"Like the article says, "Criminal law punishes bad intentions and bad acts, not traffic accidents.”
Well, the article is quoting the attorney of the person who ran over a cyclist, so it's fairly narrow in scope. The law finds accidents worthy of punishment everywhere, everyday -- regardless of provable ill will.
But I absolutely agree with what you've said. There is little to gain by punishing the perpetrator of an accident.
The problem arises when the truly guilty use the facade of accident to commit crimes that they want to commit.
A while ago it was suggested to me to mentally translate "accident" to "collision" in context of cars hitting cyclists. Most collisions with cyclists are easily avoidable, and caused by negligence, impatience or ignorance.
Treating collisions as unavoidable, unintentional mistakes relieves drivers of a lot of the inherent responsibility of controlling a vehicle. Watch the road. Respect other users of the road. Be patient, safe, and focused.
Well, the article is quoting the attorney of the person who ran over a cyclist, so it's fairly narrow in scope. The law finds accidents worthy of punishment everywhere, everyday -- regardless of provable ill will.
But I absolutely agree with what you've said. There is little to gain by punishing the perpetrator of an accident.
The problem arises when the truly guilty use the facade of accident to commit crimes that they want to commit.