Driver's Responsibility

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <l03110706b034177daf9e@[207.172.148.189]> Unka Bart writes:

> Bottom line:  Get a grip.  The person who decides to break the law is 100%
> responsible for the consequences of his actions.  Always.  Ditto for the
> owner who *allowed* the driver to behave in a criminally irresponsible
> fashion.

I think we have to cut the driver perhaps a little slack.  For all we know, he 
might well have protested to one or more of the Al Fayeds or their lackeys 
about his unfitness to drive because of alcohol.  But he was a long-term 
personal servant to the family, and considerable pressure might well have been 
brought to bear on him via this relationship.  Perhaps he climbed into the car 
under considerable protest - and yes, from here we know he should have refused 
point blank.  But perhaps someone said: "Refuse, and you never work again."

All of this shows the classic signs of overheating that you see in what are now 
referred to, in the UK at least, as "road rage".  In the cold light of day - 
cameras are not guns.  Dodi Fayed and Diana were in zero physical danger from 
their pursuers.  There were many, many alternatives to dealing with the 
situation - splitting up and taking two cars, leaving in a laundry van with no 
windows, etc.  The manner of their departure from the Ritz - indeed, the fact 
of their departure given that it _IS_ a hotel with lots of bedrooms and belongs 
to Dodi's father - can only be considered provocative.  I'm sorry to have to 
say this, but anyone who's been seriously involved in 'fooling the other side' 
for real and in deadly earnest could only laugh at the 'evasion' they attempted.

All I see in this is a testosterone-driven macho stunt that went badly wrong, 
as so many do.

And I guess I'm going to get grumbled at about bandwidth all over again ...

I think Unka Bart's point is valid - there _IS_ list relevance.  Quattros, and 
especially ur-quattros, are special vehicles.  There's a temptation to just 
'show the creep' using the quite special way these things handle - but the 
roads are also unfortunately open to the general public who have families and 
quite reasonable expectations of longevity.  Every now and then you just have 
to let the a$$hole in the M3 get away with it.

-- 
 Phil Payne
 Committee Member, UK Audi [ur-]quattro Owners Club