4 ms·

I think a lot of these are while idling at traffic lights and tbh, I have a little sympathy

by adammarples 8mo ago

MBCook 8mo ago
Does the law say that’s OK? If not, the driver is still in the wrong.
- IshKebab 8mo ago
  That not really how it works though. Laws and morals do not perfectly align even in mostly civilised countries like the UK. More importantly, laws are written under the tacit assumption that they won't be perfectly enforced. Have you ever driven 31 mph in a 30 mph zone? Illegal! You're in the wrong! I have never watched his videos so I don't know what proportion of his videos are of people stopped at lights briefly looking at their phone... but I don't think many people (even cyclists) would seriously object to that. I both cycle and drive a lot. There are a lot of bad drivers that I wish would get snitched. But I also occasionally look at my phone while waiting at a red light.
- Traster 8mo ago
  So, in general, you support vigilantes?
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
  - MBCook 8mo ago
    In my mind vigilante implies actually doing something to the criminal above and beyond documenting what they’re doing. “a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate)” That’s from Miriam Webster. I’d say he isn’t punishing crime, I could see an argument that he’s suppressing it, but it doesn’t really fit my normal view of the word.
    - Traster 8mo ago
      Running into traffic to pick a fight with them? Throwing your bike in front of their car to cause a collision? Jumping onto their bonnet to try and pretend you're being run over? The guy is quite literally taking the law into his own hands and it's very clear that running around trying to cause car accidents is making people less safe, not more. In many cases the "accident" he claims to want to prevent is caused by his actions.
- linkregister 8mo ago
  It's trivial to find laws that the majority of Hacker News posters (and you) find abhorrent. Do you really equate law with moral correctness?

I think a lot of these are while idling at traffic lights and tbh, I have a little sympathy

MBCook 8mo ago

Does the law say that’s OK? If not, the driver is still in the wrong.

IshKebab 8mo ago
That not really how it works though. Laws and morals do not perfectly align even in mostly civilised countries like the UK. More importantly, laws are written under the tacit assumption that they won't be perfectly enforced. Have you ever driven 31 mph in a 30 mph zone? Illegal! You're in the wrong! I have never watched his videos so I don't know what proportion of his videos are of people stopped at lights briefly looking at their phone... but I don't think many people (even cyclists) would seriously object to that. I both cycle and drive a lot. There are a lot of bad drivers that I wish would get snitched. But I also occasionally look at my phone while waiting at a red light.
Traster 8mo ago
So, in general, you support vigilantes?
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
- MBCook 8mo ago
  In my mind vigilante implies actually doing something to the criminal above and beyond documenting what they’re doing. “a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate)” That’s from Miriam Webster. I’d say he isn’t punishing crime, I could see an argument that he’s suppressing it, but it doesn’t really fit my normal view of the word.
  - Traster 8mo ago
    Running into traffic to pick a fight with them? Throwing your bike in front of their car to cause a collision? Jumping onto their bonnet to try and pretend you're being run over? The guy is quite literally taking the law into his own hands and it's very clear that running around trying to cause car accidents is making people less safe, not more. In many cases the "accident" he claims to want to prevent is caused by his actions.
linkregister 8mo ago
It's trivial to find laws that the majority of Hacker News posters (and you) find abhorrent. Do you really equate law with moral correctness?