OT: Raiders WR Henry Ruggs charged with DUI resulting in death

Well in Stallworths case a pedestrian hopped a barrier and crossed a high speed road (freeway?)in front of him, not at an intersection or crosswalk.  Stallworth wasn't speeding excessively and they determined that any car would not have been able to stop in time.

If a sober person crosses the yellow line and hits a drunk person, you really going to blame the drunk person?

This does not appear to be the case with Ruggs.

OK, how about this? You are driving drunk, just over the legal limit at .10. You are driving down a two-lane highway at night, in a rural area, no street lights and an overcast sky. Another drunk guy (much drunker than you) stops his car around a blind curve with his lights off, still in the road and just on the other side of the blind curve, and falls asleep. While your blood alcohol is .10, you are driving the speed limit (let's say 65) and within the lines. You come around the blind curve, rear-end his car, and he dies while drunk-sleeping. Accident reconstruction experts determine that no one - drunk, sober, professional NASCAR driver, whatever - could have responded in time to avoid hitting and killing the stopped driver. Voila! You are guilty of being a drunk driver but not at fault for the death of another driver! 

I work in auto insurance claims (username definitely does not check out) but I can tell you this happens more than you think, thought it isn't often.  For example, I handled a claim not too long where one car merged across 4 lanes of traffic and didn't see a motorcycle in the far lane and splattered the guy.  The police showed up and hauled away the motorcycle driver to jail (after he went to the hospital) since he was .12.  However, multiple witnesses said the motorcycle driver was headed straight down the middle of the lane and driving the speed limit or close to it and did nothing wrong.  Therefore, even though he broke a state law in terms of DUI that did not mean he was liable for what took place in the accident itself - it just means he got busted for the offense in a bizarre fashion.  

IIRC, in Stallworth’s case the victim hopped a fence dressed in black (or dark clothes anyway), and crossed a freeway in the dark. The judge decided that even a sober person wouldn’t have been able to avoid him/react in time. So while he clearly broke the law by driving under the influence (Stallworth wasn’t super drunk iirc), being drunk didn’t result in the guy’s death. 

I don't think one should have to choose between getting paid off and justice.  I, personally, would want both.  And you can get both which is why we have civil courts.  Mostly I would want justice and true repentance.  I'm a big believer in second chances and improving one's self and the world after a terrible mistake.  The problem is that second one takes a long time to demonstrate and achieve and families who have loved ones lost also have immediate concerns. 

I am in no position to judge anyone who feels otherwise, but personally if I was in that position where I lost a family member or loved one to a drunk driver, no amount of money they could offer me would make me want anything less than the maximum sentence for them. If not for a feeling of justice, it would be for holding them accountable. This wasn’t some mistake they accidentally made. They chose to get drunk and get behind the wheel. They chose to endanger others. 

I’d never want to feel like I sent a drunk driver the message that my loved one’s life had a price tag associated with it, and they were able to just walk away and consider everything a closed transaction. If I really want their money, I’m happy to go to civil court afterwards and settle money matters then. But if I took their money and then saw them out on the street two months later, I feel like I would regret it every day for the rest of my life. I’d be wondering if they ever really learned anything, or care about what they took for me.

If you or anyone else feels differently, then that’s completely fine. Again I’m in no position to judge because I’ve never been there. I’m just going by how I assume that I would feel in that situation.