Cycling in Waterloo Region

[ijmorlan]

If the weapon was anything other than a car, nobody would bat an eyelash at the use of the word “killer” (although the police would say “suspect”). So, I conclude that your terminology is entirely fair. As soon as one sees it, the usual media practices start to seem really weird.

If the weapon was a gun, and it was an "accidental" (quotes are mine, no gun shot is accidental) shot by a 6 year old, do we call them a killer?  If a person uses a weapon to defend themselves against a life threatening attack, do we call them a killer?

I assume the car was driven by an adult, so starting talking about kids with guns doesn’t seem very on-point to me. Similarly, the number of vehicle-assisted defensive killings is probably almost non-existent (it’s theoretically possible — imagine running over an attempted carjacker — but I can’t recall hearing of it actually happening).

A better analogy would be a drunk hunter killing someone with their gun. Thinking about it, I’m not quite as confident as previously they would be called a killer, but I also can’t see it as an unreasonable characterization.

I'll be the first to admit, I know almost nothing about this incident.  But if the driver was drunk/distracted/etc., the moniker may apply.  (At the risk of being labeled as a victim shamer), if the cyclist was in all black at night w/ no lights and was hit by a car, there would be a big difference between "Person who killed another person" and a "Killer".

That’s a good point. And while I think some people look for any excuse to see the cyclist as being at fault, everybody clearly has some responsibility to be visible.