O . M . G . . . . .

A passenger in a car has been jailed for dangerous driving.....

WTF?

"At an earlier hearing, Nichols, the owner of a packing firm BM Partnership Ltd of Ely, Cambridgeshire, was found guilty of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving because he had failed to tell his fellow company director and partner to slow down."

Hang on a minute: just because he knew she was drunk, let her drive and didn't tell her to slow down, that somehow makes him responsible for the actions of his driver?

Some people might applaud this, but to me, its a step too far. Guilt by association is wrong. He was not driving the car, therefore he can not be guilty of dangerous driving. End of. Had he snatched the wheel of the car and caused the accident, then he holds the responsibility.

I'm sure the families of the bereaved will see it differently, but he didn't hold a gun to her head. Yes he handed the driver the keys, but she could have refused. She agreed to drive knowing full well that should anything happen she would be responsible.

I'm sorry, but to me this is just courts pandering to emotion and public opinion and has nothing at all to do with justice or the enforcement of personal responsibility. This is the law of the playground: "He made me do it, so he's guilty as well..." I would hope that by adulthood we all would accept our responsibilities, but it appears not. So now it seems the law is using "You're all staying behind for detention" as a valid deterrent. It is wrong, wrong, wrong, on so many levels. It seems the Nanny State is here with a vengance.

UPDATE:

Having thought about this a bit more, I just wonder where this new responsibility we've all been handed ends? Is the publican responsible for selling them drinks and/or letting them get into their car? Does it extend to the rest of the patrons in the bar, who saw that they were too drunk to be in charge of a car and did nothing to stop them or alert the Police?

Will therefore landlords be forced to request driver's car keys unpon entry to the bar and only return them upon a negative breathalyser test? Will it now bcome the norm that we can all be prosecuted for any offence if we fail to notify the Police of the crime in progress?