Driver convicted in Colorado horn-honking incident

If you haven’t yet seen the actual video of the incident, it’s really remarkable.

Kudos to the Colorado Highway Patrol (and the prosecutors) for actually investigating; and bringing the driver to justice.

According to the Daily Camera, driver “James Ernst pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment — a Class 3 misdemeanor — and two counts of improper use of a horn — a traffic offense”, and received 12 months probation, including a court-ordered anger management class.

I’m starting a new tag today, intentional, to highlight intentional mis-deeds; which are both far less common than unintentional (but still dangerous) behavior, and  in some types of cases  can be hard to prove. Nothing to do with this case — nobody was injured — I’ve also always wondered about insurance policy’s “intentional acts exclusion” — if an insured person intentionally runs over somebody with their car, is their auto insurance off the hook for damages?

‘In the presence’ Requirement?

Obviously, no one in law enforcement witnessed this… [ this material was moved to in-the-presence-requirement ]

2014 Update: Probation revoked

The news on James Ernst continues, as reported by the times-call in March 2014:

…Under the terms of his probation, he was ordered to complete anger management, 20 hours of community service, take a traffic course called Alive at 55 and abstain from alcohol.
According to the Boulder District Attorney’s Office, Ernst tested positive for alcohol in November, missed an alcohol test in January, failed to complete anger management and traffic classes and did not complete his community service.
The court added a condition on Friday for him to complete a mental health evaluation and any needed treatment.

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