Teen convicted of homicide in texting-while-driving case

We do have to punish. I'm not suggesting that we don't.

Lets take this down to a misdemeanor, take his license for 1 or 2 years. Lets give him the 5 years probation. Lets let him sit in a jail cell for a few days.

In a perfect world he would have a conditional release giving him the option to say go to college and meet a minimum GPA requirement in order to avoid more severe punishment. Let him better his life instead of destroying it further.

Texting and driving should result in an automatic suspension of your driver's license. Repeat offenders should face more harsh punishments. Many of the other things I've mentioned should be made as illegal as well, but won't be because too many voters, and plenty of lawmakers are doing those things today.

 

Some things you just can't control unfortunately. If my children pull the same stuff she does, they can rest assured that they will have a choice of their phones or their cars.

Seeing people take pictures and posting them to Facebook while their driving is one of the more disturbing things you see on Facebook.

 

I wish they would just ban using phones at all while driving.

 

So, if you send your wife this story and talk to her about it, what would her response be? Would she just laugh it off?

 

Me too. In GA there is no phone use for people under 18. Voters and politicians though can continue to be distracted along the road.

 

No, she is aware of the story. Like I said earlier, she has definitely cut down on texting while driving since it was made illegal, I just don't know if she's stopped, or if she is even convinced that it is dangerous.

 

I disagree with this part - using phones is not really any more dangerous than any of the other distractions people have in a car: dealing with kids, playing with the radio, eating, talking to other passengers, etc.

And it has a great deal of secondary benefits, especially in regards to emergencies. Or, just getting directions by phone or having someone navigate you somewhere is much safer than trying to read a map or play with a GPS.

Certainly talking while driving is less safe than not talking while driving. But it's not necessarily better than the alternatives of what people will actually do - it's not like banning phones will cause people to just have two hands on the wheel and no other distractions.

 

A year in prison for that kid might as well be a death sentence.

 

interesting . . . . a guy is dead and we seemed alot more worried about the killer's well being.
1 yr in prison for killing a person . . . .

We talk about giving him a chance to better his life rather than ruin it further????
What about the 1st time theif . . .stealing to eat?
What about the crack dealer . . .
Seriously there are a laundry list of crimes that don't result in DEATH that get far far more time than 1 yr.

Ask the crack dealer serving 7 to 10
if he would trade it for 1 yr and 15 yrs without a license

Rocket River
OH! but the crack dealer is not a 'good guy' . . . ..

 

The dead guy is dead. Can't change that.

The crack dealer? He's helped destroy many peoples lives
1st time thief, especially for food, doesn't need to be in prison either.

Our first goal should not be to punish people that make mistakes, but rather prevent them from making similar mistakes a 2nd time.

Donte Stallworth was driving drunk and killed a man, but got 30 days.