A man is dead, and this woman is partly responsible. If you think that a $310 fine is sufficient consequence for a person who did not use due diligence while driving (a privilege not a right), then your opinion is duly noted. I have the right to a different opinion, and will proceed on that basis. Since I'm not actively engaged in any attempt to change the outcome of this case, I guess then, at the end of the day, all we are dealing with is opinion. You have yours (and are steadfastly remaining faithful to it), while I have mine. There seems no room for further discussion on this topic. I disagree that the jury had common sense in that they saw that driving 16 mph over the speed limit does not constitute a felony while forgetting that every driver on the road has the absolute responsibility to drive safely, which this woman failed. I only hope that the family of the killed officer finds some way to obtain justice in this case. I will end this discussion with you here. I no longer feel there is any need to have a dialogue with someone who is so callous as to disregard the real issues in this case. Good day to you.
“A man is dead, and this woman is partly responsible.”
Accidents happen. I'm not sure that the officer wouldn't have been killed if she'd have been driving the (arbitrarily low) speed limit.
Generally speaking, folks who step out into highway traffic are at great risk of being hit.
"I guess then, at the end of the day, all we are dealing with is opinion. You have yours (and are steadfastly remaining faithful to it), while I have mine. There seems no room for further discussion on this topic. I disagree that the jury had common sense in that they saw that driving 16 mph over the speed limit does not constitute a felony...”
Yes, and the difference between my opinion and yours is that no state that I know of makes driving 16 mph over a 55 mph speed limit a felony.
Frankly, in Maryland, driving 16 mph over the speed limit isn't even one of the more serious TRAFFIC infractions. There is nothing in the criminal code, either misdemeanor or felony, that makes driving 16 mph over the speed limit a felony.
And that was the prosecutor's problem.
“...every driver on the road has the absolute responsibility to drive safely,...”
First, that doesn't mean that accidents will always be avoided. I had a friend in high school who ran over a man and killed him. Wasn't even issued a ticket. Of course, the man was inebriated, and walked right into my friend's line of travel. He was driving completely safely, yet this old drunk died. Sad.
Second, I know the stretch of road where this happened, and frankly, in my judgement, driving 71 mph may have been the safe thing to do, given what the rest of the traffic often does there, given the typical road conditions, the quality of the road, etc. Sometimes, adhering to the letter of the law while driving is unsafe.
“I only hope that the family of the killed officer finds some way to obtain justice in this case.”
What “justice” they find will likely come out of my pocket, as many have observed that the officer's employer, the state of Maryland, will likely be held liable for the stupid, dangerous orders given to the officer.
“I will end this discussion with you here. I no longer feel there is any need to have a dialogue with someone who is so callous as to disregard the real issues in this case.”
I have every sympathy for the officer and his family. But I also have sympathy for this poor woman, who will ever live with having been the proximate cause of the officer's death, even though it isn't her fault that someone stepped in front of her car at 71 mph.
But, driving 71 mph in a 55 mph zone where the speed limit should really be set for 65 mph or 70 mph just isn't a felony.
Your approach is a bit akin to hanging everyone for jaywalking. In marking down an accident from doing 71 mph in a(n arbitrarily low) 55 mph speed zone as a form of felony homicide, you actually trivialize real felony homicides, which is what seems truly callous to me.
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