brit: i really feel one can...also note, we are only talking about realizing you've crossed the line and reversing back or staying put right there...not intentionally driving through and keeping on going...how can that happen by mistake? lets see:
1) you're chatting with your passenger, lost in conversation...light goes green...cars crawl forward...you start moving, still chatting...light goes red...you miss it...cross the line and go 'oh shit'...stop...
2) you're first in line at the lights...one lane goes straight and the other left...you're going left...the straight lane goes green...the human eye notices green more than red...you mistakenly think you're green too and go...but then realize your mistake and stop just past the line...
3) you're stopped behind a tall trailer and close to the lights where you can't see them over the truck...light goes green...truck moves forward and you follow it through with impatient drivers honking from behind...but the lights gone red just as the truck goes through..oh shit!!
so yes mistakes can be made...i will grant you that each of these situations is 100% a result of carelessness and inattention to the road...but the result is a mistake and not willful...does it make it better? no...does it deserve a less harsh judgment? yes...
i like to imagine i'm a good driver and a careful one; but just as a story, after my dad passed away recently, i was on one of my late night drives and was just completely lost in thought about all the good times with him and how much i missed him...and i drove straight through a red light...thank god it was 4 am with no traffic and no cameras...but the point is i was staring straight ahead at a red light and yet so completely lost mentally that i did not register the lights and realized what happened only when i stopped at the next red light...
so yeah, these are all mistakes which can and do have horrible consequences, but they are mistakes and not willful violations of the law...not arguing, just trying to explain how someone might end up in trouble without intentionally asking for it...
brit: i really feel one can...also note, we are only talking about realizing you've crossed the line and reversing back or staying put right there...not intentionally driving through and keeping on going...how can that happen by mistake? lets see:
1) you're chatting with your passenger, lost in conversation...light goes green...cars crawl forward...you start moving, still chatting...light goes red...you miss it...cross the line and go 'oh shit'...stop...
2) you're first in line at the lights...one lane goes straight and the other left...you're going left...the straight lane goes green...the human eye notices green more than red...you mistakenly think you're green too and go...but then realize your mistake and stop just past the line...
3) you're stopped behind a tall trailer and close to the lights where you can't see them over the truck...light goes green...truck moves forward and you follow it through with impatient drivers honking from behind...but the lights gone red just as the truck goes through..oh shit!!
so yes mistakes can be made...i will grant you that each of these situations is 100% a result of carelessness and inattention to the road...but the result is a mistake and not willful...does it make it better? no...does it deserve a less harsh judgment? yes...
i like to imagine i'm a good driver and a careful one; but just as a story, after my dad passed away recently, i was on one of my late night drives and was just completely lost in thought about all the good times with him and how much i missed him...and i drove straight through a red light...thank god it was 4 am with no traffic and no cameras...but the point is i was staring straight ahead at a red light and yet so completely lost mentally that i did not register the lights and realized what happened only when i stopped at the next red light...
so yeah, these are all mistakes which can and do have horrible consequences, but they are mistakes and not willful violations of the law...not arguing, just trying to explain how someone might end up in trouble without intentionally asking for it...