our 5 cents: Hypothetical Moral Question

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Hypothetical Moral Question

So you are driving down the street listening to the radio, going home after a long day at the office. Let's place this scenario at appox 7:00pm. A two lane residential street busy enough to warrant traffic lights. A large black SUV speeds past you in the right lane, he cuts it close, a little too close for comfort, an inch more and your mirrors would have kissed. Just as you are shaking your head, "smash, crack" you see a mirror go flying. Thankfully not your own but you realize the black SUV has knocked the mirror off an poor, innocent, unsuspecting Legally PARKED car. Here is where the Hypothetical Moral Question comes in.

What do you do?

Additional info to consider:
You are driving in the left lane and can't just stop the car
The License plate number of the SUV is CIK1SZ

Madame Shenanigan ¶ 8:33 PM

Comments:

Report the bastard. If that had been YOUR parked car, you'd want to crack skulls...

# posted by

Rockenheimer : 7:23 AM

I owuld just leave well enough alone. The guy was a bastard, but I just wouldn't get involved. It's not like he totalled the car. (Mirror = not so expensive to replace, i know that's not the point, but just saying...)

# posted by

one of the girls : 9:26 AM

Pooper - where does one report a bastard? Do you have to go file a police report? Can you do it online. In this hypothetical situation it's easy to give an answer like that but please elaborate on how exactly you would do that.

What proof do you have other than your word that it was not you that took off the mirror?

# posted by

Madame Shenanigan : 11:53 AM

ootg.

that's why we are friends!

# posted by

Madame Shenanigan : 11:53 AM

Dunno whether you could do it online. I wouldn't. Walk into a police station, information in hand. The proof that you didn't do it? YOUR car is intact. The car that hit that mirror will bear the mark of the impact; any cop with a grade three education will be able to measure the mirror's height off the street and make that measurement on the "suspect'"s car. Or go online, find some sort of site that matches license plate numbers with that of owners of vehicle - if there is such a site - and tell the owner. Hi, I saw what happened, here's the license plate number of the person that took off with your mirror. Screw apathy. You're a witness. "Not getting involved" is a cop out. You have a moral obligation.

# posted by

Rockenheimer : 12:37 PM

Ya Rockenpain-in-my-arse. That's howe I live my life. One big cop put after another. Maybe THAT'S why Mme S is friends with me? Huh?

# posted by

Anonymous : 4:22 PM

I agree you should say something. All you are providing is a witness, like RnP explained, it doesn't make you look guilty at all.

Hopefully it wouldn't be too time consuming, and it might do some good.

Thanks for posting!!

# posted by

Ms. M : 8:24 AM

I agree in theory you should say something but where do you say it?

You think the police in LA will really care when you walk in and say
"um, yah, I saw a car hit this other cars mirror"
"no, I didn't get a look at the driver"
"no I don't know the license plate, make or model of the car that was hit" "no I don't know the cross street of where it was parked"

So no offense to Pooper and Ms Ms, maybe you are just better people than me. But Going to report a mirror at a police station was just didn't seem like a viable or realistic option.

Leaving a note. Now that could have been an option. But I didn't. I'm a bad person. How come nobody suggested that?

# posted by

Madame Shenanigan : 11:17 AM

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