Driving in the USA = risking jailtime?

[kelpdiver 2]

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No, just that in the States, Accidents have consequences. "Oops, sorry 'bout that" doesn't cut it here.

I figured as much. I don't care for that "someone has to pay for this" mentality.

I don't understand why you're asking this question if you've already predetermined the answer and will only acknowledge the ones you agree with.
ExAFO gave you the answer he'd like to be true, but it's not the reality.

Stop being a pansy and get behind the wheel. If you're as safety conscious as you say (and don't drink and drive), then the odds of you landing in jail are greatly outweighed by so many other risks, with skydiving at least an order of magnitude more likely to kill you.

If I were a non American paranoid about being here, getting shot would also be much higher, though again, if you're not participating in drug trafficking your risk is pretty marginal.

[ExAFO 0]

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ExAFO gave you the answer he'd like to be true, but it's not the reality.

I was once an insurance adjustor, and have first hand experience being hit by a drunk driver...prove me wrong.

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[VincentVL. 0]

I also figured someone would play it like that.

I've had a shitty day (Murphy's law...it's real) so I don't want to test faith or your good lord even more. I'll just say that I've given this more thought than most people have. I would not have opened the debate if I hadn't. There's a difference between someone making a mistake and someone not giving a fuck about other people. Let them be loved ones or not.

I'm afraid I'm capable of doing something stupid if someone did something reckless and hurt my loved ones, I'll give you that. Still I don't believe someone always has to pay. Accident =/= Negligence

But like I said: bad day, don't want to ponder about these negative thoughts you've put in my head
Edited to say: Which reminds me. One of the unfortunate events that happened today was that I ran over a cat/rabbit. I hope its ghost doesn't want a piece of me.

[VincentVL. 0]

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I don't understand

I saw something on the news and wanted to make sure. Not spread my "wisdom". If I did, forgiveness please.

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Stop being a pansy and get behind the wheel

Edited: You have a point.

[kelpdiver 2]

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ExAFO gave you the answer he'd like to be true, but it's not the reality.

I was once an insurance adjustor, and have first hand experience being hit by a drunk driver...prove me wrong.

his concern is with criminal penalties, not the trivial exchanging of money for which we pay insurance premiums for.

[ExAFO 0]

Either way, negligence can rise to the level of criminal...

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[christelsabine 1]

Did that happen to one of your friends?

Involuntary manslaughter - if f.e. you oversee a traffic light as you said, it's clearly a criminal offence. My solicitor just told me (my g/f), also working on international fields.

BTW: Same is valid here in Germany.

I simply cannot imagine any country, in which you'd get away exempt from punishment in such cases as mentioned. If that should stand for jail might depend on local authorities and vary.

Slip behind the wheel and just drive like you use to do anywhere in the world - I never broke my head while beeing on North American roads.

Christel

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[VincentVL. 0]

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Either way, negligence can rise to the level of criminal...

I don't think anybody cares, but I do agree with this one.

When I see some f*cking idiot race his car past some kids on their bicycles I always secretly hope he crashes without hurting other people and maybe gets a clue.

[Andy9o8 2]

Sigh.

OK, bottom line.

I'm not trained to perform surgery, so I don't presume to give advice about it. There's a message in that. I admit I don't gladly suffer those who presume to give advice on a subject about which they are completely unqualified - especially when they guess wrong.

I have, however, practiced 20+ years of criminal and civil law, so I'm not speaking out of school here.

Now then:

It is highly unlikely that "mere negligence" - as used in a civil-law sense - behind the wheel that results in a fatality will give rise to criminal charges. However, recklessness - also known as "criminal negligence" - can.

You can be held civilly liable for the consequences of mere negligence. In theory, however, criminal jeopardy does not kick in unless the act rises to recklessness, or criminal negligence.

In criminal law, recklessness is called "criminal negligence". But criminal negligence is not the same thing as "negligence" as used in a civil-law sense. (See below). Many people, even some lawyers, mistakenly think that "criminal negligence" is the same thing as "negligence" as used in civil law, because their names are similar - but in fact they're diferent things.

Putting it in layman's terms, in civil (i.e., non-criminal) law, "mere" negligence is basically just making a mistake that you shouldn't have made if you were being more careful. It's a garden-variety mistake. It's a person's failure to adhere to the duty of ordinary care expected of him under the circumstances - nothing more, nothing less.

Recklessness is more than mere negligence. It is not a deliberate intent to harm; but it is acting in a manner that demonstrates a callous disregard of the very high likelihood that harm will result from your conduct.

Running a stop sign at 20 mph because you had a moment of distraction and missed seeing the sign is probably mere negligence. For those crucial few seconds, you simply weren't being as careful as you ought to have been. However, zooming at 80 mph down a narrow residential street where the speed limit is 25 mph is recklessness - you callously disregarded the high likelihood that you would cause an accident. And if an accident did occur and someone was haremed, that would be criminal negligence.

Is there a "grey area" in which reasonable people could disagree on whether a person's conduct is negligence or recklessness (or...mere negligence or criminal negligence)? Yes - that's why there are trials, decided by juries. And that's why giving examples (like I just did) is a bit risky, because almost any example is imperfect and can be argued with.

So: in the US, if you're in an accident and someone dies, are you likely to be arrested? No. That is, unless the police think - after conducting an accident investigation - that you were driving in so outrageous a manner as to be reckless, and not merely negligent. So it's really quite simple: don't drive like a complete asshole, and you won't have to worry about going to jail in the US any more than in any other "enlightened" country.

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Say I'm driving in my car and I get a brainfart and cause a deadly accident. Let's say I pull up to my driveway and oversee a biker who gets pancaked. Or I oversee a stopsign and run someone over.

I'm not drunk, I'm not drugged, I wasn't speeding.
Do I get sent to jail?

In a word - No.

[KelliJ 0]

I should have read the OP more closely. If i had i would have seen he was asking if he does get sent to jail, not if he can be sent. In light of that you were right..."yes" is an invalid answer and I offer you my apologies.
However, since whether jail time is given is dependent upon so many variables, it is impossible to say with any certainty that no jail time will be given and therefor "no" is not an accurate answer and can be misleading. The only thing that can be said with any degree of certainty is "maybe". As you pointed out in your post, it depends upon many things including how the judge and/or jury see it.