Posted on 06/26/2011 9:18:27 AM PDT by Signalman
A Lapeer, Mich., man who police say caused a fatal crash while texting and driving has been sentenced to just one month in jail and 12 months of probation. It was the first case of its kind since the state passed a ban on texting while driving last August.
Some lawmakers say the penalties under texting-while-driving laws aren't harsh enough, and need to be changed. Penalties for drunk drivers who cause a fatality are much harsher -- some states include a four-year minimum prison sentence and a permanent driver's license suspension.
Awareness of the dangers of texting-while-driving seem to be climbing, yet full appreciation of the problem has a long way to go. While most drivers see the moral hazard of driving while intoxicated, too few still think that checking email or answering a text while operating a motor vehicle falls into the same category.
Forty-one-year old Jerry Joseph pleaded guilty in April to a moving violation causing the death last November of 78-year-old Irene Paquin of Attica Township, Mich. Paquin, a grandmother, was the passenger in the car driven by her 81-year-old husband Paul. The Paquins were broadsided by Joseph's car.
(Excerpt) Read more at autos.aol.com ...
Oh for heaven sake. The guy should have at least gotten a couple of years. This texting while driving is really scary. They say it’s just as dangerous as drinking and driving.
The title implies that it was HIS grandmother who was killed. No, it was “a” grandmother of others.
At first, I thought he would at least suffer the wrath of his own family, and that he’d suffered a personal loss by killing his grandma. But since it wasn’t his grandma, the thirty days seems even more paltry!
“Slap on the wrist” doesn’t come close to describing this travesty of justice. Texters should have the exact same penalty as drunk drivers.
If he JUST HAD to text, then asking the granddaughter to do it would have saved her life and not brought life long grief to him and the family. 99.999% of all in-car communications are not necessary in the first place.
Oh, thanks for clearing that up. I’d misread it too.
Slap on the wrist - great minds.
It also implies that killing a grandmother is so much worse than killing, say, a 5 year old child.
That’s nothing...obama didn’t get any time at all....just sayin’
One of my crack-brain ideas is that everyone should get 30 days in jail for causing a death. Their release date and location should be posted in the newspaper. If you think they deserve additional punishment, you can meet them at the door and discuss it with them.
I would want him to get more than that if he ran over my dog.
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