My only Aspie friend has just been sent to prison.

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whilst i feel sorry for you and him, it seems the general consensus fro mpeople i nthis thread (including me) is that he deserved it for driving dangerously.
you can say that from the point that he wasnt in control of the car and onwards it isnt his fault, but by driving dangerously he increased the risk of losing control, its the drivers responsibility to drive safely which he wasnt doing...

you say why shouldnt he use autism as a defence in court, i think that autistic people should always be allowed to do so but i dont believe that its a 'get away with everything' card, the fact that he lied to the judge anyway by sayign that he felt remorse when he didnt outruled the use of autism in the judges eyes anyway, if he wanted to use autism as a defense dont try and use something else that contradicts it, simple.

i think the same applies to you as you say applies the family of the victims, you're ' biased and delusional as a result of bereavement. '

as i said before, the result of HIS actions increased the risk of HIM losing control of the car, if HE hadnt been driving dangerously the accident wouldnt have occured.

EDIT: also just because theres no malice involved doesnt mean that it still isnt a crime and should be punished, stupidity should be able to get you jailed aswel as anything else, it isnt all about punishing malice, its about removing people who are likely to cause harm to other people

So if someone was driving on the road and some jerk cuts him off, the person gets angry and goes after the jerk by driving after him and trying to cut him off the road or run him off or by tail gating him. Should he not be punished for it because the jerk provoked him? What if the wreck occurred or a police officer caught him doing it and pulled him over for it? Should he not face the consequence because the jerk pissed him off?

People choose to be provoked IMO because they have the option to ignore the driver. That's what the law is anyway of how to deal with road rages, don't look at them or return any gestures and ignore them. That's how it is here in Oregon. Two wrongs don't make it right.

I've seen plenty of poor drivers on the road and I just ignore them, I don't go after them or try and show them who's boss. I just let it happen and do nothing about it and have it be their problem.

Heck if I were driving and I decided to take my eyes off the road just to look for something in my car and I hit someone, should I not be punished for it because it was an accident and it was unintentional? Even if the person jumped out in the middle of the road and I would have no time to stop in time to avoid hitting him, they can still say I am at fault because my eyes were off the road.

I even remember hearing a story from my uncle that one time a 17 year old was getting in his car and a little kid walked in front of his car and the kid didn't see him. The kid wasn't there when he got to his car and as he was in his car, the little kid wandered in front of his car and the kid didn't notice because he didn't have his eyes on the road. By the time he looked, he saw no little kid so when he moved his car, he hit the kid and he was held responsible. The parents sued. I thought it was stupid because where were they when their child wandered in front of a car that was turned on? You don't let your kid wander off and let them get in front of parked cars or behind and they couldn't admit it was their fault or just an accident so they sued. I can't remember if the city said the kid wasn't at fault or not. But I learned if there are kids around, I should maybe look in front of my car first before I get in and it's very a possible the kid can all of a sudden get in front of my car as I am putting on my seat belt and by the time I look out the windshield again, I see no kid. Same as if I looked at the back of my car first and then got in, the kid all of a sudden runs behind me and stands there and I don't see it because I had just gotten in my car and putting on my seat belt and turning the car on. Should I be at fault if I did hit the child? I looked before I got in and I move out of my space slowly.

I agree with the point about how serial killers didn't ask to be serial killers, etc. There really isn't much justice in the world. There are so many mentally ill people in prison, people with horrific upbringings. But at the end of the day, people like just need to be locked up to keep society safer, whether we morally condemn them or not.

Saying that the driver is not at fault, that is just being stubborn and ignorant. Everyone knows you're not supposed to speed and drive recklessly and that the reason is to prevent accidents and death... which is very precisely what happened here. The idea that the driver does not feel remorse... that is disturbing. I doubt he wanted to hurt anyone, but not feeling remorse, that just shows a dangerous level of stupidity, or lack of awareness about how actions have consequences. Either that or it suggests a feeling of sociopathic entitlement, that he should be able to do whatever he feels like doing without consequences just because he's special or something. I am not sorry this dude is in jail, I hope he grows up and realizes what he's done while he's in there.

What he did was he put impressing his friends as a higher priority than not crashing and kill someone with his car. Nothing could be more clearly morally wrong: he made the choice of putting his personal gain above the safety of others. The mind plays tricks on us, its easy to get caught up in the moment and not realize what we're doing or why we're doing it, but he could at least be sorry afterwards. Everyone makes mistakes, but if he's not even going to realize he made a mistake, and not even think about learning from his mistake, lock him up and throw away the key.

In my country, the ads say "If you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot."

that mean everyone, not just NTs, or people without mental illnesses. Anyone could be a lethal weapon behind the wheel of a car.

From your own blog:
"down a main road at speeds of up to 140km/h".

Let's state this a little differently: 140km/h = 87 Miles Per Hour. And this is not on a remote stretch of interstate out somewhere in Montana, this was down a main road. I am on the autism spectrum and I would know better than to drive 87 Miles Per Hour down Post Road. No your friend was not malicious, but he was grossly negligent.

As much as people may bristle at hearing this "toughlove" viewpoint: the judge did exactly what he was supposed to do: Asperger's Syndrome is not a "get out of jail free card".

People may not have a choice about being gay or autistic but you most certainly have a choice about putting the pedal to the metal on a busy highway going 87 Miles Per Hour.

Should AS be a factor? Yes but not whether you should or shouldn't take responsbility for your actions but being sent to a suitable facility where the likelihood of being being abused by other inmates will be kept to a minimum. Visit him regularly and urge him to get whatever professional help he needs in prison to help him come to terms with what he did and accept that actions have consequences.