Its not a perfect system but I'm told by my American friends the alternatives are far worse, ie you have a very litigious society and insurance gets way more expensive.
Ok, you've motivated me. Two of these going in this weekend.
No excuse really. They were $10 each. I'll need to make up a couple of cables but still...
There's nothing to suggest this was a "deliberate" act. That's would be a very high bar to pass.
He plead guilt to dangerously operating a vessel. That's a far cry from deliberating ramming your vessel into another.
He didn't purposefully set out to ram the ferry. It was not a deliberate act
That's why we have ACC.
Before ACC, the victim would have to raise a civil case against the other party. This was expensive and had no guarantee of legal success, let alone financial compensation.