Darryl Anderson was drunk behind the wheel of his Audi SUV, had his accelerator pressed to the floor and was barreling toward a car ahead of him when he snapped a photo of his speedometer. The picture showed a car in the foreground, a collision warning light on his dashboard and a speed of 141 mph (227 kph).

An instant later, he slammed into the car in the photo. The driver, Shalorna Warner, was not seriously injured but her 8-month-old son and her sister were killed instantly, authorities said. Evidence showed Anderson never braked.

Anderson, 38, was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in prison for the May 31 crash in northern England that killed little Zackary Blades and Karlene Warner. Anderson pleaded guilty last week in Durham Crown Court to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

  • n2burns@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    As a Canadian, I read 141 and thought, “141 km/h is pretty fast, but that’s not international news fast.” Then I saw it was mph!

    Driving that fast on a closed course while sober with complete focus is dangerous. Yet this guy was drunk and texting on public roads.

    “Sometimes mistakes happen," he said. "But I’m not a bad person.”

    AFAIK, no mistakes happened, those were all choices. And by making those choices, yes, you are a bad person.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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      Dude didn’t even wait for the bodies to get cold before he absolved himself. What a gaping asshole

    • Sigilos@ttrpg.network
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      I agree these where choices, and he should be held accountable for them. I disagree that they make him a bad person, because a person may not have the understanding of what those choices can result in. I agree that he is not a good person, but I agree because he is refusing to take responsibility for his choices.

      Edit: And upon reading the remainder of the article, I agree he is not a good person, because he clearly did understand what those choices could result in. Shooting video while driving, let alone at those kind of speeds, and while drunk? I can’t think of any excuse or explanation that could mitigate that.

      • GluWu@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        This is literally the afluenza teen defense that got Ethan Couch zero jail time for killing 4 people and seriously injuring 9 while drunk driving.

        This guy is too poor to drive drunk and actually has to face consequences for his actions.

    • kamenoko@sh.itjust.works
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      This is a very bad person. Calling what he did a mistake shows a lack of emotional understanding that should in all honestly, get you put somewhere we never have to see them again.

  • Archelon@lemmy.world
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    Anderson lied to police, saying a hitchhiker was driving at the time of the crash.

    Prosecutor Emma Dowling said a roadside breath test showed Anderson was nearly three times over the limit driving after drinking. An empty vodka bottle was found in his car.

    Witnesses later reported that he had been driving dangerously for 20 miles (32 kilometers) and his phone showed he had been sending text messages.

    At a police station, he told officers he had driven into the back of a car.

    “Sometimes mistakes happen," he said. "But I’m not a bad person.”

    Sometimes mistakes happen!!!??? My dude, you murdered two people out of sheer recklessness and negligence and then lied about it. You don’t get to excuse your behaviour by saying “oh, I’m not a bad person…”

    Take some fucking responsibility. Although, I guess if you were capable of taking responsibility for your actions you wouldn’t be on your phone while driving double the highway speed limit and drunk off your ass.

    • Otakulad@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Reading this, he was probably still very drunk when he said it. Doesn’t make him any less of a POS.

      Also, alcohol generally makes someone tell the truth, so I’m guessing his only remorse is I got caught.

      • rekorse@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Thats a myth about telling the truth. People change more and more the more they drink and the more often they drink. Its not a more honest version of them coming out, just a different one.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      Not a bad way person? Holy crap at this list of ways he endangered people and recklessly murdered two. He deserves more than 17 years

  • whocares314@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    PSA: your local fire precinct (in the USA, probably England too) can do a car seat installation and fit check for you. Strap your kids in, and strap them TIGHT. It can be very easy to install a seat improperly, I had mine checked when I was a new parent until I was confident I had it right.

    Before anyone flames me for victim blaming I am 100% not blaming the mother. It is quite possible that at those speeds the child would have died regardless, and the driver deserves every day in jail that he spends.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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      I’m almost 100% certain that a 141MPH impact absolutely destroyed everything that the car seat was attached to. There was an accident posted on reddit a couple years ago (from either L.A. or Texas) where a guy was going something like 120MPH and hit stopped traffic on the highway. His vehicle completely sheared off the upper half of the car he hit first and then shot over several vehicles before hitting a building probably 30 yards off the side of the freeway. A car traveling that fast carries an insane amount of energy.

      • BillThePlatypus@lemmy.world
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        Energy goes up with the square of velocity. A car going 140 MPH has 4x the energy of a car going 70. Assuming a 3,000 lb car, there was about as much energy in the car as 1.4 lb (.64 kg) of TNT, but applied in a single direction, much more efficiently than an explosion would. Modern cars are impressively safe, but there probably wasn’t much left.

        Edit: He was driving an SUV, ~5000 lb, so closer to 2.4 lb (1.1 kg) of TNT. It’s a miracle that anybody survived.

      • sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        But take into account that the woman was also driving at certain speed when he hit her. If she was driving at 100MPH then his speed relative to her was just 41MPH

          • OneOrTheOtherDontAskMe@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            I think his math is bad because he just went with a cool round number.

            But, more realistically, she was probably going somewhere between 55-70 mph (don’t know road or highway or whatever) and that’s still a difference of 70-90 miles an hour. So I’d say yeah, the seat check MIGHT prevent harm if you’re super duper lucky but I don’t think that baby’s walking away from that with anything less than life threatening injuries

            • sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works
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              miles is not a unit I am familiar with. I certainly wasn’t suggesting the woman was speeding or slowing down just that her speed (whatever it was) should be taken in consideration when estimating the severity of impact.

              Of course this is all theoretical since we do know for a fact that two people were killed

        • rmuk@feddit.uk
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          Right, but they’re not particles travelling through a vacuum. Even a tiny contact at highway speeds is enough to send one or both cars rolling.

    • SendMePhotos@lemmy.world
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      You should not strap them TIGHT, but you should make sure they’re not loose. Too tight is a thing and can result in additional pressure/exertion, which leads to bending of parts, fraying, and stripping of components, ultimately making things less safe. The key is to be just right.

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        I would have called an ambulance because they have sirens to get through traffic and go fast, and can start treatment as soon as they arrive, plus you can give emergency aid yourself until they arrive, instead of driving.

        However, I acknowledge that my local paramedics are closer than my nearest hospital, and traffic is a greater factor than distance in Los Angeles. It might pan out differently on empty roads in the middle of nowhere.

        I also know from my spouse’s several life-and-death medical crises that it’s hard to stay calm. Which argues against driving but explains the choice. I’ve run into a Code Blue and taken over, because I knew my spouse’s very specific needs were being missed. I would never do anything like that normally, but I did bring him back, so yeah, you do what you need to do.

        I’m glad your wife is okay, and you didn’t crash into anyone.

        • nocturne@sopuli.xyz
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          I would have called an ambulance because they have sirens to get through traffic and go fast

          When I was dying from a rattlesnake bite we were told to drive, in a life or death situation like this the ambulance takes too long.

            • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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              Sometimes that’s because, while you’re in need of an emergency room, you have the time and ability to drive or be driven there. A broken bone, for instance. Or excessive bleeding from a miscarriage. And having a 3rd person to help in the back seat can make driving a more viable option. Driving yourself while likely to become unconscious is not advisable.

          • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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            Oh I just saw this again and realized, you needed antivenin for a snakebite, so the EMTs would have been pretty useless. Definitely a drive to hospital situation, that.

        • ealoe@ani.social
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          In my case the hospital on the local military base (which I have access to) was likely to be faster to access than the paramedics, it was one of those cases like you mentioned where sometimes we can be faster than an ambulance. I did not have traffic to contend with due to the time of day there were only a handful of other people on the roads. Glad you were able to help your spouse too, they’re lucky to have you!

      • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        Take your one size fits all approach and shove it up your privileged ass.

        You make a reasonable point then torpedo any potential for upvotes in that last sentence.

        • ealoe@ani.social
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          Fair enough, fortunately upvotes don’t pay my rent or I’d have to find a bridge to live under. It’s just frustrating to do deal with people who can’t imagine that others might have different needs than their own and insist everyone fits into their quick and easily defined box.

        • daq@lemmy.sdf.org
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          Ambulance could take 30 minutes to get to your house. But even if you imagine a magic ambulance that gets there in 5, that’s 5 extra minutes a person is potentially not breathing.

          • tobogganablaze@lemmus.org
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            Do your ambulances not come with paramedics? They can start treatment as soon as they arrive so no extra time. Also the ambulance has sirens that should allow it to get to you faster then you’d take recklessly speeding to the hospital.

        • ealoe@ani.social
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          I was faster than an ambulance as I could take her to a closer hospital than the one they’d be coming from and I could leave immediately, no need for a phone conversation first. Sometimes ambulances are quicker but in some cases like mine, they wouldn’t be.

    • doodledup@lemmy.world
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      140 is not very fast in some countries. In Germany, a farming vehicle will pass you at that speed.

  • BilboBargains@lemmy.world
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    Anglophones do be loving their cars but the real problem is cyclists riding on pavements. Have you got any idea how dangerous that is? Only the other day I took a picture of my pumpkin spiced latte and caused a multiple pedestrian pile up.

    • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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      17 years is a seriously life-altering prison sentence sentence.

      Quite frankly, this flavor of irresponsibility can be corrected in just a few years time, you just need a justice system that’s interested in correction rather than punishment.

      Kinda hard to accomplish when you have people cheering from the sidelines for more punishment…

      • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
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        I get it, but also when I think about if that happened to my sister, let alone my child, no amount of time would be enough. 2 years for ripping two people out of your life feels like a pittance. How do you separate the emotion from the practicality?

        • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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          With all due respect, the justice system shouldn’t exist for you to experience vengeance. It’s easy to get angry and to wish harm against people who would hurt our loved ones, but at scale we just end up with a punitive justice system that begets even more violence and misery.

          If a person can be reformed after committing a profound injustice to the point where we can trust that they won’t repeat their crimes, why would we want their sentence to be lengthy and cruel when it could instead be compassionate and effective?

          Forgiveness is a powerful thing. If you can’t even think of forgiving this hypothetical transgression you’ve come up with, how can you ever hope to have a positive influence on this world that might actually protect others from the kind of tragedy you’ve described?

          • hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz
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            Imagine having your children killed - probably hard if you don’t have children and the reading your comment.

            I anything ,the justice system should be more punishing for such cases. How can you even mention forgiveness for drunk driving,showing off,killing people and then asking for it with such a worryingly easiness?

            Forgiveness for what,for being a blatant sociopath? Really? If I were that lady I would have preferred enjoying the rest of my life with my children as opposed to forgiving a murderer and knowing he might do it again,cause it’s easy to forgive and “Forgiveness is a powerful thing”. This is not a case for forgiveness,but harsher punishment.

            Again: you’re asking for forgiveness for a drunk driving murderer of people and children.

            • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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              Imagine having your children killed - probably hard if you don’t have children and the reading your comment.

              This is just an appeal to emotion. There’s absolutely no reason to care about this. I care about real solutions to real problems. While having one of my children killed by some irresponsible person would be horrible and life-altering, and I would want consequences for the person responsible, I would not want their life ruined. I wouldn’t wish suffering upon them. I am not a cruel person.

              I would want whatever solution would offer the best chances of protecting others from the same tragedy I have had to bear, and I know for a fact that ruining the life of the person who wronged me will never accomplish that.

              Forgiveness for what,for being a blatant sociopath? Really? If I were that lady I would have preferred enjoying the rest of my life with my children as opposed to forgiving a murderer and knowing he might do it again,cause it’s easy to forgive and “Forgiveness is a powerful thing”. This is not a case for forgiveness,but harsher punishment.

              You sound like a cruel and vindictive person. You care more about personally feeling a sense of retribution (for a hypothetical crime that nobody has committed against you or anyone you know), and you’ve already worked yourself up to the point of fantasizing about another person’s torment. That speaks a lot for your state of mind…

              Again: you’re asking for forgiveness for a drunk driving murderer of people and children.

              In every situation in life, you have the choice to follow the path of reason, or the path of emotion. You have not chosen the path of reason.

              • hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz
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                No,not death sentence,but i noticed people here are worryingly apologetic for murder. It is murder,not in the 1st degree off,but still murder.

                25 years with no parole and that’s that. I’m sorry,I just can’t find excuses for drunk driving murders like some people do. It’s my belief system,not a standard.

                • Sylvartas@lemmy.world
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                  Some people are just that irresponsible. Also the human brain is notoriously bad at risk assessment, so some people truly don’t realize how likely they are to cause suffering and death when they do shit like this. Harsh punishments won’t change that because this guy probably didn’t think he was gonna accidentally murder 2 people that night

          • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
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            How do you know when a person is reformed versus playing the part to get out earlier? Is there a risk of the system being abused by those who commit a crime knowing that they can get out in a couple years’ time?

            If you can’t even think of forgiving this hypothetical transgression you’ve come up with, how can you ever hope to have a positive influence on this world that might actually protect others from the kind of tragedy you’ve described?

            I’m sorry but I’m not sure I see the connection here. How does forgiveness prevent such tragedies?

          • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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            Not vengeance but justice. 2 years in prison then off you go is not justice. Now two years and 15 years paying support to the family you have wronged can be justice.

            But just two years till you’re good is not how it’s supposed to work. There needs to be consequences otherwise there is no difference between somone going into rehab voluntarily for two years and somone killing two people and then being forced to go to rehab.

          • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
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            I don’t know that emotion is so easily divorced from justice. How do you define what a just punishment is for a crime? Or does the magnitude of the crime not matter?

            • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
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              We learn over and over again from our various texts-of-wisdom, be it fables or scripture or novels or movies, that revenge is a primitive response to problems. It’s the moral of so many stories, right?

              Yet we organize society to satisfy these immature desires. Punishment, for the most part, is neither deterrent nor corrective, and a paltry form of redress.

              Do you want justice? Start with redress. You can’t fix the problem of a dead child but the victims need proper support, to alleviate all the other issues caused by the crime. In Canada the prison system is called “corrections” but it mostly fails at that… rehabilitation requires an evidence-based system to succeed, and ours is built on punishment, an emotional response.

              If you want deterrence, well that requires eliminating poverty and supplying real education, backed by proactive and robust mental health services.

              I define justice as the best possible outcome of a bad situation.

                • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
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                  Uh, sure it does, in the sense that if someone is unable to be rehabilitated, they should be kept away from the public? Not sure what you’re asking except maybe “can I please just have a little revenge?”

      • ours@lemmy.world
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        Americans are in a very weird bubble when it comes to punishment/correction compared to most of the developed world and they don’t seem to notice it.

        Insane punishments, death penalty, imprisoning drug users, imprisoning sex workers, private prisons, normalized prison violence/sex violence. It’s bonkers.

        • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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          Wouldn’t be a Lemmy post if it weren’t for someone shitting on America or Americans even when the story has nothing to do with America.

            • Soulg@sh.itjust.works
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              As an American I completely agree. People lose sight of just how much time the amount of years actually can be, and just want to feel better about punishing bad people.

              Most people who do something like this will live with the guilt for their entire lives. It will always come up in job interviews, it will hurt their social situations. Nightmares forever. But we just have to pile even more shit on so that the rest of us can ride the high horse.

              And before anyone shows up, no, getting a longer or shorter prison sentence does nothing for the victim. They’re already in as bad of a spot as they could be.

            • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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              I mean, 17 years for a car accident, drunk or not, is completely draconian. Murderers and child rapists regularly get lesser sentences, and their crimes were malicious not negligent.

              There’s no benefit to society to lock anyone up that long for something that can be corrected with a compassionate justice system. If we can release them with confidence that they won’t make the same reckless decisions again, is there any point to locking them up for that long other than to make them suffer?

          • ours@lemmy.world
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            It was a response to a comment asking for harsher punishment. And that sort of comment tends to pop up in most discussions involving somewhat reasonable punishments being mentioned.

        • spoopy@lemmy.world
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          Ironic considering in the USA this person would likely have a much more linent sentence for this specific crime

        • Plopp@lemmy.world
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          Some people sadly don’t care about that and just want punishment because it makes them fell good.

        • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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          It’s a completely different sentiment when a child dies, especially that the child who died in this case was an 8-month old who has not even started to enjoy what life has to offer. There’s a reason that even those incarcerated are not kind to child killers.

          I’m not justifting the person’s rageful sentiment btw, I’m just explaining why some people feel this way.

  • Mothra@mander.xyz
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    So he was playing like a game of chicken while driving? At that speed? 🤦

    So sorry for the victims, that’s horrible

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    I am baffled at how bloomy rind dick cheeses like this guy can find one night stands, girlfriends and spouses, while I have struggled for years to date.

    Because if you drunkenly boast to airport staff that your wife left you whilst on vacation, and you’re driving 200 miles away to get another one, then you come across as one of those womanizing pieces of shit who somehow pulls when they don’t deserve to. Actually no, you’re worse than that, because your average douche wouldn’t drink drive at 141 mph whilst taking dashboard pics on his phone for clout.

    • Randelung@lemmy.world
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      Ask yourself, though, if the women who are attracted to this kind of behavior would make a suitable partner for you.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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      I’m guessing because you have standards and want to be with someone who actually cares about you and who you care about and who you share interests with beyond a cheap fuck.

      Unfortunately, loneliness is a huge problem in our society and you are one of the many people who suffer from it, but this asshole is just as lonely. He’s just filling the loneliness gap with something he might as well pay for considering how much it really means to him in terms of being with another person.

      • Clbull@lemmy.world
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        What standards?

        I’ve lowered mine substantially over the years and women still treat me like I’m scum of the earth, but will get with douchebags like this guy.

  • thoro@lemmy.ml
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    I’m sorry but this isn’t “world news” to me. Random drunken tragedies are hardly something useful to keep me informed on what is happening in the world.

    • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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      It can be useful for people to see how other countries handle crimes like this one.

      I’m from the US and if this happened here depending on what state he was in would determine whether he got a slap on the wrist or jail time. Also if the judge was corrupt or a shitty person he’d get a slap on the wrist(see rapist Brock Turners case).

      So it not completely useless. At least I don’t think so.