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Forums - General - You're driving while slightly drunk, kill a kid, injure another, what do you do?

 

What will you do!

Drive away & let the kid die 21 38.18%
 
Save the kid & go to ... 34 61.82%
 
Total:55
Jay520 on 22 September 2011
shuraiya said:
Jay520 said:
shuraiya said:
Well, there's obviously nothing you can do for the dead kid--and confessing will not miraculously bring him back to life--so call the police anonymously. For the other kid, spread a tarp, or something that can keep his blood from getting smeared all over you car, and drive close enough to the hospital that the kid can be retrieved easily, but not too close that you begin to show up on cameras. If you feel really horrible about it, you could confess, but it doesn't actually change anything; one kid is still dead and the other is still in critical condition. I expect the guilt will eat away at you for a while...


You can't save the kid & remain hidden. The hospital is in the middle of the city. Getting within proximity to the hospital will cause you to be seen by a camera by some other building.

In that case, I'll get the kid to the hospital, immediately flee, liquidate as many asstes as possible in a few hours and retire to a country without an extradition treaty with the country I just left. All that can be accomplished within a few hours--most likely before the police can accurately identify me from the camera footage and eye witness descriptions. I make no excuses for my actions. Rotting in prison will not change the situation so I'm not going to do it. It may give the kids' families some peace of mind, but I'm not that nice or conscientious.



What country do you live in? (I can't access your profile for some reason).

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Marks on 22 September 2011

I'd probably drop the kid off at the hospital and drive away.

I know the cameras would identify my car but the cops can't prove you were drunk the night before if they come arrest/question you the next day. Then I would just lawyer up and not say a word to the cops.


Although if it was out in the middle of nowhere I would be highly tempted to just drive away. Especially if it wasn't my fault (the kid ran out onto the road or something).



Jay520 on 22 September 2011

Wow, some honorable responses. Well, more than I thought anyway. I wonder if everyone's being honest though? Will people act the way the say if they were ACTUALLY in this situation? I guess we'll never know.



TheLivingShadow on 22 September 2011
Jay520 said:
thetonestarr said:
It takes time for them to start investigating, though. First the police have to be contacted, then they come in and a report is taken. At this point in time, they'll want to investigate you, but that's easily going to be a half-hour to an hour later. That's more than enough time to get the car taken care of. After all, YOU don't have to be the one cleaning it off. Contact a good friend. Have them come clean it for you while you wait.


The living child would recognize you.

While that is possible, it is highly unlikely.

1. The situation is more likely to occur at night. The lights of the car on the children would probably hide you (the driver) and the car from their sight as you get closer. If you do indeed run into them, they must not have seen you when you were still distant; hence the living child would not recognize neither you nor the car from the time before you hit them.

2. After the time when you've hit them, if the kid has suffered enough damage to the point where he may lose his life, he's probably either unconcious or in too much despair to care about how you look like. But much more likely, he's unconcious. Let's assume he's not for arguments' sake (since the opposite already kills the scenario). If he did indeed were able to see your face (he still would be unable to recognize the car from the outside but he might grab details of the car from the inside, and hence the scenario is right), you could still always put on a hat or something or 'appear' unrecognizable.

While the scenario is certainly possible, it is not plausible by any means.



thetonestarr on 22 September 2011
Jay520 said:
thetonestarr said:
It takes time for them to start investigating, though. First the police have to be contacted, then they come in and a report is taken. At this point in time, they'll want to investigate you, but that's easily going to be a half-hour to an hour later. That's more than enough time to get the car taken care of. After all, YOU don't have to be the one cleaning it off. Contact a good friend. Have them come clean it for you while you wait.


The living child would recognize you.


Eassy to blame on him being delirious from being run over. If there's no other evidence, it's not enough to pin you down, especially since you saved his life.



 SW-5120-1900-6153

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Jay520 on 22 September 2011
Marks said:
I'd probably drop the kid off at the hospital and drive away.

I know the cameras would identify my car but the cops can't prove you were drunk the night before if they come arrest/question you the next day. Then I would just lawyer up and not say a word to the cops.


Although if it was out in the middle of nowhere I would be highly tempted to just drive away. Especially if it wasn't my fault (the kid ran out onto the road or something).


! If you save him, then he'll tell that you killed his friend.

For the last paragraph. Yeah, that's the point. It's just you, the kid, & the dead kid. No one else is there.

You say you would be tempted to drive away, but would you?

shuraiya on 22 September 2011
TheLivingShadow said:

What I would do if I were in that situation may be different than what I think I'd do in the situation if given, due to other, not necessarily selfish considerations, such as the concern for (if I had them) my own children if I went to prison. For that reason, I suggest one more assumption to idealize the moral problem: People don't depend on you.

With that above said, I can certainly say that at this point in time, given how things are now, I'd try to save the dying kid and then turn myself over.

Some people will shout pragmatical arguments justifying their decision to run away, but they are miserable people no matter what (again, we make our assumption that people don't depend on them). Also, If you turn yourself in because that would make you feel better, then you're not doing it for the right reason. You should turn yourself in because you just killed a child and almost (hopefully almost) killed another due to rashness on your side and your side alone.

Furthermore, note that I would consider the person who turns himself/herself in more free than the one who wouldn't, since their selfishness and desire for happiness is not enslaving them into making a different moral decision that they otherwise decided they would make as free thoughtful beings.

So yeah...I guess you can probably note I'm very Kantian.

Based on the senario presented, fault lies on both sides (driver and kids), but because alcohol is involved, jail is a certainty. Nearly every decision we make is motivated by selfishness. Whether we realize it or not, we make decisions based almost entirely on "what we can stomach:" Can I bear the weight of hiding what I've done? How can I ever hold a child of my own with all this blood on my hands? What will people think when they find out? It wasn't my fault, I'm sure they'll understand. Pragmatism can actually be a means of mitigating the influences of selfishness in decision making, because one's decisions should be firmly rooted in pure practicality. You view is more idealistic; it focuses more on what should be as opposed to what is. Forget morals and ethics for a second, and ask youself another question: What is there to be gained from confessing to the death of one child and the near-death of another? Leave emotional considerations out of it and try to answer practically based on what is most benefitial to all parties involved.



Jay520 on 22 September 2011

@theonestar & theLivingShadow

I know the scenario has some major loop-holes in it. I don't have the time & energy to create a perfect one. That wasn't my purpose. I justed wanted to know how people would react if they had to choose between their freedom & someone else's life. The scenario is merely secondary. It's Meant for those questioning the possibility of the situation as opposed to telling what they would do.

If you want to point out the faults in my scenario, then go ahead. I know it's not perfect. But at least let me know what you would do if somehow you were in the most unfortunate predicament & you did have to make this choice. I'm really interested in what people would do if this happened, not so much in the possibility of this actually happening.

I really just wanted to ask "would you save a life you put in danger, if you knew you wer going to jail?" I know it's impossible for this to ever turn up, that's why I made the thread. I made the scenario to just prove the scenario can actually occur. I guess I've failed.



deskpro2k3 on 22 September 2011

I'll explain to the cops I saw a spider jump out of my sun visors and freaked me out.



Jay520 on 22 September 2011
deskpro2k3 said:
I'll explain to the cops I saw a spider jump out of my sun visors and freaked me out.


But what if the spider runs away? Then, you'll have no proof that there was a spider. LOL