Texter Found Guilty of Vehicular Homicide in Massachusetts

[MexicoCityM3]

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-57448359-48/texter-found-guilty-of-vehicular-homicide/

".....-- a Massachusetts court set a precedent by convicting a teenager of vehicular homicide for texting while driving."

I think this was a good decision. Thoughts?

[Raza]

I agree.

[SVT666]

Great decision.  I have sat behind a teenager at a stop sign while they texted honking my horn and the fucker didn't even notice.  I pulled up around alongside in the oncoming lane, honked my horn and my wife yelled at him to stop texting and he just sat there with his thumbs moving away.  The car behind us starting honking too, and when I looked back there were 3 cars all trying to get around him and he wasn't moving.

[2o6]

It's not just young people, some older people are just as bad.

[SVT666]

It's not just young people, some older people are just as bad.

Never said they weren't.  Teenagers and those in their 20s are the worst though.  Some people in their 30s and up are bad too, but the problem is mostly with people born after 1988.

[MrH]

Never said they weren't.  Teenagers and those in their 20s are the worst though.  Some people in their 30s and up are bad too, but the problem is mostly with people born after 1988.

I'm glad your anecdotal evidence and keen sense of determining exact ages has led to pick the cut off birth year this problem affects most.

[SVT666]

I'm glad your anecdotal evidence and keen sense of determining exact ages has led to pick the cut off birth year this problem affects most.

Let's be honest here, most people under the age of 24 or 25 don't even know how to communicate unless there is a iPhone in their hands.  It's a lot less popular with people in their 30s, even less popular with people in their 40s and so on.  The biggest problems with this is with people who accept the technology the most and that is teenagers and people in their 20s.

[MaxPower]

They just charged someone in Maine with manslaughter for a death when driver was texting while driving...we'll see where that goes in the months ahead.

[FoMoJo]

The little bastard lied about it too.

Deveau, who was 17 at the time of the accident, denied that he was texting while driving, but cell phone records showed that he responded to text messages moments before the crash. The teen deleted incriminating text messages from his phones and then told police that he hadn't been texting, but rather was distracted by homework and job-related fatigue.

.

[AutobahnSHO]

The little bastard lied about it too.
.

That's probaby what helped the jury go home early...

[cawimmer430]

I agree with this. Maybe drastic jail sentences will get people to start using that pink squishy thing in their head called the brain.

[Northlands]

I agree with the judgement. He may as well had been reading a magazine at the wheel. Pay attention to the car you are driving. If you can't, you shouldn't be driving. If you kill someone because you're too lazy to be bothered with staring out the front window so you don't crash into things, you deserve hangin with the drop the soap crowd in the clink.

[Speed_Racer]

I think he got 1 year in prison, and 15 years w/o a license.

I hope it serves as an example/warning to the other idiots who text and drive.

[hotrodalex]

I think he got 1 year in prison, and 15 years w/o a license.

I hope it serves as an example/warning to the other idiots who text and drive.

OP says 2.5 years.

Although with the sentence you mentioned, I'm not sure what would be worse - a year in prison or 15 years of bumming rides off people.

[SVT_Power]

OP says 2.5 years.

Although with the sentence you mentioned, I'm not sure what would be worse - a year in prison or 15 years of bumming rides off people.

A year of people bumming rides off your bum sounds pretty damn bad to me...

[dazzleman]

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/crime/teen-arrested-for-negligent-homicide

Teen arrested for negligent homicide

Updated: Monday, 14 May 2012, 6:22 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 14 May 2012, 10:17 AM EDT
Ali Reed



NORWALK, Conn. (WTNH) -- Police say a 16-year old New Canaan girl was using a cell phone when the SUV she was driving hit and killed a jogger in Norwalk.

It happened back in March and now that girl is charged in the jogger's death.

Police aren't saying whether she was texting or talking on the phone, both of which are illegal for minors. Either way, the distraction killed someone.

The accident happened on New Canaan Avenue in Norwalk back in March. A Yankees shirt now serves as a memorial to 44-year-old Norwalk resident Kenneth Dorsey. He was hit and killed by a car while out for a morning run.

"We had a 6-week investigation," said Sgt. Lisa Cotto. "We applied for an arrest warrant and it was determined that the driver, who ended up being a juvenile, was using a cell phone while driving."

The driver, a 16-year-old girl from New Canaan, has been charged in his death. Her identity is not being revealed because of her juvenile status.

She turned herself into police on Saturday and has been charged with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, use of a hand held telephone under age 18 and failure to drive in the proper lane.

"Her life is about to change," Cotto said. "[She] had recently gotten her driver's license so something's going to happen to that as well as criminal charges, so it's all around a sad case."

The news sent shock waves through the New Canaan community, especially for those who know her.

"People have been talking about it. I have friends that go to New Canaan High School and they've been telling me about that and the girl and they say that she's a really nice girl, but bad things happen to good people I guess," said Thomas Hecker.

The DMV issued a statement which said, in part: "Connecticut has zero-tolerance for teens who drive and also use their phones to text, talk or do anything else that distracts them from paying attention to safety. They face license suspensions, court fines and notations on their driving records when convicted."

"Teenagers think they're invincible," said Deb Pierce, whose grandson is learning to drive.

While Pierce believes the accident is a wake up call she said continued on to say, "...I don't know how you hit it home with teenagers. How you really instill that in them."

"I actually had a lot of parents tell me they're teaching their kids how to drive a stick shift so that they won't be texting and driving," said Cotto, "so yes you can't talk to your kids enough about texting and driving. This is a sad case all around."

[AutobahnSHO]

"I actually had a lot of parents tell me they're teaching their kids how to drive a stick shift so that they won't be texting and driving," said Cotto, "so yes you can't talk to your kids enough about texting and driving. This is a sad case all around."

Won't stop 'em.   I'm getting more and more irritated at how long it takes a line of cars to get through a light because their nose is glued to their screen and don't realize the light has changed until the car in front of them is GONE.