What happened to personal responsibilty?

[matt_unique]

Wait. Hold on just a second. I am pretty sure I heard somewhere, I think it was on TV, that the government was responsible. Yeah, pretty sure the government is supposed to be responsible for my safety. And I am nearly 99% sure that they are supposed to be responsible for my happiness. I'll have to check again, but that's what I was told by my lawyer.

It's the government AND the church who is now responsible for all aspects of your life. Of course in the US there is little difference between the church and the government right now...

--Matt

 

[drbill]

I am of the firm conviction that cell phone use while driving an automobile should be banned. I'd probably even go further and ban all cell phone use period, except I do know plenty of people that actually NEED to use them for safety-related reasons.

I've been driving fewer years than I've been diving (41 vs 44) and to-date I've never had an accident on the road or even a ticket. I don't drive after drinking, I don't use a cell phone (even while walking). I am extra cautious because of all the idiots I see out there who are doing one or the other or both!

But if I do hit someone, I'll be sure to blame them!

 

[Otter]

I...snip...However, just because someone does something stupid or exercises poor judgement behind the wheel, it doesn't mean they are evil or bad people and deserve to die for it. Hopefully people survive their mistakes and then get a chance to learn from them. ...snip....

[/RANT=ON]I agree and disagree. There are two issues here (1) in order to learn, one needs to accept responsiblity for their actions...if its the road's fault, they delete responsiblity for improving thier actions to a 3rd person/entitiy. Its @#$@ rampant in our society. (2) exercising poor judgement/ doing stupid things MAY mean they are bad people -- if they impact the lives of innocent people. I feel for the friends and family of the two victims who are now permanently scarred. I feel for the victims of people that exercise poor judgement and drink and drive and kill other people -- those people are BAD/EVIL. Do they 'deserve' to die -- no, I don't think so. But their victims deserve to live -- and their poor judgement was being on the road with a drunk or idiotic person on their cell who is complete clueless about the fact they are driving a 2 ton vehicle at 65 mph with minmal control...yet I see it ALL THE TIME ( case in point: on the work today I see a silver SUV going 40 in the fast lane where everyone else is going 65+. As I pass I see he is punching a number in his phone and in the mirro I see him swerve in to the #2 lane and almost take out another car -- is he "bad" -- yeah, I think he is. [/RANT=OFF]

 

[Vtdiver2]

Good gravy! Would someone please accept responsibility for their own actions?! Roads don't move. Trees do not sprout in the middle of roads. Your car's dimensions do not change arbitrarily........

I dunno.....I remember years ago when I was young, driving home late at night from a bar that a mailbox jumped out into the road....I swear.....it had to, because otherwise why would I have hit it? It did cost me some money to replace the next day, not to mention digging a hole to put it back on the side of the road where it belonged.
All jokes aside...I agree with your post 100%,
C-Dawg

 

[RIOceanographer]

[/RANT=ON]I agree and disagree.

Actually I think we are on exactly the same page, you are just sort of filling in some blanks I left in my statement.

one needs to accept responsiblity for their actions...if its the road's fault, they delete responsiblity for improving thier actions to a 3rd person/entitiy. Its @#$@ rampant in our society.

Totally agree, never meant to suggest otherwise in my post. All I am saying is that there is difference between "accepting responsibility" and "I have no sympathy, they deserve what they got".

(2) exercising poor judgement/ doing stupid things MAY mean they are bad people -- if they impact the lives of innocent people.

I think we agree here too, sure some of these drunk drivers etc are just plain jerks. But they weren't really what I was talking about. I was more thinking along the lines of stupid teenagers who don't realize just how stupid and dangerous their behavior is.

 

[RIOceanographer]

Twisting this to the subject of diving.......

Accepting responsibility for mistakes while diving is an issue as much as it is with driving. Divers are making choices that have potentially life or death consequences as much as drivers (though at least a bad diver is less likely to kill anyone but themselves than a person in a vehicle).

One of the things I have found in diving is that divers seem to be generally pretty willing to take responsibility and be critical of their own actions. At least with respect to diving , when the dry out who knows how they act on land....

I don't mean that as an absolute statement, since sure I have met more than a few self-proclaimed "super-divers" who can do no wrong and know everything. But after a dive gone wrong, divers usually seem pretty willing to say, "Wow, I messed up there...." and not go "Stupid ocean's fault!"

Not only do they seem willing to do that, by many divers even seem willing to take a little hit the pride by going off and telling everyone about it after they mess up rather than trying to cover it up. I've lost count of how many posts by, or real life conversations I have had with, divers who were eager to share their mistakes with others so they could hopefully learn from it.

It is kind of refreshing really.

 

[scubatwinned]

I know ER docs go through that same kind of thing, especially when they see the same faces for the same things over and over again...Hopefully people survive their mistakes and then get a chance to learn from them.

Thats a big hopefully I guess...

And besides there were two people in that car. Only one of them was driving the vehicle. Did the other person deserve to die because they got in the car with the wrong person?

They were sisters! Do you really think it was the first time that they drove together or were unaware of the driving habits of one another?????????

 

[scubatwinned]

Your more than burned out your a . What is the matter with you. Have some respect for the families. It's very sad when any one dies. Isnt this the scuba board.
This post isnt about scuba diving. You may not have any comassion for these folks but i shure do. Your a !

If the parents had taught the kids to be responsible for their actions, had been involved in their lives- out on a school night at 1 am???- in the first place!!! They would not be faced with dealing with their childs deaths!!!.

 

[Chebby]

Deca, thanx for posting this.

I often get too comfortable driving home from work, while all it would take is one water filled pothole. I will be more careful from now on (well at least for the next few days, unitl I forget...)

 

[RIOceanographer]

They were sisters! Do you really think it was the first time that they drove together or were unaware of the driving habits of one another?????????

So are you saying her 16 year old sister was in a good position to judge responsible driving behavior? She was barely old enough to have a learners permit in MA! Her parents thought it was okay to give her older sister the car, so you think she is going to worry about it? She probably looked up to her big sister. I guess that means she deserved not to grow up?

Maybe she should have known her sister was a bad driver, and maybe she shouldn't have gotten in the car. But my point is that it doesn't mean she deserved to die if her worst mistake was trusting her sister to get her home in one piece.