I think you have a point about society conditioning us to behave this way. You can actually get arrested on a felony for NOT stopping for ducks. You can pretty much guarantee that your mugshot will be on the front pages of all the papers as public enemy #1 if you ran over ducklings - even if you felt you might be endangering others behind you by hitting the brakes.
I almost rear-ended somebody on a back road a few years back because he stopped for a turtle crossing the road. I was coming around a curve and barely had time to stop as his car was in the middle of the road with the flashers on. He was one of those college professor types with the beard and glasses and he thought he was performing a great humanitarian service by picking up the turtle and carrying it across the road to the other side. Even though I almost slammed into his BMW and put myself in the hospital or worse (I've learned to just straddle the turtles and drive over them harmlessly).
I am not happy to see this woman go to jail, despite what happened. Maybe having her driver's license taken away for life would have been more appropriate.
No one speaks for the dead, so I will.
“I was really looking forward to my motorcycle ride with my daughter. I don’t get to spend enough time with her. She’s growing up so fast! Well, I guess not anymore. I won’t get to see her graduate. I won’t be able to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. I won’t get to bounce her children on my knee. Because of ducks. My future was taken and so was my daughter’s because of some ducks. That woman was standing on the left side of her car, so I couldn’t go to the left without hitting, and probably killing, her. It’s easy to forget me. You won’t see me at the trial. But, I once was like you. I had dreams and aspirations. I had hopes for my daughter. All gone. For ducks. My family has to carry on without us. The newspaper doesn’t run any stories about what they’re going through. The crazy thing is that I like ducks, too. I just wouldn’t do something so foolish because of them.”