Should Really Rude or Aggressive Drivers Who Cause Charlotte Car Crashes be Punished More?
Whether you were recently injured in a Charlotte car crash involving a rude driver (e.g. someone blathering on a cell phone who mindlessly zipped through a stop sign in a sports car) or not, you want fair compensation. You also want justice. Truth be told, there are lot of bad drivers out there. Some of these drivers cause car crashes in North Carolina; others just behave obnoxiously and leave a trail of epithets wherever they zoom.
What should be done about these obnoxious drivers? This is a general question. If a specific obnoxious driver hurt you or damaged your property, the North Carolina car accident team at DeMayo Law can help you assess your situation and plot out a strategy.
In a general sense, however, should these lane weavers, drivers who fail to use signals, and speed racers be subjected to ultra harsh punishments? For instance:
• Should an obviously obnoxious driver be stripped of his license for 10 years?
• Should someone who has gotten convicted multiple times for DUI have his car impounded just as punishment?
• Should we bring back public shaming to punish obnoxious drivers? For instance, say someone’s caught doing crazy zigzags on the freeway, while belching fulminating exhaust from his tail pipe? Should that driver’s behavior and picture be posted on Facebook and other social network sites for the world to see and mock?
These questions are only speculative. But studies into motivational psychology hint that the occasional “ultra harsh” punishment for obnoxious driving could be a useful deterrent.
Think about it as a “reverse lottery.” Say one out of a thousand drivers caught doing crazy zigzags on the freeway would lose his license for 10 years – just arbitrarily. Forget about the legalities of that or the chance that such a law could be easily abused – because it could. But just think about it in terms of motivation. If you’re someone who likes to drive obnoxiously, and you know that there was a non zero chance that you could lose your license for 10 full years, don’t you think that threat might deter you from behaving as aggressively?
It’s an interesting thought experiment. Not something to base policy around, of course! But it’s useful to speculate on how to motivate drivers better.
If you want justice after an accident in Charlotte or elsewhere, it’s okay to indulge in this kind of speculative thinking. After all, you are likely very angry about what happened. But it’s important to behave ethically, legally, and strategically. The team here at DeMayo Law can help you understand your rights and begin to craft a sound case to obtain fair compensation.
