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Quit texting and driving or go directly to jail or pay a $500 fine, whichever is fair

Jangler

By Jangler,
in Huddle Lounge

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Jangler Newbie

Jangler

Posted
Posted

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/21-year-old-woman-only-has-pay-500-fine-after-hitting-killing-motorcyclist
 

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A woman who hit and killed a man in March of 2013 will face no greater legal repercussions than a $500 fine.

Elizabeth Meyers, 21, was pulling out onto Route 3 in Gambrills and heading towards a convenience store when she hit and killed 30-year-old Jonathan Roberts, who was riding his motorcycle.

Authorities have said that Roberts had the right of way.

Officials have said that a witness reported seeing Meyers texting on a cellphone as she pulled onto the road.

Initially, the Anne Arundel County woman was facing six charges: negligent manslaughter by motor vehicle, criminal negligent manslaughter, reckless driving, negligent driving, failure to yield the right of way and text messaging while driving.

Two of the charges she had initially been facing – felony auto manslaughter and misdemeanor criminally negligent manslaughter – both carry jail time.

On Monday, however, the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office said that Meyers pleaded guilty to negligent driving, for which she was issued a $500 fine.

Accounting for the lessened sentence, in part, was the fact that although cellphone records have indicated that Meyers had sent text messages one to two minutes before the collision, they did not prove that she had been texting at the time of the collision.

Furthermore, although the witness reported that Meyers had not come to a complete stop before crossing the highway, Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said that a data recording device in the car indicated that she had, indeed, stopped.

 

 

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CarolinaNCSU Proficient

CarolinaNCSU

Posted
Posted

First off...it sucks this guy died. Obviously a tragedy. Now...

 

I can text without looking at my phone and do it while driving all the time. Also, it's not like I'm texting or scrolling through Twitter when I'm on a busy highway. I just scan my face down quickly and don't stare at my phone for more than a second or two. I know poo happens, but texting is no where near as dangerous as eating while driving, or others listed above IMO. The people going down the highway staring at their phone, more than likely what this girl was doing? They're idiots. Who also more than likely can't drive worth a damn anyway. 

 

 

Also...women drivers. Amirite? 

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Captroop Grand Master

Captroop

Posted
Posted

Sigh. The comments in here so far. It's like the gun debate all over again.

 

"People kill people by texting while driving."

"Should we outlaw it?"

"Ne because other kinds of distracted driving kill people too."

"Oh. Okay. Well should we try to prevent the instances of distracted driving caused by cell phone by outlawing texting while driving. I mean, not texting while driving is a pretty small sacrifice. Because although it won't eradicate the problem of distracted driving, it would save some lives. Isn't saving a life worth the minor inconvenience of not being able to read/respond to text messages while being responsible for the safe operation of an automobile?"

"Nope."

"Makes sense to me. I'll text you while driving later! And if I kill someone it will be okay, because one time a guy caused an accident because he was eating a cheeseburger."

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Inimicus Mentor

Inimicus

Posted
Posted

I'm a fan of pretty draconian enforcement of the traffic laws we have and think cops that are not writing a dozen or more careless and reckless tickets a day are slacking off.

 

Like 88 Bronco said, there are a multitude of things that people do behind the wheel that take their attention away from the task at hand and make them a danger to the other motorists.  And I would be in favor of ticketing all of them.

 

Eating

Dictating to Siri

Talking on the phone

Putting on makeup

Reading anything inside the car not made into the dashboard

 

take your pick...

 

 

And for the folks who think they are in control while doing those things. Maybe you are staying in your lane, maintaining a constant speed, and completely aware of the brake-lights on the car in front of you.  I can promise you though that the dude who is 4 car lengths back 10+ mph over the speed limit about to pass you on the right is well outside of you perception.

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lightsout Grand Master

lightsout

Posted
Posted

Anything you're doing while driving (to include thinking about anything that doesn't have to do with the task of driving) is a distraction. If you are going to arrest people for talking on the phone or texting while driving, you better arrest people for drinking a soda, or eating, or any of the other examples mentioned in this thread. It's simply dumb.

Is texting while driving a problem for many people because they cannot safely do it (ie, not looking at their phone while texting)? Yes, it is. I am for doing what we can to limit the distractions while driving, such as phone use. A small ticket. That's about as far as I am willing to go. Arresting people for it is just dumb. If you kill somebody while driving, and YOU are definitely the one at fault, yeah, you get arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter. I don't care if you were on the phone or not, in that situation, because what you were doing is irrelevant to the outcome.

I paid $140 total for my seatbelt ticket and about the same for both times I had registration violations (damn end-of-the-month state troopers...). Make the texting while driving ticket about that much. $500 is just plain dumb.

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MadHatter Rookie

MadHatter

Posted
Posted

Anything you're doing while driving (to include thinking about anything that doesn't have to do with the task of driving) is a distraction. If you are going to arrest people for talking on the phone or texting while driving, you better arrest people for drinking a soda, or eating, or any of the other examples mentioned in this thread. It's simply dumb.

Is texting while driving a problem for many people because they cannot safely do it (ie, not looking at their phone while texting)? Yes, it is. I am for doing what we can to limit the distractions while driving, such as phone use. A small ticket. That's about as far as I am willing to go. Arresting people for it is just dumb. If you kill somebody while driving, and YOU are definitely the one at fault, yeah, you get arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter. I don't care if you were on the phone or not, in that situation, because what you were doing is irrelevant to the outcome.

I paid $140 total for my seatbelt ticket and about the same for both times I had registration violations (damn end-of-the-month state troopers...). Make the texting while driving ticket about that much. $500 is just plain dumb.

Do not agree with your last statement at all.

 

Seatbelt violation puts you at risk.  Texting whil driving puts others at a serious risk.

 

Not even close to the same level.

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