this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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Fuck Cars

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The officer was previously disciplined 4 times for other driving offenses, but killing someone - well - $35.50 oughta cover it.

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[–] malloc 128 points 10 months ago (3 children)

If you want to get away with murder in the USA, use a car to kill your victim.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Bonus: make sure they're on a bicycle.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 10 months ago (2 children)

SLPT: Become a police officer if you want to murder people and get away with it

[–] thenerdjournals 25 points 10 months ago

not shitty LPT, an unethical LPT.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

Paid vacation too!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But they better not be cop themselves.

Then it's a hate crime.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

Cops still cover up cops killing cops, unless the killer is female or a minority.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Or invite them over to your house and shoot them through the front door when they knock too loudly.

[–] DrCake 1 points 10 months ago

Not just the US, the UK is the same unfortunately

[–] Quaternions 72 points 10 months ago (2 children)

$35.50. Just remember this amount. This is the amount a human life is worth in this fucked up country of ours.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

That was only when people felt obligated to step in and force them to pay some sort of remuneration

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Well, cops get a discount because they own us and all.

/s

[–] [email protected] 39 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

After the crash, Hartup issued a statement saying that as he was completing a turn at an intersection, “I struck a pedestrian. I immediately stopped my vehicle, grabbed my radio, and started aid to the pedestrian, and called dispatch to send medics.”

It gets a little harder to hate the driver when you find out that they did everything after the crash right. Guy still deserves jail time for fucking up driving again so badly that he ended someone's life about it, but I'm not about to call for violence against him. Stopping and calling for help immediately is exactly what you should do if you hit a person.

$35.50 is an absolute insult to the victim, though. I hope it's hard to cope with taking a life knowing that you've only paid the equivalent of a tank of gas for it.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I assume he is lying unless there is video evidence that he did any of those things immediately.

[–] meco03211 19 points 10 months ago

Are you implying the police might lie to save face? The audacity!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

Seems like something the prosecution's lawyer would have an easy time proving by subpoenaing the officer's dash cam footage. If anything, when the victim's family takes the officer to court, they'll subpoena it then. If the camera supports the officer's testimony, you'll never see it, because it won't be used as evidence against him, and no one will bother posting a boring video that just supports a cop's claims

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

I filled my tank on a road trip this week. I prepaid $50 and didn't go over.

[–] obinice 31 points 10 months ago

Well, at least they finally admitted the value of a human life, and it's £28.

Everything makes a lot of sense now when you consider that a person is worth what, a mere 14 bus tickets?

[–] benjiman 29 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

For $35 it'd honestly be less insulting if they didn't fine him at all.

[–] sph 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Isn't the fine for the traffic violation? The compensation from a civil lawsuit will follow I presume.

This makes sense in my opinion. Violating traffic rules should result in the same fine regardless of whether you hit someone or not (like drunk driving isn't more OK just because you got lucky and didn't happen to hit anyone). But if you do hit someone, expect to compensate all costs and damages to that person or family on top of the fine (that goes to the state).

That said, I wish traffic violations would be fined much more harshly. Also if you didn't hit anyone during your reckless behaviour.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

It does make sense. He should probably also have been charged with manslaughter or reckless endangerment.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I wonder what the fine is if you happen to run over a cop in Ft. Wayne?

What if that cop is dressed in all dark clothes at night?

What if that cop is working on the side of the road, or even in the middle of a lane?

What if that cop has his extremely bright, flashing, and distracting colored LED lights blinding all traffic?

It would still be $35.50, right?

[–] Adeptfuckup 2 points 10 months ago

Yes of course it would! eats tidepod. Equal justice under lol fuck you I got mine.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But if you roll a stop sign, you have to pay a fine of $129.50...

[–] Exusia 7 points 10 months ago

What the fuck mine was $235

[–] transmatrix 15 points 10 months ago (7 children)

Can the family still file a civil wrongful death suit?

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[–] Adeptfuckup 13 points 10 months ago

Yep! I’ve noticed my life is worth considerably less than a parked vehicle. So this sadly doesn’t surprise me. They might paint more lines though!!! So that’s neat. Right? Count the bodies like sheep.

[–] Zealousideal_Fox900 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

MERICAAAAAAAAA! Try the brand new police only deal: 1 runover only $35! Limited time!

[–] Adeptfuckup 5 points 10 months ago

Life is too short, so love the one you got. Because you might get ran over or you might get shot. Gilded this age is…

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think the fact he was a cop doesn't have much to do with it.

This country just really doesn't seem to care if someones shitty, aggressive, dangerous driving kills someone (unless they are under the influence then throw the book at them!).

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

In America if you're a civilian and you run over somebody by accident and kill them you can still be charged with negligent homicide and spend several years in prison for it.

Unfortunately those kinds of simple, logical rules for some reason don't seem to apply to the cops that kill far more people on average than any other group in America.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Sure you could but it doesn't seem to ever happen.

[–] Sanctus 4 points 10 months ago (10 children)

Its about time these guiltless pricks start receiving blunt and sharp objects to their eyes and faces when they go out in public.

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[–] FlashMobOfOne 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)

"Fatally striking"

The AP is usually pretty neutral, but that language is way, way too euphemistic here. The real work is murdering. The cop murdered this person.

[–] hydrospanner 17 points 10 months ago (2 children)

False.

Murder is defined in Indiana as either the intentional killing of another person without justification, or causing the death of someone while committing or attempting to commit a violent felony, regardless of intent to kill (the felony murder rule).

Definitions matter.

I'm not arguing the horrible nature of the event or careless disregard on the account of the perpetrator, but incorrect statements like this are how we've ended up in a situation where people throw around terms like "fascist" and "communist" for anything they don't like, and as a result, many people have no idea what those words actually mean.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Manslaughter is the typical term, a subset of homicide. Murder is hyperbolic without established motive, say, being in an Agatha Christie cozy.

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