At 60 mph, a car travels 88 feet in a second -- 1,056 feet in 12 seconds.
Yes, that's about a quarter of a mile. That's too long not to know what's in front of you. I can see it taking even longer than 12 seconds to position the mirror and get the light just right to look inside your mouth. Accidents do happen, but this is just irresponsible.
Yep. I agree. Driving is a dangerous thing. But, compared to what others do with their vehicles (drunk and drugged driving, car surfing, etc.) sometimes an accident is just an accident.
He'll be "paying" for this forever in his mind. I still re-live the dog I accidentally hit and killed when I was a teen. And I'm no wuss, but thinking about accidentally killing that dog still ties me up in knots. I can't imagine having to live with killing a human being.
On the other hand, it took 'The Law' SIX DRUNK DRIVING OFFENSES to finally throw my SIL's lousy @ss in jail. She'll get out in 3 more years, and I guarantee she'll drink and drug herself and drive again.
What are lawyers thinking? You rarely see a DUI case in this state; a condition which it completely preventable. Drinking? Don't drive! Duh!
And yet they want to prosecute people for honest to goodness accidents? That's not right.
And at 20 mph, a car travels 30 feet in a second -- 120 feet in 4 seconds.
Two things we don't know: a)how fast he was going and b) how long he took his eyes off the road. (Plus time of day, type of road, flat or hilly, 2-lane or 4-lane -- all factors in determining negligence.)