In the name of Justice

That the Dutch are a liberal people, is no secret. That this is also the case when it comes to the police, the DA, or in fact, the entire justice system, may not be a surprise either. It's all good too if you ask me, keeps it all a bit more friendly.

Occasionally, this whole "Let's just be nice about it, and not worry about the rules too much, just interpret it our own way, and be sure not to punish too hard!" reaches a whole new level.

Now some of you might know that I was hit by a car while riding my motorcycle a little over a year ago. Note the "was hit", ie. Someone was daft enough to run his car into me. This someone happened to be 88 years old, and unable to distinguish between the gas and brake pedal.

Insert legal papers here.

Now skip one year due to bureaucracy.

So here I was, talking to the DA so she is up-to-date regarding my situation. And we come to the topic of what punishment I can expect a judge to apply in this situation. I play the role of the concerned citizen, who has serious doubts about having a now 89, nearly 90 year old man driving on the road.

DA>First of all, it's important to remember that this is the criminal case against the suspect, so about what law he broke, not about you, this will come in the civil case against him. It's likely that the judge will revoke it temporarily, and impose a fine.
Me>Temporarily? But this guy is clearly incompetent.
DA>As I said, it's not about that here, it's about the law he broke.
Me>What if I had died.
DA>He'd have lost his license.
Me>You just said it wasn't about the result.
DA>No it isn't.
Me>Yet he'd have done the same thing.
DA>Yes.
Me>Only the result would be different, and oh, the sentence.
DA>That's right. But even a doctor wrote a statement, this here, which says "Its not too bad".

I gave up.

Turned out that they *do* look at the result (oh really?), except if after a year the victim is able to walk and smile, it's "not too bad", and people start feeling sorry for a senile who hits someone, causing major medical issues for the rest of someone's life.

Next time I'd like someone dead.. wait.. not dead, that'd get me a bad sentence... I'll be sure to hit them accurately with a bulldozer, removing his legs, arms, and crotch, but making sure he can live happily ever after as a vegetable in a hospital.

Just so I can say "It's not too bad.. he's alive isn't he?".