8 year bike rider accident with truck- who's liable?

[Roger Zoul]

"tim" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]
::: Were the police there when this happened? Were you
::: there? If so, why didn't they or you get the child out
::: of the way? The police aren't lawyers either. if the
::: driver got in the car, he/she should have noticed if
::: someone could *potentially* get in they way of backing
::: up and taken that into account before backing up. One
::: has the responsibility of being sure of conditions
::: before moving the car. Sorry, but that they way it is
::: and should be. Someone moving from a stopped position
::: has the best chance of avoiding an accident.
::
::
::
:: 1. Do you actually think people, including the police,
:: stood by and watched it happen without doing anything?

No. My point is that they weren't around and thus could not make any
statement about what a driver could or could not have seen.

:: 2. As far as ' noticing if someone could potentially
:: get in the way' anyone within 50 feet of anyone backing
:: up, or going forward, 'could potentially get in the way'.

Which means that the driver has a responsibility to not run over any of
those people.

 

[Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman]

Tom Keats wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> writes:
> >
> > Roger Zoul wrote:
> >
> >> ::::: Then there is the argument that "thinning the herd"
> >> ::::: would have positive benefits for the overall
> >> ::::: intelligence of the population.
> >> :::::
> >> :::
> >> ::: Are you seriously making this comment in reference to
> >> ::: an 8-year old kid getting run over?
> >> ::
> >> :: It has been well demonstrated in studies that predation
> >> :: leads to an overall prey species population that is
> >> :: healthier and more capable, as the least fit are
> >> :: eliminated.
> >>
> >> What studies demonstrate this for human populations? Are we now drawing from
> >> animal studies in reference to human behavor, Tom?
> >
> > The last time I checked we were animals. The taxonomic distinction
> > between hominids and hominoids is an artificial one, based on religious
> > belief, not biology.
>
> I guess hominoids predate hominids.

Carl Linnaeus admitted he made the distinction on religious grounds,
not biological. Genetically, the difference is so small that the
distinction should NOT be made.

> Bad puns aside, prey animals don't usually prey on their
> own kind (eating their own young and other forms of
> cannibalism notwithstanding.)
>
> So I don't think humans killing humans works the same way
> as, say, wolves culling caribou herds. And I doubt it's
> the stupid caribous that get taken out (and the smart
> ones left alone,) so much as the physically weak and
> infirm ones.
>
> Besides, if it worked, why are there still so many
> stupid people around?

The consensus of studies is that the more educated people become (which
does have a correlation with intelligence) the fewer children they
have.

Of course, in society, intelligence is not an advantage for many, since
class rules and class opportunities do not allow those born to the
lower classes to pursue occupations where intelligence is an advantage
(with the better careers increasing survival rates due to better diet
and medical care). In most societies, persons born into the lower
classes will have the highest survival rates if they are resistant to
disease and physical overwork. Conversely, the upper classes have the
resources to have most of their children survive, regardless of
defects.

A mechanism that creates a higher death rate (prior to breeding) among
the less intelligent should increase the overall intelligence of a
population.

> >> It is only logical that measures in human
> >> :: populations that protect the least fit will lead to a
> >> :: lower quality population.
> >>
> >> Nonsense. You're making this up.
> >
> > Are hominids exempt from the rules of natural selection?
>
> Chas. Darwin's description of "natural selection" gave me
> the impression he was talking about selecting mates with
> which to optimally combine genes for posterity and possibly
> originating new species, not selecting from nature's menu.

While Darwin's idea of evolutionary development has been shown by
further study to be generally correct, the science has advanced since
his time. Conscious selection of superior mates is not required for the
evolutionary process to work.

> > That view does
> > not make sense, unless one believes in some sort of divine intervention
> > (e.g. "intelligent design") superseding the consensus of biologists
> > over the last century.
>
> This is getting uncomfortably close to being a discussion
> of eugenics.

A significant proportion of the US population believes that eugenics is
being performed by a single, omniscient and omnipotent being.

I see no harm in DISCUSSING eugenics, as pretending something does not
exist will not make it go away.

> Ob bike: if the streets weren't snow & slush & icebound,
> I could've bee-lined to my favourite indy coffee shop for
> a breakfast of tiramisu (the first, freshest serving of
> the day) and a 2-shot americaino. And another one. So
> it's toast and home-perked for me this Sunday morning.
> How pedestrian.
>
> Bicycle withdrawal sux.

A sensible government would offer tax incentives for workplace showers
and secure parking for bicycles and velomobiles, instead of subsidizing
individualized motorized transport in urban areas.

Cold wind, slush and ice would not bother me much if I was riding one
of these: <http://www.leitra.dk/>.

--
Tom Sherman - Post Free or Die!

 

[nash]

><><>Where cars are concerned, people need to be held to a high level of
responsibility than is presently the case in most of these Unitied
States.
Anyone driving a car in a neighborhood ought to be aware that kids
could be
around doing unexpected things.

Which is why the speed limit is alot slower around playgrounds and
schools.

 

[nash]

Who here uses perfect grammar punctuation? Most use two fingers.
You are never wrong I guess. You can't see anyway you said so why
should I bother.
I do better than you. If you cannot answer the question in one
paragraph your full of hot air anyway. this thread is too long. Top
posting is nothing compared to this freak show.

 

[Bart Bailey]

In Message-ID:<[email protected]>
posted on 3 Dec 2006 16:20:14 -0800, nash wrote: Begin

>Top
>posting is nothing compared to this freak show.

Once was said that;
"top posting because that's where your cursor is,
is like shitting in your pants because that's where your ass is"

--

Bart

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> writes:

>> This is getting uncomfortably close to being a discussion
>> of eugenics.
>
> A significant proportion of the US population believes that eugenics is
> being performed by a single, omniscient and omnipotent being.

Yabut when Hhe does it, it's not eugenics; it's natural.

> I see no harm in DISCUSSING eugenics, as pretending something does not
> exist will not make it go away.

There are a few things in life that are really, truly ~Evil~.
Torture is one such thing. Eugenics is another. So is the
deprecation of women as worthwhile citizens in certain societies,
and so is racial apartheid.

it /should/ go away.

Wha'd'ya wanna do -- cull out all the Down's Syndrome newborns,
or all the other folks with oddball chromosome combinations?
I don't think so. I /know/ you have a heart. I think you're
just approaching eugenics in an acedemic, abstract, debating
sort of way. I hope so, anyways

>> Ob bike: if the streets weren't snow & slush & icebound,
>> I could've bee-lined to my favourite indy coffee shop for
>> a breakfast of tiramisu (the first, freshest serving of
>> the day) and a 2-shot americaino. And another one. So
>> it's toast and home-perked for me this Sunday morning.
>> How pedestrian.
>>
>> Bicycle withdrawal sux.
>
> A sensible government would offer tax incentives for workplace showers
> and secure parking for bicycles and velomobiles, instead of subsidizing
> individualized motorized transport in urban areas.

A loving Diety would make it rain so as to wash all the snow &
ice & slush away.

I guess there's no such thing as a sensible government.




--
Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

 

[Zoot Katz]

On Mon, 4 Dec 2006 22:11:27 -0800, [email protected] (Tom Keats)
wrote:

>I guess there's no such thing as a sensible government.

"Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under."
- H.L. Mencken"
--
zk

 

[Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman]

Tom Keats wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> >> This is getting uncomfortably close to being a discussion
> >> of eugenics.
> >
> > A significant proportion of the US population believes that eugenics is
> > being performed by a single, omniscient and omnipotent being.
>
> Yabut when Hhe does it, it's not eugenics; it's natural.
>
> > I see no harm in DISCUSSING eugenics, as pretending something does not
> > exist will not make it go away.
>
> There are a few things in life that are really, truly ~Evil~.
> Torture is one such thing. Eugenics is another. So is the
> deprecation of women as worthwhile citizens in certain societies,
> and so is racial apartheid.

Discussion is not the same as promotion. Setting aside all other
arguments pro and con, eugenics is flawed the same way as the death
penalty (again, setting aside all other arguments, pro and con) in that
is is/would be imposed by fallible humans. End of consideration from a
moral standpoint.

> it /should/ go away.
>
> Wha'd'ya wanna do -- cull out all the Down's Syndrome newborns,
> or all the other folks with oddball chromosome combinations?
> I don't think so. I /know/ you have a heart. I think you're
> just approaching eugenics in an acedemic, abstract, debating
> sort of way. I hope so, anyways

For some, life is rotten, then they die. Why bring a child into this
world that will never have a chance at living a normal, pain free,
fulfilling life? Some (too many) in this world would have been better
off never having been conceived.

> >> Ob bike: if the streets weren't snow & slush & icebound,
> >> I could've bee-lined to my favourite indy coffee shop for
> >> a breakfast of tiramisu (the first, freshest serving of
> >> the day) and a 2-shot americaino. And another one. So
> >> it's toast and home-perked for me this Sunday morning.
> >> How pedestrian.
> >>
> >> Bicycle withdrawal sux.
> >
> > A sensible government would offer tax incentives for workplace showers
> > and secure parking for bicycles and velomobiles, instead of subsidizing
> > individualized motorized transport in urban areas.
>
> A loving Diety would make it rain so as to wash all the snow &
> ice & slush away.
>
> I guess there's no such thing as a sensible government.

Snow is better than the alternative, global warming.

I would love to have a workplace with showers. I could go to sleep in
cycling clothes, crawl out of bed, put on my SPuD shoes, ride to work,
and then take a refreshing shower, followed by dressing in clean
clothes. I am sure I would be much more productive.

--
Tom Sherman - Post Free or Die!

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> writes:

>> A loving Diety would make it rain so as to wash all the snow &
>> ice & slush away.
>>
>> I guess there's no such thing as a sensible government.
>
> Snow is better than the alternative, global warming.
>
> I would love to have a workplace with showers. I could go to sleep in
> cycling clothes, crawl out of bed, put on my SPuD shoes, ride to work,
> and then take a refreshing shower, followed by dressing in clean
> clothes. I am sure I would be much more productive.

Anyways, the rain is coming, the snow is melting, the sun is in
Sagittarius, life is good, and love is in the air.

I used to have a workplace with a shower -- the basement office/shop
of the rooming house in which I live, which I cajoled outa the
landlady. The basement bathroom ain't heated, but once the hot
water is turned on, it doesn't really matter. That was back when
I was transcribing documentary films. Going to "work" involved
crawling out of bed, slipping on the houseshoes & dressing gown,
descending to the nether regions of the house, fixing up a pot of
coffee, listening to or watching recordings of people talking, and
typing it. The cycling aspect only involved picking-up and cashing
paycheques. Ah, for the good ol' days.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca