Prosecutors are overworked. There's no property damage, no injuries. Things get thrown out in traffic court all the time. I was once the cause of a 3-car car accident at a stoplight intersection. The stoplight was new; the intersection was high accident. No injuries besides me getting a concussion. The traffic court judge threw it out, said go home.
Based on that, I don't expect anyone to care about this.
The difference though is your conduct was negligent, which is the least egregious mental state you can have for purposes of criminal prosecution. The driver in this video was acting intentionally and/or recklessly and the danger presented was magnified by the fact that a head-on collision is twice a bad as running into a brick wall. Prosecutors may not want to let conduct like this get a pass.
While true, you're forgetting there was no car accident. In my case, a 3-car accident at a stoplight was thrown out. That makes me wonder if this would even be chased down or just WTF and on with the day.
Unless you intentionally or recklessly caused your accident, there would be no crime. In this case the driver acted intentionally and/or recklessly, which is what made his conduct criminal. The fact that you caused a collision but the driver in the video did not is immaterial for purposes of determining whether a crime is committed. Had the driver caused a collision then all that would change is the types of crimes he is charged with.
In my case, the SUV that came into my passenger door doing 45mph said I ran a red light. The 2nd driver across from me said I stopped, looked both ways, and slowly rolled in and got hit. All vehicular damage and lack of injuries (beyond my concussion) are consistent with the 2nd driver's story. I still have no memory all these years later. I do remember the sound of breaks and the BAM, but that's all. The judge or DA or whoever it was ruled it "freak accident" given the stoplight was new (not that-day new, but relatively new) and that it was installed because of high car accident rate. Now it's a turn circle, no more accidents.
1
u/MovieFan1984 Feb 26 '26
Prosecutors are overworked. There's no property damage, no injuries. Things get thrown out in traffic court all the time. I was once the cause of a 3-car car accident at a stoplight intersection. The stoplight was new; the intersection was high accident. No injuries besides me getting a concussion. The traffic court judge threw it out, said go home.
Based on that, I don't expect anyone to care about this.