Originally posted by: Xyo II
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Flatscan
A guy was
convicted of involuntary manslaughter for doing this in Boston. Of course, this was during a post-Patriots Super Bowl win "riot" (students flipping cars and setting garbage cans on fire, mostly) that anyone should have seen coming. He should have ditched his SUV whereever he had parked it and filed the insurance claim the next day.
That's ultra liberal Massachusetts for ya.
I wasn't there, so I can't say how threatening the students were, but that guy must have had a terrible lawyer. He was in the road, and the students ran up to his car and started pounding/rocking his car, he drove away, and he's in trouble? Idiots who run up to a vehicle on the road can probably ****** expect to get hit, and if they don't understand that they shouldn't be allowed in public without professional supervision.
To be clear, I believe in the right to self-defense - in this thread's case, the right to use lethal force (vehicle) in response to a potentially lethal threat. At the time of the collision, the driver feared for his life (as he testified) and responded accordingly.
Boston is well-known for sports-related riots, regardless of whether its teams win or lose. The combination of many colleges and crazy (read Red Sox) fans is a volatile combination. There was a riot following the Red Sox's loss to the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2003 AL Division Series, 4-5 months before the incident in question. Several parked cars were flipped along Boylston, garbage cans were set on fire, and many cars had their sideview mirrors and windows broken. As I recall, there were no serious injuries or deaths, just a good amount of property damage.
The driver made a series of decisions leading up to the incident (these points are according to what I remember, anyone interested can chase down details):
- He parked his vehicle in a bad location. IIRC, the collision happened very near his original parking space. Google Maps Symphony Road Boston - the center of the 2003 riot had been Boylston near Mass Ave.
- He watched the Super Bowl at a bar and had a drink or two. He was fully aware that the game was happening.
- He chose to attempt to drive his vehicle out - it's very likely that the streets were already crowded as he returned to his vehicle.
- He chose not to abandon his vehicle when he encountered the students.
I'm not saying that the driver should have made a calm, rational decision that the students most likely would not beat him if he exited the vehicle and then take that risk. He should have realized that driving through a riot is sort of like pointing a firearm - don't point it at anything you're not willing to destroy.
I don't claim that the victim or the other revelers were entirely without fault. They made their own decisions to take part in a potentially dangerous situation (the celebration at large as well as the events leading up to the collision).
I think the Red Sox's World Series win in 2004 was the worst Boston sports riot by quite a margin. Watch Curse Reversed (top row) here:
http://www.digave.com/videos/