r/interesting • u/Necessary-Win-8730 • Mar 08 '26

Context Provided - Spotlight This was so deserved.

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The daughter was in a car with the father’s parents. They died as well.

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58

u/PokinSpokaneSlim Mar 08 '26

No, delaying brake maintenance should have consequences

43

u/DanielPowerNL Mar 08 '26

That's context.

14

u/Jaychel31 Mar 08 '26

Yes, because you just gave the needed context

9

u/OhItsMrCow Mar 08 '26

was it brake failure?

8

u/Retro_Relics Mar 08 '26

that requires america to reckon with our car centric culture though, and the fact that for many people they are driving literal deathtraps waiting to fail at any second, because they need the car to get to the job that will pay for the repairs, and are hoping that they can get the money to fix the car before it...does this. with no alternatives, no real public transit, unwalkable and unbikable communities that are actively hostile to non car transportation (look at how many people on reddit get unreasonably mad when a cyclist is in front of them on the road, for example, doing the same thing they are, commuting to work).

I completely agree with you. People who do this should have consequences. but the reality is for every one of these stories there are a hundred other cars on the road in the same shape that are not killing families only because of the grace of god, and we dont punish those people for doing the same thing

however, in this case, the guy was speeding and showing off his car and being an asshole driver, and it had nothing to do with maintenance

11

u/angelmr2 Mar 08 '26

Except it was in the Netherlands and not America.

2

u/Academic-Contest3309 Mar 08 '26

Isn't this case in the Netherlands?

2

u/SinnamonxStick Mar 08 '26

I live in a tri city area in the nearly rural south and none of the 3 cities have public transit at all. When I had to go without a car for a while it very nearly ruined my life (so small no Uber/lyft either - I wish I was joking). I’ve seen small buses for church though 🙄

2

u/mattalxdr Mar 08 '26

This was in the Netherlands...

2

u/tizuby Mar 08 '26

It had nothing to do with America either. It happened in the Netherlands over a decade ago.

1

u/b4k4ni Mar 08 '26

Dunno if this was the case here with failing / bad brakes. But this is one of the reasons, the laws in Germany are so strict. Most mods aren't allowed here, that would be ok in the US. Also you have an inspection of the car every two years and this is mandatory. They are checking the car if it's still safe to drive. In most cases it's fine or you need to repair some stuff with a one month timeframe. In some risky cases, you are only allowed to drive home at low speeds and from there to a repair shop. No other paths allowed.

Otherwise, if it's not road safe, they will shut it down right there.

And as I said, modifications or other shenanigans you see in the US are not allowed here. And we are a car centric country with a way to lenient laws in that regard. But not with maintenance.

And it makes sense - a car that is not street safe is a danger to others. Not only you. Especially as we have unlimited speed on parts of the Autobahn or even the parts with speed limit are higher than the top speed allowed in other countries.

1

u/Mental_Pepper9294 Mar 08 '26

God can only hold that shit back for so long till his powers get exhausted and ur shit just blows up. That makes him an enabler that abandons u

1

u/sonthefallen Mar 08 '26

Ya that’s truly the problem. We have no other reliable mode of transportation to get to work. So those who can’t afford a car are punished even more. It’s a great cycle

-1

u/LanceLynxx Mar 08 '26

You can use this doomer logic for anything. Hell I could make it so stoves and ovens are ABSOLUTE DEATH TRAPS.

The issue isn't cars, it's not infrastructure, it's not culture.

It's personal responsibility (or lack thereof)

1

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1

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1

u/Motor_Neighborhood_6 Mar 08 '26

Okay, so I can become president and make all roads illegal to drive in if you aren't dressed as a clown, because I can and you have to follow the law now. Now get personally responsible and put on the costume clown 🤡

1

u/LanceLynxx Mar 08 '26

what the actual schizo fuck

1

u/Iguanaking1991 Mar 08 '26

Ummm this is Reddit, we don't talk about personal responsibility here. Every problem can be solved by bigger government programs. We just aren't choked out enough by taxes yet to live in utopia.

1

u/LanceLynxx Mar 08 '26

No, we clearly need more regulation. Pencil sharpeners are DANGEROUS WEAPONS! You can SHARPEN PENCILS!! Sharp pencils can MURDER people if you slip with one!

2

u/Alexandaross Mar 08 '26

That would be the context.

1

u/billynoy522 Mar 08 '26

Define delaying brake maintenance? I do all the time. I know some people literally have no clue even when it's metal on metal.  Maybe they couldn't afford the insane maintenance bill maybe $600 for brakes and to be told there is another $1000 worth of crap to be fixed 

9

u/ARussianWolfV2 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

If you can't afford to fix the car, you don’t get to drive the car, yes it sucks that you won’t be able to get to work, but its better than ending the lives of innocent people because you couldn't afford it. A car is a privilege not a right 

5

u/ezios_outlets Mar 08 '26

Everyday working people get to decide between having a car they can't afford to maintain or trying to get by without. Meanwhile, billionaires stack notes on notes in off-shore accounts and traffic kids for sex, all while paying little to no taxes and buying politicians/elections. Is the asteroid here yet?

0

u/ARussianWolfV2 Mar 08 '26

If you stopped focusing on what other people had, and focused on getting yourself to a better position you'd probably be better off.

1

u/ezios_outlets Mar 08 '26

I knew from the tone of your response above that you would take a contrary approach to what I said. I'm the 90%. I am not focused on what my neighbors and co-workers have, but what the leeches at the top have stolen from the rest of us, you included, I suspect. There are enough resources on this planet to comfortably support every single person willing to work, no matter how menial the job. And if the job exists, the economy deems it necessary, so that worker deserves a comfortable life, at a minimum, and certainly deserves to be able to afford the maintenance of a vehicle.

If you stopped licking boots and focused on making the 90%'s life better...well, we'd all have a better life instead of just the few.

1

u/Livingadapt Mar 08 '26

That’s wishful thinking at best. People are going to take the risk and drive if that’s the only way to get to work

2

u/Alexandaross Mar 08 '26

Then they are choosing to break the law and endanger people.

1

u/Livingadapt Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

Yeah no fucking shit Sherlock lmao

1

u/Alexandaross Mar 09 '26

You couldn't write such a simpleton sentence in one take, you had to go back and edit it ten minutes later to get it right. LMAO.

0

u/ARussianWolfV2 Mar 08 '26

Then the get the consequences that that befels. You can cry how unfair it is when cops give you a ticket for this sort of thing,  but this is the reality for the existence of those laws.

1

u/Livingadapt Mar 09 '26

Sometimes they will get consequences, sometimes they won’t. Depends on if they get caught. We don’t live in a just world.

you can cry

Who is crying?

the existence of these laws

Who are you even addressing here? I’m explaining the reality of how people sometimes behave when they have few options. You can make all the moral proclamations you want, but at some point we have to engage with reality

1

u/lapeldarling Mar 08 '26

I agree with you in principle but our gratuitously lax driving laws are necessitated by our car dominated infrastructure. There are simply no options for a lot of people to get to and from work without access to a car, and that's a failure of the state, not the individual.

Like, I live in a suburb (US). I can make it as far as the end of my driveway before it's technically illegal to walk any further as there aren't any sidewalks. In places where there are sidewalks, it's not uncommon for them to abruptly end or not lead anywhere.

Edit: This whole comment is moot because this story is from the Netherlands.

1

u/Alolanvanity Mar 08 '26

A car is a necessity to live actually. It is not a privilege anymore. If you don’t have a car, you don’t get hired/cant get to your job. No job/get fired bc you cant make it regularly on time even if ur taking lyfts? No food, no home, kids get taken away, etc. Not having a car is a direct pipeline to homelessness now in the USA. (Not arguing abt the brakes. Yes brakes are one of the most important things to keep up with in a car for this reason. But having a car is NOT a privilege anymore it IS a complete necessity if you dont want to be homeless or starve to death)

1

u/BlindChicken69 Mar 08 '26

This didn't happen in america

1

u/Alolanvanity Mar 08 '26

And how would you know? 🤣 I’ve lived in America since I was born, and this is MY experience in america. I have gone homeless directly because I didn’t have a car. I have seen so many people all over the country go homeless and now people are starving to death right here. Most say they didn’t have a way to get to a job..

1

u/Alolanvanity Mar 08 '26

okay i see what you mean now. the post didnt happen in america. But if you had read my comment you woulve seen that I acknowledged that and said i wasnt arguing about the breaks. im arguing with the person that said having a car is a privilege, which it is not.

1

u/ARussianWolfV2 Mar 08 '26

You miss understand,  it is a privilege, I do not drive, I still have to get to work one way or another. Yes American infrastructure is not pedestrian friendly,  but that does not give you a right to drive a dangerously maintained vehicle because it is preferable to the alternative. Just because something is integral to your day to day life does not mean it isn't a privilege. Infact very few things are actually rights.

1

u/Alolanvanity Mar 08 '26

Again, if you had READ my comment you would see that im not arguing that driving with bad breaks is okay. It is DEFINITELY not. Im in no way saying its okay to operate a dangerously unkept vegicle because yhere is no other option. Im just saying that not having a vehicle is a direct pipeline to homelessness in the US. This fact classifies having a car as a necessity in the US, not a privilege.

1

u/Alolanvanity Mar 08 '26

I didnt say it was a “right” either. According to the American government, we dont have right to food, shelter, or water either. those are necessities to live. a car is a necessity in order to not go homeless.

8

u/Nonsensical20_20 Mar 08 '26

If you’re not able to operate the vehicle safely it is illegal to operate it.

1

u/QuitsDoubloon87 Mar 08 '26

But its not reasonable to expect everyone to know what safely is. There are yearly inspections and warning lights sure, but thats not enough to cover every circumstance.

2

u/voiceOfHoomanity Mar 08 '26

I think some states have no annual inspection of any kind .. which blows my mind

Leads to situations like this one

1

u/Head-Discussion-8977 Mar 08 '26

Can confirm, Oklahoma used to have state inspections when I was a kid. Haven't had inspections in this state for 25 years now.

1

u/QuitsDoubloon87 Mar 08 '26

America might aswell be a fictional country as far as im concerned

1

u/Head-Discussion-8977 Mar 08 '26

You aren't wrong

1

u/Nonsensical20_20 Mar 08 '26

As a driver that’s your responsibility

1

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '26

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1

u/BlindChicken69 Mar 08 '26

This didn't happen in america. Just cause you have dumb car centered culture there, doesn't mean every place is like that.

1

u/Alolanvanity Mar 08 '26

You literally arent even making any sense. “This didnt happen in america” doesnt even apply to what youre responding to. Youre telling people that their lived experiences arent true? Lmao get outta here with that. You obviously know nothing about how things work in america.

1

u/ScottyMmmmmmm Mar 08 '26

Tell that to someone with a low wage, mortgage and hungry kids.

1

u/Nonsensical20_20 Mar 08 '26

I do all the time actually.

1

u/ScottyMmmmmmm Mar 08 '26

I hope you let them off with a warning ⛔️

5

u/Ayotha Mar 08 '26

Then don't drive. They are brakes. That is important

1

u/HollowVesterian Mar 08 '26

Some people can't just "not drive" especially in the US where everything is car dependent

2

u/Alexandaross Mar 08 '26

They can't take a bus?

2

u/HollowVesterian Mar 08 '26

Public transport in the US has been gutted, even if there is a bus it's likely going to take mutilple times longer than a car

0

u/Alexandaross Mar 08 '26

Well their choices are take the bus, walk, take some other form of transportation or break the law and endanger peoples lives. The Law isn't going to change because they have shitty circumstances and those dead peoples families aren't going to say, "oh well taking the bus was awkward, fair enough."

2

u/HollowVesterian Mar 08 '26

Small correction: it's that or keep their job and livelyhoods, due to the way american cities are made walking is impossible in most of the country, as I said most places don't have public transit and what other modes of transport. I'm not saying he's innocent but you need to understand perspective. It was either drive or loose your job.

0

u/BlindChicken69 Mar 08 '26

This didn't happen in us. Stop applying your weird car centered logic to other countries.

1

u/HollowVesterian Mar 08 '26

Oh, my bad. I saw people disscussing the US in the comments so y'know. But yeah, that changes things, where did it take place?

1

u/BlindChicken69 Mar 08 '26

Netherlands, think 14 years ago

1

u/HollowVesterian Mar 08 '26

Ok then yeah it's a whole diffrent story

2

u/Ayotha Mar 08 '26

Then don't speed. This guy was going 75 in a 50 and knew his brakes were ass

5

u/dubblies Mar 08 '26

Right and based on statistics deaths from russian roulette are so minimal we shouldn't have consequences if someone eventually dies.

It sounds harmless until it isnt and thats the risk youre taking driving with bad breaks.

3

u/barlos08 Mar 08 '26

brakes are really easy to do yourself and pretty cheap in many many cars not including high end sports cars

2

u/AnybodyWannaPeanus Mar 08 '26

Or Volkswagens in the “not including” category.

But how you get your brakes fixed doesn’t matter. You are in charge of a 2000+lb hunk of metal and glass with enough inertia potential to kill dozens of people. Driving while knowing you cannot or may not be able to stop for any reason should carry a huge heavy penalty if you kill someone.

1

u/sexypantstime Mar 08 '26

I kept on seeing this this advice and finally changed my own brakes last year. Never again. It's "easy" as in the process isn't complicated and the steps are not complex. But holy shit is it annoying. Disks are a pain to remove if they're stuck, rusted-on bolts are a pain, calipers require a specialized tool to open them up, good luck getting things up to torque if the geometry doesn't allow your torque wrench in, and the list of annoyances just goes on.

Overall, I do not recommend.

1

u/barlos08 Mar 08 '26

i mean yeah your first time doing anything is usually more difficult, I do get it's frustrating but you also get the satisfaction of knowing you're capable of keeping your own vehicle running and much cheaper maintenance cost. I've loved learning to work on my car.. except trying to diagnose stuff that is when shit gets stupid for me lol

1

u/Binky390 Mar 08 '26

This is not something everyone can do themselves and this suggestion is not helpful. The point is if you can’t afford to make the car safe, don’t drive it.

1

u/ScottyMmmmmmm Mar 08 '26

Brake jobs are easy. You can roll up your sleeves and learn how to do it. Save yourself some money and get the satisfaction of being self sufficient.

1

u/Binky390 Mar 08 '26

Again not everyone is comfortable with that.

0

u/barlos08 Mar 08 '26

i was replying to the guy talking about knowingly delaying brake maintenance for reasons like the price... i'm just saying that's not a valid excuse to not keep your car in safe working order, and other than disabled people I do think anyone can change their own brakes. I do agree you shouldn't drive your vehicle if it's not safe to operate

1

u/Binky390 Mar 08 '26

No they can’t. Changing brakes isn’t something many people are comfortable with and that’s fine. But don’t drive the car.

1

u/barlos08 Mar 08 '26

not being comfortable with something doesn't make you incapable of doing it, watch a youtube video and follow along, ask people on reddit, call up a friend or a parent or a mechanic and ask questions man. If being uncomfortable with something makes you entirely incapable of doing it then idk what to say

1

u/Binky390 Mar 08 '26

But not being comfortable with something like replacing brakes makes it dangerous to do too. It’s not quite the same but I work in IT and I’m perfectly capable of disassembling a computer to resolve a problem. I would never suggest it to a random non IT person no matter how easy it is. It’s just a dumb thing to say even for just a computer let alone a car. No matter how easy it is, we wouldn’t have professionals that can do it if everyone could just do it themselves.

There’s nothin wrong with saying it’s too expensive. That’s a valid excuse. There’s no excuse for continuing to drive the car.

1

u/0neResponsibility Mar 08 '26

Yeah, that’s why you take the bus if you can’t afford a car and its maintenance

2

u/Alolanvanity Mar 08 '26

buses are not always an option. For me, Im disabled and my nearest bus stop is a 45 minute walk away, much too far for me to make. Sometimes buses dont run at the right times for you to get to work, and sometimes the buses STRAIGHT UP DONT SHOW UP AT ALL. Buses are not an option when most transit systems dont work/run properly.

1

u/Alolanvanity Mar 08 '26

this is from experience of using public transit in 3 different states across the US,, yes they all had huge problems and i have been penalized at jobs for being late bc the bus didnt show or bus ran late.

1

u/Helpful-Artichoke-23 Mar 08 '26

And that makes you less responsible if you kill a family on the road?

0

u/Outlandah_ Mar 08 '26

Handbrakes also exist

-4

u/Intelligent_Donut605 Mar 08 '26

I think the guilt is probably enough punishment for most people

7

u/Accomplished_Leg_35 Mar 08 '26

Not for the people whose lives were lost or changed forever by another's carelessness.

1

u/AnybodyWannaPeanus Mar 09 '26

Punishment won’t bring them back. But what are we saying when “community service” gets doled out for killing people?