03-12-2012, 08:31 PM
Logically speaking, it should be treated like...
...any other negligent activity, with punishment appropriate to any resulting actions.
Texting is illegal in CA, along with holding an electronic device. There is a demographic around here that holds a cellphone while using it as a speakerphone. Some believe that's legal, others do so to hide it quickly when The Man is around.
CA blew it big time making using a cellphone without hands-free gear no more consequential that a pricey parking ticket. Even then, most people didn't know that the ticket was pricey until they got one. Texting wasn't specifically addressed either. Not much of a deterrent.
Both activities should have been treated as moving violations with convictions adding points to their driving record.
It took many, many years for CA as well as many other states to recognize drunk driving as a irresponsible criminal act rather than merely an "unfortunate" by product of just having "a couple of beers".
It's good to see they're moving a little faster in the digital age (though that took years, too).
Interesting that she was responsible for the death of a motorcyclist. When I ride, I often see people with their phone in their right hand, that hand on their leg (presumably keeping the phone out of sight) and looking down at the phone to read, and sometimes time.
In the city, I split lanes at stop lights and occasionally as I roll up along side a car, I'll see the driver hide his/her cellphone.
I'm glad the girl was in custody from the time of the killing, and I think five years is a very small price to pay for negligence resulting in the death of another.
Had the two drivers been acting in concert to commit a felony, the girl could be facing a life sentence. As the motorcyclist was merely an innocent victim, see gets only five years.
By the by, I'd feel the same of the victim was a bicyclist or the driver of an SUV, or anything in between.
...any other negligent activity, with punishment appropriate to any resulting actions.
Texting is illegal in CA, along with holding an electronic device. There is a demographic around here that holds a cellphone while using it as a speakerphone. Some believe that's legal, others do so to hide it quickly when The Man is around.
CA blew it big time making using a cellphone without hands-free gear no more consequential that a pricey parking ticket. Even then, most people didn't know that the ticket was pricey until they got one. Texting wasn't specifically addressed either. Not much of a deterrent.
Both activities should have been treated as moving violations with convictions adding points to their driving record.
It took many, many years for CA as well as many other states to recognize drunk driving as a irresponsible criminal act rather than merely an "unfortunate" by product of just having "a couple of beers".
It's good to see they're moving a little faster in the digital age (though that took years, too).
Interesting that she was responsible for the death of a motorcyclist. When I ride, I often see people with their phone in their right hand, that hand on their leg (presumably keeping the phone out of sight) and looking down at the phone to read, and sometimes time.
In the city, I split lanes at stop lights and occasionally as I roll up along side a car, I'll see the driver hide his/her cellphone.
I'm glad the girl was in custody from the time of the killing, and I think five years is a very small price to pay for negligence resulting in the death of another.
Had the two drivers been acting in concert to commit a felony, the girl could be facing a life sentence. As the motorcyclist was merely an innocent victim, see gets only five years.
By the by, I'd feel the same of the victim was a bicyclist or the driver of an SUV, or anything in between.
