A case of affluenza

[PotomacCyclist]

Thought the recent Anne Arundel crash and investigation was outrageous (where a cyclist was rear-ended by a wealthy car driver, and the driver getting a slap on the wrist)?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2013/11/22/grand-jury-traffic-tickets-suffice-in-case-of-dead-cyclist/

While this Texas case doesn’t involve cyclists, it does involve another driver who seems to have escaped serious punishment because of his family connections. The teenager had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit. He stole beer from a Walmart with his friends. He drove his pickup truck and smashed into a woman whose car had broken down. He killed the woman, two people who lived nearby and had come to assist the woman, and another passerby. Two of his friends, who had been riding in the back of the truck, were seriously injured. One of them is paralyzed.

He pled guilty to four counts of manslaughter by intoxication and two counts of assault by intoxication causing bodily injury. The punishment? Ten years. Of probation. Zero jail time.

‘Couch suffers from “affluenza,” according to his lawyers, a term which means that his wealthy parents pretty much let him get away with everything. The defense saved him from a 20-year sentence; State District Judge Jean Boyd bought it at his sentencing on Tuesday and gave Couch probation instead.’

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/12/the-affluenza-defense-judge-rules-rich-kids-rich-kid-ness-makes-him-not-liable-for-deadly-drunk-driving-accident/

The D.C. area is one of the wealthiest in the nation. I hope there aren’t many cases of affluenza here.

Topic

[Terpfan]

Not a case of the affluenza, but sad nonentheless:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/15/us/indiana-groom-death/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews

Just goes to show the power of vehicles, laws of physics and unintended consequences. I just think way too many drivers don’t envision themselves as constantly endangering others who don’t have protective steel cages. This morning I had a woman veering toward me as she texted and I literally had to stop and hop over a curb onto a sidewalk so I wasn’t hit. Lack of any regard for fellow man/woman.

[baiskeli]

Just an observation – the term “affluenza” has been hijacked. It used to mean the side effects of an affluent lifestyle–such as getting no exercise because of driving everywhere. That meaning was more relevant to cyclists.

PBS aired a film about it a while back (titled “Affluenza”): http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/

[Author]

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