As we mentioned in the last post there is an inherent danger in 'inventing new words', based on our own politics or bias. Nevertheless, I will go against my own advice and suggest a new word to describe a daily violence that happens everywhere, everyday. The violence I'm referring to is the daily massacre that happens on the streets, where automobiles kill over a million people annually: pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and other drivers - not to mention the uncounted number of animals that become "Road Kill". Currently, drivers who are involved in such incidents are deemed to be innocent if there is no clear evidence of culpability and so we say they were in accidents. Those that are guilty of causing 'an accident' can be charged with various driver related crimes such as: reckless driving, driving under the influence (DUI), street racing, and vehicular manslaughter to mention a few. So what term do we use for a criminal act committed while driving a vehicle that caused death, but doesn't easily fit into one of these specific categories? For example, what criminal charge should a driver that sees a pedestrian crossing an intersection but refuses to slow down (expecting the pedestrian to get out of the way) be given, if he/she ends up mowing them down?
Is that reckless driving?, vehicular manslaughter? It seems that these terms fail to capture the true devastation that was known to be possible but ignored by the driver. Maybe we need a new word to describe such a crime. Autocide.
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