Posted On: December 5, 2008, 6:54 pm CST

Posted By: lastbat

Mary,

In this particular case, if the passenger was sober I think they have a responsibility to ensure their own safety by not riding with a drunk driver. It is the driver's fault that the accident happened, but the passenger knowingly and willfully got into the care with a drunk driver so needs to shoulder their responsibility.

As for blaming victims in general, I only assign them the portion of responsibility they had control over. Using your examples I would blame a battered spouse for staying with the batterer because they can leave, they choose not to (for whatever reason). The batterer is wrong, but the victim isn't doing anything to protect themself. A rape victim needs to practice some level of sense but unless he/she is walking naked through a halfway house full of convicted rapists I don't see much else to assign responsibility for.

In general people need to follow reasonable precautions to protect themselves, e.g. not getting in the car with a drunk driver; not leaving their valuables where they can be easily stolen; not drinking and driving; not walking into traffic; not getting in reach of a chained attack dog; simple stuff.