So in Britain, there’s a 22-year-old girl who killed another twentysomething girl, b/c she was texting while driving and totally rammed into the victim’s parked car, which she didn’t see. She’s going to jail for 21 months. I think she should. Is that wrong? I’m sorry, but I’ve been reading about one U.S. case this summer where a 17-year-old boy texted while driving and killed the 50-year-old driver in the other car. He got a TICKET. That seems too lenient to me. It’s not the same thing as “intent to kill,” but still, SOMEONE DIED.
Thinking about it practically, jail for a text-killer is not ideal. I don’t think jail reforms people, and in fact, jail has shown to corrupt prisoners, changing them permanently so that they are unable to live an “honest” life when they get out.
I don’t know what the appropriate punishment should be — maybe it should be treated more like a D.U.I., where you have probation or mandatory education classes or SOMETHING, but to only get a ticket seems really lame to me. But on another level, nobody in contemporary society has an attention span any more. All of us are distracted by technology, our focus fractured by the Web, TV, cell phones, blackberries, but to be that distracted when operating having machinery, such as a car, can’t happen. That’s just wrong. There’s movement to establish stronger laws about calls/texting while behind the wheel, so hopefully, I won’t have to flip out about this too much longer.
(The dog behind the wheel should never happen. Ha ha. Just thought it was cute….and stupid picture.)