Well there‘s that way to look at it.
Another way is: The parents are fully responsible for the well being of their 7 year old child. Without using any comparisons, and only the facts, it seems clear that this child had access to an ATV which he clearly was not of a sufficient age to operate alone, and proceeded to use it, which resulted in a fatal accident.
Parents are legally and morally bound to provide a safe environment for their children, which these parents failed to do.
While a case for manslaughter, or perhaps even second degree murder could be brought against these parents, I haven‘t seen anyone saying that‘s what should happen.
It seems to be more along the lines of neglect, which it obviously is a clear cut case in that respect.
As for feeling bad for the parents, that they‘ve suffered enough etc. well that‘s not what the justice system is meant to do. It‘s not meant to "punish" people for their actions. It‘s meant to hold all of us as Canadians accountable to ourselves and to each other.
And you can‘t be selective about who you choose to prosecute.
If they deserve leniency, then that is for a judge to decide. I don‘t think his parents should be shipped off to prison, to further damage that family unit, but for the rest of the families out there who allow their underage children to ride on ATV‘s not designed for children, then bringing these parents into the judicial system will set an example.
The message will reach much further then just locally and by word of mouth. Things like this are picked up by the press and debated nation wide. Then changes can be made, new laws enacted, etc.
Now to use your examples of the backyard pools. Well 20 years ago when I was a kid, there were plenty of back yard pools that had no fences, no safety floatation devices, no warning signs etc.
After enough children died through the 80‘s and 90‘s by falling into pools and many cases of neglect being tried, there have been some very significant advances in backyard pool safety.
It‘s law to have all the things I mentioned now. Plus there is now pool covers available that even adults can walk across. Soon enough, those will be mandatory too.
Hopefully, one day, the vast majority of ATV owners will be compelled to follow the manufacturing guidelines when it comes to what is a safe age to ride.
Plus I just have to say, enacting new laws does reduce accidents. That‘s why new laws get passed when it comes to safety. It wasn‘t that long ago that you weren‘t required to wear seatbelts.
That and the fact that it wasn‘t an "accident". If someone had hit with their car while he was riding, then that would be an "accident". If a tire blew out, and he crashed, that‘s an accident. He went out of control and crashed, which doen‘t seem like a big suprise to me.
If you let your 7 year old drive your car to and from school enough times, he will crash it. It would be more of an accident if he didn‘t crash it.
It‘s pretty obvious to me that a 7 year old is incapable of safely operating a 250cc quad. Getting in a serious crash does not seem accidental. It seems like a very poorly calculated risk. YOU KNOW a kid that age is at SERIOUS risk riding that kind of power. There are so many things that could go wrong.
He was let down, by those who should have known better.
