Posted on 07/31/2002 5:47:13 PM PDT by Libloather
Even if they're 16 or 17 years old - and placed behind the wheel of a car after consuming a case of beer?
But there is no law against stupidity.
Spare key's were attached to the car ...... somewhere with a magnet, good thing he left his baby daughter at our house for the night, judging him too drunk, was me, guess he was of another opinion.
"Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity isn't a sin, the victim can't help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity." - Robert A. Heinlein
No!
Citizens are also not allowed to put other citizens at risk. This is not a case of a toll booth operator failing to stop a drunk. This guy took the drunk to his car so that he could drive.
One has no duty to stop a bank robber. If, however, you give a ride to a bank robber assisting in his getaway, knowing he is a bank robber, you are guilty as an accessory. The key element here is that Powell knew the an was intoxicated.
Your dodging the question - nice try. The subject of this thread is about the responsibility of OTHERS besides the drunk or stoned driver
How about this one - would you be responsible if the drunk driver was your 16 or 17 years old child - placed behind the wheel of a car after consuming a case of beer at your party?
The key element here is that Powell knew the an was intoxicated.
Get the ducks in a row. The first key element was that the police gave a drunk the keys to his car and sent him on his way with a friend. The second key element is that the drunk drove and got in an accident and killed people. The third key element is that the police incorporated Powell into their own on-the-job negligence. The fourth key element is Powell Powell didn't forced the Pangle to drive -- Pangle freely chose to drive while he was drunk.
One has no duty to stop a bank robber. If, however, you give a ride to a bank robber assisting in his getaway, knowing he is a bank robber, you are guilty as an accessory.
Driving the getaway car in a bank robbery is a crime. Giving a person a ride to their car is not a crime.
That said, I bet Powell in hindsight dearly wishes he would have kidnapped Pangle to keep him from driving and been happy to deal with possibility of facing kidnapping charges knowing his best friend was still alive.
Here's an ever better (real world) conundrum:
In the past couple of months there was a case where a woman opted not to drive home, she took a cab.
The cab driver committed some sort of infraction and was stopped by an officer. The cab driver was not cited but the passenger was charged with PI (public intoxication) and hauled to jail to dry out.
Nothing in the report indicated that she was mouthing off to the officer. Talk about damning someone attempting to do the right thing...
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