Crimson847 wrote:This doesn't sound like it's going to end well.
I am stealing this gif.
[EDIT to avoid double-posting]
Suppose a child got hit by a car and killed, not because they ran out into the road but while they were walking sensibly along, right where they should have been on the pavement (sidewalk), with a parent by their side.
We would all agree it was a dreadful tragedy. I think most of us would start asking searching questions about why it happened and how it could have been avoided - pedestrians really should be safe on the pavement. But would we jump immediately to vilifying the car driver - who in probably greater than 99% of cases is shocked, horrified, hating themself, and worse affected emotionally by the tragedy than anyone except the victim and their family?
Yes, there's a chance it could have been a deliberate and heinous attack. In that case, condemning them utterly is certainly an appropriate response
once we know that.
Much more likely it was an accident for which the driver is in some degree culpable. They could have been intoxicated, the car could have been unroadworthy, they could have been going far too fast for the road conditions, they could have just not been paying attention. In any of those cases, the driver is not the monster they would have been had they intentionally run down a child, and in all probability having to live with what they've done is the worst punishment they can receive, but blaming them for their negligence is still fair
once we know that.
There's also a chance it was a freak accident, some combination of unexpected conditions and/or unforeseeable mechanical failure caused them to lose control of the car. Maybe they were an inexperienced driver and lacked the skills to avoid a tragedy in unforeseeably difficult circumstances, or maybe they were just desperately unlucky and nothing could have prevented it. They still have to live with the fact of the child's death, but do they deserve our condemnation, when through no fault of their own they're already dealing with what is likely to be the most traumatic event they've been through?
No matter the reason we could all agree that it was an awful thing and should not have happened. But although we could agree that the driver was probably culpable to a greater or lesser degree, and could potentially even have been malicious, I don't think many of us would talk about them as some people have been talking about the FBI in this case, before we knew what had happened. I certainly don't think people would be being berated for asking those questions about how it happened and to what extent the driver was to blame, and wanting answers before they join in with vilifying them. I'd like to think that - barring the discovery that they did it intentionally - in addition to compassion for the child and their loved ones, most of us would have some empathy for the driver too.