My wife and I disagree about penalties for being responsible for a death on the autobahn. She thinks if a person is at fault in an deadly crash on the autobahn, the death penalty is one of the possible sentences. I think she's believing some sort of urban legend. Didn't the Germans abolish the death penalty after World War II? What's the true story?
Germany did in fact abolish the death penalty. In fact, IIRC no current member nation of the European Union permits the death penalty.
Well, I guess that depends. If the person at fault was killed in the crash, then technically the penalty for being at fault was death.
I know you are required to stay to the right and if you don't and get rear ended then you are liable. We need a bit of that in this country to stop people clogging the left lane.
Though actuall, a life sentence in Germany means 15 years of being locked away. True, but many folks ignore it. That's because a beemer or a merc comes with the right to drive on the left lane exclusivly. Wrong. Whoever rear ends is liable. I thought you guys were allowed to overtake on the right? Which is totally verboten in Germany.
I'd like to ask Euroforge a question as well, is this an accurate breakdown of the British Isles? Must admit I always thought many of these terms were synonymous.
Your wife is completely wrong. Not only is the death penalty not in practice anywhere in the EU, but German law (which I guess is a prime interest for "autobahns") is often criticized for it lenient punishments for reckless drivers, compared to other similar killings by negligence. While even very minor faults are punishable, the punishments are comparatively light.
I find this hard to believe. A friend of mine back in the day got the crap beat out of by two polezie for running out of gas on the Autobahn due to a bad fuel gauge.
He probably talked back, or otherwise resisted. Generally you get a hefty fine for running out of gas.
While I obviously don't know what happened to your friend, "getting the crap beat out of you by policemen" is neither an official punishment in our legal system, nor can I recall any reports or stories about unwarranted police brutality in these contexts.
We sort of had it with the Treason Act 1945 (i think) but it was done away with the Human Rights Act 1998.
Treason was definitely exempted from the abolition in the 60s... I didn't realise that the Human Rights Act effectively over-ruled that. Bloody good job, the state has no business murdering its citizens. The trouble with the DP is that it doesn't allow for reparation to the unfairly convicted, and doesn't punish the guilty enough.
Eh, in my book, if you betray your country you no longer rate the protections given a citizen. [edited when I noticed the bolded part: OMG! Linda is in favor of bringing back hanging, drawing, and quartering for traitors! ]
The key word is unwarranted. Over the last decade or so, I've been to a few seminars and such were Germans and other Europeans were the keynote speakers. It's really opened my eyes to policing around the world. There's most certainly a difference in mindset and techniques, and according to the German cops I have talked to, well, they can get away with a lot of shit I couldn't even dream of. The south was a wild and interesting time for law enforcement during the 60's and 70's according to some of the horror stories my dad and other old cops have told me. It was the old west, plain and simple. Cops could do what they wanted, when they wanted, across any jurisdictional limits and no one would bat an eye and excessive force was the rule, not the exception. Things are a little more kind and gentle now days, but even those old days can't hold a candle to many European nations even today.
No. We are in favor of letting the really bad boys stew in their own juice for a loooong time. No murder in our names, no quick way out.
Technically speaking, the Channel Islands aren't part of the UK and definitely aren't part of the British Isles... The Isle of Man is a bit of an anomaly, too...
