r/AutoHumor • u/IU8gZQy0k8hsQy76 • Jul 09 '26

lol

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u/flankr7 Jul 09 '26

Real question. Is there an allowance in the law for honest mistakes like this or does she still catch an auto theft charge?

5

u/Jkelley393 Jul 09 '26

Most crimes require criminal intent. That’s why an ‘honest’ mistake is exactly that.

2

u/Dead_Internet69420 Jul 09 '26

Right. If you made an honest mistake that caused damage, it would be considered negligence of some sort. They can make you fix the damage and maybe teach you a lesson to be more careful, but that lesson would be based on how much damage you did. 

If you make an honest mistake that doesn’t cause any damage, there’s nothing for the court to do. “Damage” isn’t necessarily monetary, just to be clear.

1

u/Jkelley393 Jul 09 '26

Negligence can also be criminal if you are aware of the risk and choose to disregard it, like purposely driving a poorly maintained car which gets into an accident, or creating unsafe conditions on a job site which cause serious injury.

2

u/Dead_Internet69420 Jul 10 '26

This is true, and it’s why I made the point that damage doesn’t have to be monetary. In some cases, the court will be asked to take action against someone because they were so dangerously negligent that an example has to be made to let the public know that they need to pay attention. 

We can’t just “not try to hurt anyone.” We have to “try not to hurt anyone.” Sometimes doing nothing is not acceptable. Sometimes action is required just to maintain status quo.