Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/07/29/sadistic-driver-intentionally.html
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They fired the driver: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/van-driver-black-macdonald-fired-splashing-pedestrians-1.4766304
Looks like the Ottawa police are considering charges as well.
Just wondering if his name is Rob McKenna…
I guess this is the kind of thing one does when one can’t work for Comcast.
I’ve never admitted it until now, but for a brief period in my teens I also tried the same thing. It was, at the time, hilarious.
I wasn’t very good at it, though. Most of those few suburban pedestrians saw me coming a mile away.
Anyway, if you were sprayed by a brown Dodge Caravan in April of 1991, I’m sorry that you were offended by my actions.
Well sure: there is potential for harm here because there’s all kinds of sharp crap in that street water.
As a Canadian I feel I must apologize for this individual’s actions.
Might work in Ontario, but in Michigan the odds are high he’d eventually splash someone with a very short fuse packing heat.
Also, Canadians really hate wet socks. So this is especially cruel.
Seems like it would be a bit dangerous as well - swerving around on wet streets, towards pedestrians, where puddles could hide other hazards.
you know the problem with puddles… specially at night driving speed
is treacherous but if there is a particular pot hole you don’t navigate
you know the consequences …just saying
Some guy told me that (in the UK at least) this can be prosecuted as a hit-and-run, i.e. the fact that you left the scene is in itself enough to convict you. So don’t assume you can just be all “I didn’t see / couldn’t avoid the puddle”.
I just hope Jodie Foster can track you down before it’s too late
Yes; I forget the details, but my understanding is that deliberately (or grossly carelessly) splashing a pedestrian can get one charged with a surprisingly severe offence.
That may be what you’re charged for: if you’re driving in a way that didn’t foresee the problem or allow you to react, you’re considered too dangerous to be on the road.
The fuck did I do?
(and yes, I did get the opportunity to shake Douglas Adam’s hand and laugh about that)
Type 17 rain will do that
A Sadistic driver… is that a new model from BMW?
Fired!? Have they never seen “That Touch of Mink?”
Yep here in the UK, you can get up to a £5000 fine and nine points on your licence (twelve gets you a ban) for driving without ‘due care and consideration’ (a polite way of saying ‘driving like a jerk’). In truth, you’d be more likely to get a telling off, a couple of points and/or a small fine.
The important words there are ‘up to’. Most of the time the fine and the points will be lower. In UK law a lot depends on how much of an arsehole you were being at the time of the offence.