[bsder]

Really?

So the child who ran out chasing after a ball is your fault? The bicyclist wearing black, at night, in the rain, with no reflectors or lights is your fault?

We are human. We have moments of inattention ALL THE TIME. This is proven by many, many, many psychological studies. You don't convict someone of a crime because they committed an accidental error.

If you want to cut down on this, fund self-driving cars.

[thrownaway2424]

Yes, really. This is the law in Belgium for example.

[mikeyouse]

I would love to see a source for the claim that accidents are criminally prosecuted in Belgium.. The data I've found looks like ~5% of trips in Belgium are by drunk drivers, ~35% of Belgians drive over the speed limit, drivers only wear seat belts ~80% of the time and they aren't liable for their passengers' seat belt use..

It sounds like there should be thousands of Belgians in jail for traffic crimes, but extrapolating from their population / imprisonment rate (11.2M & 108/100k), it looks like they only have 12k total people in jail. Their annual violent crime rate is ~50/100k and if you assume even an average of a 2-year sentence for violent crimes, there is no room left in jail for these traffic criminals...

[http://archive.etsc.eu/documents/Final_Traffic_Law_Enforceme...]