Driver kills child - $1200 fine

[exwrx]

This has been all over the news since yesterday. No speed, drugs or alcohol involved, so not worth worrying about:

Driver who killed child is fined
18:25 AEST Wed Jun 23 2004


A teacher who killed a six-year-old boy as she tried to park her car was handed a $1,200 fine on Wednesday, as his mother wept and said the system had failed her son.

Constantine Politis was crushed by a car driven by teacher Paraskevi Kafetzis as the boy left Alphington Grammar in Melbourne's north with his mother and younger brother on October 30 last year.

Kafetzis accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake as she tried to manoeuvre into a parking space on Old Heidelberg Road, according to a summary of evidence presented in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Kafetzis mounted the footpath and hit Constantine, knocking him through a fence. He died at the scene.

Magistrate James Mornane fined Kafetzis, 39, of Preston, $1,200 and suspended her licence for a year after she pleaded guilty to careless driving and driving an unroadworthy vehicle.



Her husband Dimitrios, who left the car double-parked moments before the accident, was fined $225 after admitting he parked illegally.

After the sentence was handed down, Constantine's father Spiro Politis yelled at Kafetzis "you've shown no remorse" and "where's my apology?".

Outside the court, Mr Politis and his wife Anna Tsoutsidis said Kafetzis should have been charged with culpable driving, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years' jail.

Ms Tsoutsidis wept as she told reporters her son had been let down by the system.

"It is inconceivable to survive a child. She just left him plastered on the fence and didn't even reverse. How negligent is that?" she said.

"And my son's life is worth, what, $1,200?"

The court heard Kafetzis told police she felt "very heavy in my chest" about Constantine's death.

"I feel like I have lost a child of my own," she said.

Mr Politis said the teacher and her husband had not apologised nor tried to "make our lives easier in any way".

"At the time we buried our son we still didn't know exactly what had happened and until today's sketchy explanation, it's taken nine months to get to this stage," he said.

"So when they talk about remorse I find it difficult to accept that they're genuinely remorseful."

He called for an overhaul of sentencing, saying the fine sent the message that a road death was not serious unless it was caused by speeding, alcohol or drugs.

"Given the focus on road safety it makes you wonder where driver skill, driver competence, driver behaviour comes into the equation," he said.

Constantine's family are lobbying for an open inquest into the death and plan to launch a civil suit.

"To be perfectly honest, I think that's the only apology we're ever going to receive," Mr Politis said.

[Lani]

He called for an overhaul of sentencing, saying the fine sent the message that a road death was not serious unless it was caused by speeding, alcohol or drugs.

"Given the focus on road safety it makes you wonder where driver skill, driver competence, driver behaviour comes into the equation," he said.


That pi$$e$ me RIGHT OFF! Because its so true.
:flipoff:!!!!

[O5BRKY]

The poor woman who hit this boy has to live with for the rest of her life,it was an accident for goodness sake, she hit the accelerator instead of the brake and unfortuately killed the poor lad, she has her own 6 yr old going to the same school and was trying to manouvre out of a car park and her own child probably distracted her as well. The parents of the poor lad killed are going over the top here, and should realise that not have they only lost there son to an accident BUT the woman who hit him, has to live with it too.
I wish people would realise and have some common sense,but it just doesn't seem to be there these days,like the woman who's car got hit by the falling light pole on the Bolte Bridge yesterday,sure it shouldn't have fallen BUT jeez there has been some strong winds in Melb over the last week,and is CityLink meant to check them everyday? :mad:
It just doesn't seem to ever stop,blame blame blame.None of us are perfect but we just won't except things unfortuately happening.

[exwrx]

The poor woman who hit this boy has to live with for the rest of her life,it was an accident for goodness sake, she hit the accelerator instead of the brake and unfortuately killed the poor lad, she has her own 6 yr old going to the same school and was trying to manouvre out of a car park and her own child probably distracted her as well. The parents of the poor lad killed are going over the top here, and should realise that not have they only lost there son to an accident BUT the woman who hit him, has to live with it too.
I wish people would realise and have some common sense,but it just doesn't seem to be there these days,like the woman who's car got hit by the falling light pole on the Bolte Bridge yesterday,sure it shouldn't have fallen BUT jeez there has been some strong winds in Melb over the last week,and is CityLink meant to check them everyday? :mad:
It just doesn't seem to ever stop,blame blame blame.None of us are perfect but we just won't except things unfortuately happening.

Ba2vy I think you are going over the top here. ShIt happens, but did you consider that this was avoidable if the driver showed a greater degree of care. You may say it was an "accident" but courts need to reinforce the fact that having a licence and driving is not a right, but something that involves huge responsibility. Your actions have consequences. Obviously, she did not mean to kill a child. Fact is, she did, and that needs to be dealt with appropriately.

Would it make any difference if you also knew a few more details about this case?

- the boy's father had complained to the school about this person's dangerous driving and illegal parking;

- the driver was double parked before deciding to move the car into a parking space;

- due to space constraints, she decided to mount the gutter in order to reverse into the spot;

- she 'thought' the car was in reverse even though she was rolling foward the entire time and the car was in 'drive';

- because she 'thought' she was reversing she was looking over her shoulder;

- she then became 'confused' and hit the gas instead of the brake;

- she heard someone banging on the car but didnt know where the noise was coming from, because she was looking behind her. The noise was the boy's mother and another woman telling her to stop;

- she ran over one of the women and then hit the boy, who was standing on the footpath;

- she then bailed out of the car leaving the transmission in drive, pushing the boy through a picket fence.


'Accident' doesnt entirely explain what we are dealing with here does it?

[kaniSS-81]

I cant belive that a life is worth $1200.

[Doug]

I'm going to do some fence sitting.

I'm with you ba2vy - I think people are too much into "blame blame blame", and common sense all too often seems to be forgotten about these incidents.

Exwrx - based on the media coverage and your first post, I would have thought the driver was being treated harshly for what was apparently an accident. After your second post - and if those were the facts, then in my view it might have involved negligence.

BUT... One thing though, taking it further...

The lady got into the car to park it (after the husband left it double parked), she doesn't like doing parallel parks and was stressed with all the people around her, and people waiting to get into and out of parks, and was a little panicky...

No idea what the story was... but I can imagine my wife, who hates parallel parking, getting messed up and making the same mistake.

We are all human - none of us are perfect. I don't think any of us should be so judgemental if only using the media or our own frame of reference for the facts.

[Ls1CorpCruiser]

hypothetically trying to put myself in the parent shoes (god forbid it should happen to any one ever again)...

how would I feel after something like this?

I would physically kill the person without a second thought.. we are not talking about running ovver someones dog we are talking about a human being a child for godsakes...

No amount of punishment, fine or suspension of licence could ever make mefeel better about this happenning and the system has indeed let the family down.

Yes it was an accident but it was avoidable. Where was the due care? where was the competance and common sense required to safely operate a motor vehicle?

Please do you think you would wear that sentence (for want of a better word) if it was your son, daughter, wife, brother, sister, mother or father that was killed.

I think not.

Mother in laws could be the exception... maybe even you pay them for the deed...

lol

[Ricko]

if you are too simple to know the difference between a brake and an accelerator, you shouldnt be allowed to operate machinery, period. And even if you hit the accelerator by "accident" if you dont know to get of it and onto the brake before you collect a child and plough it through a picket fence, god only knows how you got your licence in the first place.
The parents had every right to be upset.

[O5BRKY]

"You may say it was an "accident" but courts need to reinforce the fact that having a licence and driving is not a right, but something that involves huge responsibility"
Yes, I have told many people before the above that it is a privilege to have a licence and NOT a god damn right.
Yes, a life is worth more than 1200 dollars, but like I have said she has to live with for the rest of her life. If the father had concerns over her driving he should have reported it to the Police as well,not the headmaster.
The court system is a 'joke' I have seen/heard of too many people getting off on soft fines/sentences for major offences being traffic or criminal. But I don't think we should be judging everyone without all the facts from being in court when they are given as evidence and only taking judgement from media reports that are always twisted.
I'm not going to go on anymore with replies....

[Beej]

Good opinions and clearly different ways of looking at something that at the end of the day is quite tragic.

However - what get's me is we can be fined over $1000 and have our licenses taking away for a year automatically just for a momentary blat in an LS1 on for example a straight stretch of freeway, with no other cars, people etc around, and having actually hurt nobody - on the grounds that such driving behaviour is heinous and dangerous. Yet in this womans case she made a number of "mistakes" - but also some conscious decisions followed by poor judgements - that resulted in the death of a child, and her punishment is equivelant.

So I think the point is that either her punishment was light or that the punishments for breaking speed limit's etc are too harsh - probably the latter in most people's opinion here nowadays!

Cheers,

Beej

[Rt!]

I think the woman would have suffered enough mental stress through this..
I cant believe the parents compare the money with the life of their kid.. even if she got fined a million dollars, it wouldnt make any difference.
Whats the point of sending her to jail? She might have been negligent, but accidents do happen.

I dont understand why she didnt show remorse or offer an apology though..?

[exwrx]

Elmis, I dont disagree with anything you said. No one is suggesting the driver should be tarred and feathered here.

What the family is saying is that a careless driving charge doesnt adequately reflect the seriousness of the driver's negligence or the consequences. Careless driving is used in a lot of minor traffic cases where no harm is done.

My point is that there are lessons to be learned here re driver training, competence and a public interest issue about people being especially careful around schools. Why should this driver automatically have her licence returned at the end of the suspension period - isnt it reasonable to expect that she should be retrained and retested before being let loose again?

Ba2vy as always there is a lot more to these things than what is in the papers. PM me if you want more info about the source of my information.

[IIV8II]

I cant belive that a life is worth $1200.

well, lives are really worth nothing in dollar terms. Unless you want to put a dollar figure on your - or my - life...?

Not aiming this it you in particular KANNIS, but why does everything have to be equated to $$?

Would the parents feel better if the teacher was fined $1600, or $3000? Or $10,000? (Straight into government coffers?) Would that stop this type of incident happening again?

Or, would the parents rather accept the proceeds of this fine? I'm sure they'd really enjoy spending it, knowing it was proceeds from the death of thier kid...

All sorts of social questions.... :eek:

Sometimes it's better to simply accept that in this life, shit happens and many things can't be undone or changed.

[O5BRKY]

Ba2vy as always there is a lot more to these things than what is in the papers. PM me if you want more info about the source of my information.
Nope,Like I said no more replies , I don't need too OK ,If I want to, I can find out myself if I really want to know.



Why didn't she show remorse or an apology, as her lawyer would have told her not to say a thing, abit like why the government won't say SORRY, opens flood gates.

[exwrx]

Nope,Like I said no more replies , I don't need too OK ,If I want to, I can find out myself if I really want to know.

OK

Why didn't she show remorse or an apology, as her lawyer would have told her not to say a thing, abit like why the government won't say SORRY, opens flood gates.

There are no legal consequences as a result of saying sorry in these circumstances.There is no dispute about liability. If there are civil proceedings, TAC insurance covers the driver for all costs and damages. It woudnt cost her a cent, but it seems most people are too scared to offer a sincere apology. :confused:

[Scud]

I don't give a shit. This woman killed someone's child. There should be some consequences!! I am sick of bleeding heart liberals who think just because it was an accident we should all hold hands and sing Kum by ya. FFS, I'm a parent. If one of my kids were injured or heaven forbid killed due to someone else's incompetence, I'd be there with the rope to string them up.

Too many people think that it's ok because it was an accident.

Tell that to the little boy’s mother as she holds her dying child in her arms.

[HSV8]

ok so if I get a gun and it genuinely accidently goes off and kills a child will a 1200 dollar fine come my way too???

I think not sharing a room with bubba would most likely be the answer

however I think there is a similar case about to hit the courts here with the senior citezen who crashed into the child care center that will be interesting as it also involves accidental, incompetance I wonder maybe a 600 dollar fine here as the kids were only maimed burnt lost limbs etc.

this descision is a disgrace

what happend to accountability for ones actions

she should not have been driving

[Elite SS]

Accidents are accidents, for what I've read this sounds like negligents,
if it happened to any of us, the response would of been diifferent..
Imagine if any of us caused a serious injury of death to someone.
" HOON KILLS CHILD IN SCHOOL CARPARK"
One of our close family friends has "written off "every one of their cars and still holds a Gold licence
One of her accidents ended up with the off side guard ripped off while she tried to park her car.
So how many ACCIDENTS has this lady had before she killed this kid.

[HSV8]

I think the charge is manslaughter

instigating or causing the unitentional death of another person?????

WTF is going on this person should have at least been charged with this or am I on the moon or somewhere else????

the more I think about this the more I get #@%@#% about it.

It is unthinkable that a court or police could have could see this in any other way.

This poor child was in no way a willing participant in this accident ( if you could call it that) he was an inocent party who was killed by the incompetance and negligent actions of the driver of the car the husband would also be associated due to him leaving this vehicle double parked and probably knowing of his wifes inability to park the car.

again a disgrace.

the term accident is too frequently used nowadays and has lost it's meaning this was not an accident but an incident that could have been avoided by some one who was not capable of knowing when they were in over their head and out of their depth.

so rather than looking like a geek or incompetent in front of a group of people she persisted until the bitter end.

her biggest fault was not admitting to her self her own limitations.

It could have been avoided.

I have four children and could not comprehend accepting some one could get away with a $1200 fine for causing their death.

think about this

it is not justifiable in any way as for the juge who handed down this finding he should hang his wig and his head in shame.

[Tyre biter]

However - what get's me is we can be fined over $1000 and have our licenses taking away for a year automatically just for a momentary blat in an LS1 on for example a straight stretch of freeway, with no other cars, people etc around, and having actually hurt nobody - on the grounds that such driving behaviour is heinous and dangerous.

Beej, I agree, you do a good speed and get absolutely whacked for it, despite nothing actually occurring (yes, a truck load of potential danger), but after being stopped without incident and showing contrition, you get it big time.

Opposite to this example, you walk down the street with some friends one night, get smacked in the nose by some drunken fool, suffer for a while with it and he gets a $200 good behaviour bond out of it. What is going on here?

I read a John Crenann interview a little while back regarding Tony Cochran and he described Cochran as being very good at picking the low fruit from the tree. I'd say our government's are also good at this practice

Cheers, Craig

[MNR-0]

Manslaughter. Doesnt matter how or where.

She didnt mean to do it, wasnt pre-meditated. Cars are dangerous weapons in the hands of stupid people. Clearly this has been proven right.

Stupidity and ignorance are no excuse for a careless, needless death.

[Doug]

I don't give a shit. This woman killed someone's child.

You can't put yourself in the shoes of the woman driver? You can't find any empathy?

Here is someone who stuffs up while trying to park. The consequence is horrendous - and as a result she has unveiled hatred poured upon her from complete strangers. (And I'm not talking about suggestions the punishment was too lenient - there are people suggesting they'd harm her if it was their child.)

It is a common theme in my responses to threads like this - very few of you are saints. Lots of you have done stupid things - and no matter how good a driver you are, how well your car handles, or how quiet the road is - the very best most of us can claim when we break the law is that we are taking a calculated risk. What happens if one of us kills a child in a traffic light run.. or having a bit of fun in the wet... or just giving the car a bit of a thrash? Wouldn't that be much worse, more culpable, than the woman driver here? What sort of treatment would we expect?

FFS, I'm a parent.

I'm not - but when my wife insists I become one, I might very well change my tune. So if it is too hard to put yourself in the shoes of the woman driver - fast forward 20 years. Imagine she is your own daughter, just on to her full license, who in a series of errors kills someone in the same manner. The same series of errors hundreds of drivers do which only end up with damaged bumpers or egos. How would you feel then?

...

I think people need a balanced view of both sides of the story before being able to decide what level of punishment is appropriate. On that - I have no idea.

[Plan B]

The death of a young child is always an absolute tragedy. I saw this on the news last night too and gave it some thought throughout the day.

I thought the statement from the Magistrate, was a little discouraging. Like calling for heavier penalties etc; The Lady made a BIG Mistake, an error of control, what ever?

My thinking is, she like most of us, have not been trained “correctly” and “continuously” in the use of a vehicle that indeed has the potential to kill or at the very least upon contact with a person, farking hurt badly.

Every day of our working career, we are trained. From small to large business, we are trained. Training and retraining, is often used for many qualifications, particularly and especially around plant and equipment with the marginal propensity to cause injury. Given this, isn’t it amazing that we get to spend up to 30% of our working life driving to and from the workplace with some half ****ed qualification earned when we were just 17 years old? (This Lady is now 39)

In the future, we will undergo continual ability tests training for the operation of our vehicles regardless of our age or experience.

Personally, I can’t wait as it will be better for all of us. BRING IT ON!!!

[VX2VESS]

i like hsv8s point if it was a gun you'd get more than a fine. what the difference a different type of weapon, use it wrong and it kills.

Not in this case, but if you wanted to kill someone use the car its only a fine not jail. just say whoops i hit the wrong pedal and kept going.

[Plan B]

i like hsv8s point if it was a gun you'd get more than a fine. what the difference a different type of weapon, use it wrong and it kills.

Not in this case, but if you wanted to kill someone use the car its only a fine not jail. just say whoops i hit the wrong pedal and kept going.

Maybe? Though, I'd rather use a car to get around the place, rather than a gun.

Road cars are for transport.

Guns are for killing stuff!

What's the comparison?

[Rt!]

I dont really know the full circumstances, but its obviously easy for the parent to point the finger at the teacher, but if the parents were so close by, why did they allow their kids to be moving around in front of a moving car?
I just think people like to blame everything on others when they are pissed off.

[VX2VESS]

both kill if used for that. just one you don't get jailed. and ppl have used cars to kill on purpose. not this case, but it does show you can get away with it.

[Drizzt]

This brings back my memory to something which happened toward the end of last year. Does anyone remember reading or hearing of a woman in Chelsea who in a similar incident, reversed over her niece who ran out on to the driveway? She panicked and hit the go pedal rather than the brake. She's is or was charged with culpible driving the last I heard of it. My other half works with a chick who is related to this woman.

What was the difference between this case and the case being argued? Both caused the death of a child with a motor vehicle though one was more likely negligence.

Although you cannot put a price on someone's life, I believe the very light sentence the woman received can be construed as her pretty much getting off scott free. I don't blame the parents and others on this forum for being upset. A much more suitable punishment would be the cancellation of her licence for a much longer period and withheld until she can prove she's a compentant (spelling) and responsible driver. Add annual skills retests and it'll be a much more justified sentence.

As Plan B mentioned, she's 39 and most probably driving around 20 years. In all that time she couldn't learn or improve on parallel parking? To my way of thinking, she was just a time bomb waiting to go off.


Drizzt

[HSV8]

I dont really know the full circumstances, but its obviously easy for the parent to point the finger at the teacher, but if the parents were so close by, why did they allow their kids to be moving around in front of a moving car?
I just think people like to blame everything on others when they are pissed off.

the child was sitting on the foot path


maybe we should go find the knob that gave her a licence and lynch him too that would make us all feel better

put on the hoods boys there a job to do
:lol:

[Lani]

the child was sitting on the foot path


maybe we should go find the knob that gave her a licence and lynch him too that would make us all feel better

put on the hoods boys there a job to do
:lol:

If you can’t park your car without mounting a fricking kerb for crying out loud, what the hell are you doing driving?? But on that note, when I went for my test for my P's, you get 3 goes to parallel park….which in my opinion is too much.. AND when you do the “3 Point Turn” You can do it in 5 ‘points’ WHAT THE FUDGE IS THAT ALL ABOUT???? :lol:

Unfortunately, driving lessons are there to help you pass the test. Not to teach you to drive.
Whether or not she did accidentally hit the accelerator instead of brake or whatever she said, the simple fact that she couldn’t park her car without mounting a kerb and that’s just PATHETIC, and even if there wasn’t anyone injured, she should have her licence taken away because she isn’t able to control her vehicle.
:cheers:

[VYBerlinaV8]

The death of a child is a tragic thing, no doubt.

My question, then, is what are our lawmakers doing to reduce the risk of this type of thing happening again?

When I hear about people getting 'confused' behind the wheel, I get the $hits. The reality is that motor vehicles are very dangerous when used without care and competence. Bring on regular license testing, I say. For everyone. And not just some stupid lap around the block, real skills testing. And lets pay for it with all that speeding fine revenue!

[chuss]

Ok, I can speak from experience here.

I was in a car accident when a pedestrian was running across the road and we happened to hit them whilst were driving. The person was running across the road and came basically out of no where on a highway. It was an accident, we couldn't avoid the hitting, the brakes were slammed but still we collided with the person. The person died in hospital 2 days later.

Now the driver of our vehicle was charged with manslaughter as it was totally an accident and couldn't really be avoided unless we felt like swerving into the oncoming traffic in the other lane and having a head on collision at 100km/h.

This case, you have a stupid woman that can't park, doesn't know the difference between reverse and drive, and also doesn't know the difference between the brake and accelerator. What is she doing driving for starters?
She should be fined a bit more excessively, have her license taken away from her for life and not be able to operate any form of machinery coz she accidently hits the wrong pedals...
The kid wasn't on the road and doing nothing wrong..

Nothing to do with accidents, this is carelessness/negligence... I'm sorry. It's in plain black and white, she even admitted it...

[seldo]

Very sadly, all the postulating, ranting and raving, won't bring the child back and will not undo the tragedy. But the major issue to be learned here really is that the woman is not competent to drive a car. Full stop. Not competent. Anyone who becomes "confused" behind the wheel of a car, should not be driving. And, they should not have received a licence first up. FFS, imagine if she was the pilot of an aircraft and became "confused". Apart from being able to scrape through a licence test there should also be a psychological test too which may have shown up her obvious lack of a sense of being able to control this machine. Sadly there are far too many drivers on the roads who really are little more than passengers but they are on the RHS holding the wheel - and look at the consequences. The fine is not that important (other than as token satisfaction for the poor parents) but in my book, she should be banned for life as she just isn't competent to drive.

[Chris5.7ltr]

Well she has 12 months of not driving a car,after that time up she will be back behind the wheel without being tested or anything.
Geez,she can't drive for shit now,what will she be like then? :rolleyes:

[Phido]

This is outragous.

She should be charged for mansaulter. And would be convicted too.. People are serving serious gaol time for much more accidental accidents, such as hitting a drunk who was running into on comming traffic.. Now tell me thats a fair and just sentence.

Not only is there no consistancy, but obviously, if someone is so stupid as being unable to perform simple low speed manuvours in a car park, they should be forced to undergo licence examination again, with over 12 months suspension.

12 months suspension is nothing, you can get that for doing 20k's over the speed limit.

If it was a student on L's or something, maybe I could understand how this could happen, then it would be a fairly simple matter of not allowing l/p plate drivers drive in school grounds. But this preventable accident will most likely occur again.

Shes a teacher, most likely will be driving aimlessly around students again, in the same car, at the same school.

You can get banned from driving for life for minor infractions. Yet you kill someone, have a obvious history of poor driving, and you get 12 months suspension.

[exwrx]

Guys,

its interesting to read the range of views on such an emotive issue. Everything from 'let it go it was an accident' to calling for a lynching. I think it demonstrates the maturity of this forum that we can have an intelligent discussion about this.

Personally, the amount of the fine isnt the issue. Its the fact that what happened amounts to more than mere carelessness, and because the charge was so minor, it didnt allow the magistrate to take her licence away in the public interest.

Had the charge been dangerous or culpable driving, I believe it would have more accurately reflected her appalling driving, and would have removed a person from the road who has already tragically demonstrated that she cannot maintain control of a car in a situation where she should have been very very cautious.

There are obviously mitigating circumstances which would mean that she would not go to jail, and IMO nor should she. Nevertheless her record would reflect her driving history and IF she does anything even remotely stupid again, she wouldnt get a second chance. This would also send the right message to other drivers that if they do something similar, they will be charged with a serious offence with the potential for a jail term.

As it was, fining her $1200 and suspending her licence for 12 months achieves nothing positive, which was my original point. No fine and forcing her to apply for her licence afresh would have been a much better outcome.

[Rt!]

yes, you're right, but emotionally Id say she'd be pretty ****ed up at the moment.

And yeh, kid was sitting on footpath, no real excuses then..
There have been some issues with VT-VX commodores not having enough visibility out the rear window and kids getting reversed into whilst playing behind the cars, no?

[2F2FDude]

I think a civil law suit is not going to bring back a child, I think seriously if I was grieving over the loss of my child I would too upset to sue someone.
I like to know why sueing is what everyone wants to do after loosing someone, pretty simple I lost a family member now I want money to make up for it, sick way of thinking.
I think "civil law suits" are getting way out of hand. Like I would have sympathized for that family but now I think they are just up themselves for trying to sue, the teacher who ran over the child would be greiving enough as it is, without going to to jail, now coping a law suit. Lucky the green slip covers that part otherwise she would probably go broke.

Unfortunate events happen, we need to go through it, get over it and get on with life. Sad but true.


Cheers,
Jim :cool:

[Lani]

I think a civil law suit is not going to bring back a child, I think seriously if I was grieving over the loss of my child I would too upset to sue someone.
I like to know why sueing is what everyone wants to do after loosing someone, pretty simple I lost a family member now I want money to make up for it, sick way of thinking.
I think "civil law suits" are getting way out of hand. Like I would have sympathized for that family but now I think they are just up themselves for trying to sue, the teacher who ran over the child would be greiving enough as it is, without going to to jail, now coping a law suit. Lucky the green slip covers that part otherwise she would probably go broke.

Unfortunate events happen, we need to go through it, get over it and get on with life. Sad but true.


Cheers,
Jim :cool:

I think the parents’ argument was that the only penalty the woman got was a minimal fine, and they are left with their hands in the air asking, What about us? I don’t think the parents want money for their childs death; they want justice to be served.
I myself was involved in a very serious incident; I received compensation and certain services free of charge for an open period of time. I didn’t want money to make me feel better, because I’m sure we all know, money doesn’t make you happy, but receiving compensation made me feel an ACKOWLEDGMENT from the Government, and that this wasn’t just another case in their courtroom, but peoples lives.
These people KNOW their child isn’t coming back, nor would they think money would help ease their pain. They want someone to be accountable for their childs death. In this case someone can be held accountable. And the government isn’t acknowledging that. And feeling like no one understands, when you are in that situation is one of the worst feelings you can go through. My heart goes out to the family.

[2F2FDude]

Sorry to hear your bad experience,
But all in reality who hasn't mixed reversed with drive, I think we are all forgetting that cars aren't like walking between your front door and back door. Cars are dangerous objects, simple, we weren't made to be doing 60 km/h so when we crash a car at that speed we get seriously hurt or die, when a person especially a kid gets hit by an object that weighs over a tonne, well weren't designed to be hit or ran over by that amount of weight. Cars aren't to be taken for granted.
Fair enough the parents are greiving so would I if I lost my son, I probably get the shits too, to the fine she got. But not like she intentionaly done it. She emotinally would be paying for what she did, be far worse then going to jail I would tell that now. But also to keep in mind, if the kid was on the footpath well we have to think about the kids right to be there. So maybe place her on a tougher penalty, such as 8 year suspended jail term, with maybe a good driving course. Now what I am reading from this forum, her car was unworthy. Now I suppose you have to take into account that who let this car be unworthy. Was her mechanics fault, does her husband look after the car. Like she is a teacher no offence to anyone here, but she probably doesn't know the slightest mechanical knowledge here. I think she should of got a harsher penalty now thinking of the situation. But I can't think of how to penalise her that's why I am not a judge. But as mentioned before, sueing is not to going to do anything, like who are you going to sue. Why would it be the government's fault? The government doesn't make cars, I suppose government should have modifed the car park so cars can't mount the foot path, well usually the gutters are a fair warning. But does that mean putting up guard rails all the way up every street of every city in NSW and the rest of the states. Like this could have happened anywhere. Sueing her, probably be reasonable. There must have been a reason why the court system didn't penalise the teacher any harsher, I don't know the full story of the incident and I would be probably safe to say no one here would know the full story, you can't go on the media, the kid might have ran out on the road and made her freak out, you wouldn't know. The court systems from what I have seen these days aren't to light on driving offences when it comes to running people over. So for her to get that light penalty as mentioned must be a reason why the judge made that decision. That teacher probably has to spend the next 6 months on counsel attendances then again I suppose the parents will have to as well.
No loss of life is good, it's all bad. I have to say everyone has their own way of dealing with it.

Yours Sincerely,
Jim :cool:

[MNR-0]

Sorry to hear your bad experience,
But all in reality who hasn't mixed reversed with drive...

I usually step on the brake instead of jumping out of the car!

[my_Berlina]

I think part of the reason she has been treated lightly is that her motives were infact good. Anyone who has tried to pickup children from school will know what a debarkle happens on those roads/car parks.

Some people get there early to get a park before the rush, but a lot of people are quite rude. Once I was parked nice and early in a 90deg park bay, and some tool in a statesman stops his car right behind be (blocking me and 5 other cars in (2 adjacent and 3 opposite)). If his child hadn't arived before mine he may well have ended up with my VL's tow bar planted in the side of his car.

So here is this poor woman, whose husband appears to be an ignorant sh1t and left his car double parked, and probably creating a traffic problem and some danger. She has acted to try to reduce that danger - and it all went pear shaped.

If this is hubbys car, she may well not be at all used to it. The pedal spacing is quite different between my VT and my wife's 121 bubble, and my wife has probably only driven my car 5 times since I got it. I (and most on this forum) am a driving enthusiast and pride myself on driving skills and my ability to move from car to car, being able to adapt fast. However most drivers are not, they see cars as transport to get from A to B, we really have no right to hold them to our standards.

Equally, as a father of 2 kids, if one of them was hurt or killed, I would want bloud and preferably inflicted by me (and almost certainly wont want to stop at any reasonable point). Thats why decisions in our justice system are made by impartial parties.

The big problem here is there is no really suitable defined crime. The neglegance here (as I see it) was the husband, the wife was trying her best, it just wasn't good enough.


Ofcause this is me infering based on the information in this thread and some other knowledge - I may be completely wrong.

Dave !

[exwrx]

I think the parents’ argument was that the only penalty the woman got was a minimal fine, and they are left with their hands in the air asking, What about us? I don’t think the parents want money for their childs death; they want justice to be served.
I myself was involved in a very serious incident; I received compensation and certain services free of charge for an open period of time. I didn’t want money to make me feel better, because I’m sure we all know, money doesn’t make you happy, but receiving compensation made me feel an ACKOWLEDGMENT from the Government, and that this wasn’t just another case in their courtroom, but peoples lives.
These people KNOW their child isn’t coming back, nor would they think money would help ease their pain. They want someone to be accountable for their childs death. In this case someone can be held accountable. And the government isn’t acknowledging that. And feeling like no one understands, when you are in that situation is one of the worst feelings you can go through. My heart goes out to the family.

Coudn't have put it better myself !