https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rRO3FPpFC4
If you've ever been walking on a sidewalk only to get splashed by a whole lot of water due to a passing driver speeding over a curbside puddle, you know it's not one of the more fantastic feelings in the world. Of course, it's usually pretty easy to at least give the offending driver the benefit of the doubt and assume that splashing you was a complete accident. Because nobody would do something like that on purpose, right?
Wrong.
Back in July 2018, rearview dashcam footage showed a van driver in Ottawa, Canada weaving in and out of his lane and purposely splashing pedestrians like he was the biggest jerk in the jerk store.
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As you can see from the video, the driver, who was employed by contracting company Black & McDonald, appears to go out of his way to splash the passersby, and as far as local law enforcement was concerned, this dude knew exactly what he was doing.
"There's no doubt it was deliberate," said Ottawa Police Service Sgt. Mark Gatien, according to the Ottawa Sun. "They might've gotten hurt, so the driver could be hit with an assault charge as well."
The driver ended up getting fired as a result of the incident, and rightly so. Black & McDonald announced the driver's firing via Facebook post, while Sgt. Gatien took to Twitter to commend the company on their decision.
Update on the Van Splashing Incident. I would like to thank Black & MacDonald Ottawa Div. for their quick and decisive action in this matter. The driver of this van has been terminated from the company. I would also like to thank a patrol Officer who assisted in this outcome.
— Sarge (@gatienmc) July 29, 2018
I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that a purposeful sidewalk splashing incident is not something you'd expect to see in Canada of all places, particularly since Canadians have a reputation for being so nice. I guess the splasher in question just so happened to wake up on the wrong side of the Canada that morning.
If I'm one of the pedestrians getting splashed in the video though, I'm not so sure I want the serial splasher getting hit with assault charges here. Sure, it was a assholish thing for him to do, but I'm all about the punishment fitting the crime.
What needs to happen is for this guy to be forced to stand in front of the biggest puddle in all of Ottawa for an entire day. A full 24 hours of this guy just getting drenched by passing drivers. Now that's a punishment I could get behind.
This post was originally published on July 31, 2018.