Road design, safety and Vision Zero

[danbrotherston]

Note: I’m deliberately thinking about this in a detached way. I have to do this for my own mental health.

Given that, part of what I find interesting about this is how quickly the police identified it as a murder. As I understand it, the charges are 1st degree murder x4 + attempted murder. None of this “vehicular manslaughter” stuff. No discussion of what colour clothing the victims were wearing.

I think the sentences should be served consecutively, and anybody who expresses any support for the perpetrator should be investigated with an eye to identifying and punishing past, present, or future hate crimes.

I’m not even sure if I’m serious about that last paragraph. It could be read as a massive expansion of government/police monitoring of speech; but on the other hand, if there is one kind of person we don’t need out and about in our society it would be anybody who thinks that casually murdering a family for being the wrong religion or skin colour is even understandable, never mind an actual good. Certain beliefs need to be brutally suppressed, even in a free and democratic society.

This case is also a point where hate crimes and car culture meet up. Would the perpetrator have been able to commit this crime with another weapon? Most car-related violence is unintentional; it’s sloppy driving by people who don’t intend to hurt anybody, even if their level of care for those outside their vehicle is entirely insufficient. In this case it’s (apparently; trial to confirm) intentional. It would be interesting to know what kind of a driver the perpetrator normally is: do they normally speed through quiet streets and cut off pedestrians at crosswalks, or are they a perfectly reasonable driver when they aren’t deliberately killing people? Are there any past incidents or near-incidents which were not properly identified at the time?

What a load of horseshit!

That's what you take exception too?  Not the future crimes punishment? Which, for the record, is where I must disagree.

In any case, it's quite right. This person managed to kill four people and injure a fifth in a single collision. Part of the reason he was able to do this was because he was driving a large, dangerous, and particularly lethal pickup. If he was driving a smaller, safer vehicle, there's a good chance the harm would have been less.

But I digress...freedom is not and should not be absolute. I am frankly scared that the police and crown attorney have decided not to prosecute the acts of hate in our community. I fear that this will only embolden these people, and I fear for my many friends in this community who may be further victimized as a result. And it makes me so angry, I can only imagine how one must feel to be the targets of this hate.