At the very least emergency vehicles should be empowered to run down protesters with impunity...


3 posted on 02/13/2017 12:54:59 PM PST by Little Ray (Freedom Before Security!)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

By yourself, no. But if you are with a protesting group, it is easy to make a case against you. The idea is that a reasonable person would avoid them, even if this means coming to a stop.

As far as I’m concerned, I just need to know what is the maximum speed this law would protect. I can then set my cruise control to that speed as I approach the meat wall.


4 posted on 02/13/2017 12:55:20 PM PST by Mr. Douglas (Best. Election. EVER!)
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To: deplorableindc

Not good enough. Should go further to protect the motorist.

And, I want protesters/rioters blocking traffic arrested.


5 posted on 02/13/2017 12:57:47 PM PST by slipper (It is almost too late;)
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To: Mr. Douglas
"I can then set my cruise control to that speed as I approach the meat wall."

Make sure that you move the steering wheel a little bit back and forth, causing a slight sway to the car, just before you hit the wall ...

"Honest, officer, they came out of nowhere and I was trying to swerve to miss them ..."

6 posted on 02/13/2017 12:59:27 PM PST by BlueLancer (Ex Scientia Tridens)
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To: Mr. Douglas

(memorize)
Because I was afraid for my (my family’s) life.


7 posted on 02/13/2017 1:00:00 PM PST by stylin19a (Terrorists - "just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there")
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To: deplorableindc

This is an interesting special case of a general law most if not all states have. If you jump out in front of a car, the car is not considered liable. There are people who will jump in front of slow-moving cars to pretend they are really hurt and sue for damages.

The protesters are somewhat like that. Although in most states there are laws that say cars must yield for pedestrians on crosswalks. So if the protest in on crosswalks, you need to have a way to distinguish between pedestrians moving across the crosswalks and protesters.

If I were running a protest, I would have my group essentially walk around the 4 crosswalks in an intersection continuously. Note that they would be committing a crime (crossing against the signal, probably “failure to obey signal”), but if a pedestrian breaks that law, drivers are still supposed to stop for them. If you hit one, you have to show that he stepped in front of you while you were moving and you had no reasonable way to see him and avoid him.

So in that case, you’d need a new law that said if the people were part of a protest, even if they were staying in crosswalks you could not be sued for hitting them.

If i got stopped by protesters who circled my car, I would crack my window and ask if they were going to let me go, or if they were holding me. If they said they were holding me, I’d run them over and claim I had been kidnapped. If they said I could leave my car, I’d ask if I could take my car with me, or if I had to leave my car with them. If they said I had to leave my car, I’d run them over, and claim they were carjackers.


8 posted on 02/13/2017 1:01:02 PM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: deplorableindc

I want the protesters charged with false imprisonment.... that
Is what they are doing


9 posted on 02/13/2017 1:05:26 PM PST by Bulwinkle (Alec, a.k.a. Daffy Duck)
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To: stylin19a

Because I was afraid for my (my family’s) life.


My version: “I just kept seeing that video of reginald Denny getting pulled out of his truck and beaten almost to death...”


10 posted on 02/13/2017 1:08:24 PM PST by Mr. Douglas (Best. Election. EVER!)
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To: deplorableindc

I would try very hard to avoid, turn off, etc to not be near rabid protestors blocking a highway. However, there are situations where one cannot avoid. Like on an interstate - cannot turn off (unless there is a handy exit), cannot backup unless you are suicidal, and if you come upon violent protesters blocking an interstate, what does the law expect a person to do?

Stop, and get assaulted? Have incredible damage done to your car while you do nothing? And just how many unbiased people are in this crowd who will honestly testify if needed?

An unlawful blocking of a street, road, highway, interstate, should forfeit the ability to sue and the person with the legal right away held harmless for any and all actions required for the vehicle driver to proceed about their business. Additionally, all persons involved in such a blockage should be held responsible for triple all damages incurred by the legal right away vehicle clearing the area.

In other words, we should be free to plow through at whatever speed is deemed necessary, and any damages to us, our vehicle or them, is their problem times three. And, if we cannot proceed, it’s open season with a firearm on the threat.


11 posted on 02/13/2017 1:13:05 PM PST by rigelkentaurus
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To: deplorableindc

Does it cover injuries caused when you back up to get the one you missed?


12 posted on 02/13/2017 1:15:04 PM PST by linear (The truth brooks no arbiters.)
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To: deplorableindc

Anyone watch Walking Dead last night? That’s how you deal with highway protestors.


13 posted on 02/13/2017 1:21:54 PM PST by Dogbert41 (Jerusalem is the city of The Great King!)
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To: deplorableindc

Hmm. I wonder what I can do to get my car to backfire and sound like a gunshot. I think they would scatter like cockroaches.


14 posted on 02/13/2017 1:25:27 PM PST by doug from upland (Are we dreaming or is Hillary finally really gone?)
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To: Mr. Douglas
The idea is that a reasonable person would avoid them, even if this means coming to a stop.

After Reginald Denny got beat up, a reasonable person would accelerate to ramming speed.

15 posted on 02/13/2017 1:28:10 PM PST by NorthMountain (Los Angeles Times is fake news)
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To: deplorableindc

I’d be surprised if they’re not charged with riot. At the very least they should be charged with unlawful assembly. They’re organized to commit the crime of blocking public roads.

Technically the organizers (like Soros) should be charged under RICO.


16 posted on 02/13/2017 1:30:23 PM PST by afsnco (18 of 20 in AF JAG)
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To: CharlesWayneCT

LOL, this is why conservatives don’t make good protestors. Other than the fact that we have jobs. Liberal thugs don’t worry about pesky things called laws.


17 posted on 02/13/2017 1:32:28 PM PST by CottonBall (Thank you, Julian)
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To: NorthMountain

That’s the idea.


18 posted on 02/13/2017 1:34:37 PM PST by Mr. Douglas (Best. Election. EVER!)
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To: Mr. Douglas

I just need to know what is the maximum speed this law would protect. I can then set my cruise control to that speed as I approach the meat wall.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

4 wheel drive also helps if the crowd is ‘thick’.

Glad I don’t have to get out and ‘turn the hubs’ anymore.


19 posted on 02/13/2017 1:41:57 PM PST by xrmusn ((6/98)" "Keep Calm & Kill Them All"-Gen J 'MadDog' Mattis USMC")
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To: deplorableindc

I’m still in favor of installing those flame throwers I saw demonstrated on a BMW in South Africa a few years ago.


20 posted on 02/13/2017 1:45:19 PM PST by noiseman (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.)
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