[tw04]

> If you rear-end me while I’m stopped at a light, your intent doesn’t matter, only your actions. If you fail to stop for a school bus displaying red stop lights, your intent doesn’t matter.

Huh? In both of these examples, intent 100% matters. If I rear ended you because I had a medical emergency vs I was texting on my phone vs I had a bout of road rage and wanted to kill you vs I know who you are and you’re sleeping with my wife so I followed you from work to try to kill you:

All VERY different levels of potential punishment based entirely on my intent.

[sokoloff]

100% fair point. I was thinking the other way: when you accidentally ran into my car, the fact that you didn't mean to do it doesn't excuse you from liability for the damage to my car (even if you had a medical emergency).

You're absolutely right that overt intentional assault is different than an accidental collision.