Tag Archives: Drunk Driving

Convicted of murder for texting and driving?

Wow.

38 states have made texting while driving illegal, but it looks like Massachusetts will be the first to imprison someone for breaking this law.

Aaron Deveau has been found guilty of motor vehicle homicide by texting and faces up to four years in prison after his vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic and hit a pick up truck and killing Donald Bowley on Feb 20 earlier this year.

I’m kind of torn on this.  I agree that Deveau needs to be held accountable for driving carelessly and ultimately causing the death of another human being.

On the other hand, this man is going to have a murder charge on his record for the rest of his life for merely checking his phone while driving.

I guess ultimately, I agree with the ruling.  Texting while driving is dangerous and unnecessary.  Is there really a text so important that you can’t wait until you get where you’re going to answer it?  Is a text message worth a life?

This conviction and the subsequent sentence may seem harsh, but if people aren’t held accountable the message is never going to be heard.  People need to know that there will be consequences for driving negligently and putting other lives at risk.  Just like driving drunk is dangerous, texting or being otherwise disturbed by a cell phone is even more dangerous.   According to this article, distracted driving (which includes cell phone usage) ranks higher than drunk driving.  I checked a couple of other sites and cell phone usage ranked higher on those sites as well.

The bottom line is this:  driving while texting (or using a cell phone in any other capacity) is dangerous and can be lethal.  Yes, this conviction and punishment are harsh, but the message needs to get out there.  Don’t text while driving.  You shouldn’t even text while walking.  We’ve all seen the videos of people falling into manholes while texting while walking.  Hell, Ryan Gosling became a “hero” a month or so ago when he stopped a woman who was texting while walking from meandering out in front of a bus.

What do you guys think?  Is the punishment too harsh, too lenient, or just right?

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When Tragedy Struck

I found this piece in my old high school papers.  I wrote this as a junior and didn’t realize I’d held on to it.  I cannot for the life of me remember what the assignment was.  Anyway, here goes:

He’s known her and loved her for over twenty years.  She was the joy of his life, the apple in his eye, the stars in his sky.  She’s been there for him when he was down, and she was with him when he was happy.  She kept him together when he came apart.  She made him laugh, and sometimes cry; she kept him happy deep inside.  He trusted her the most; he could tell her anything and she would understand; she wouldn’t laugh or mock him; she would be sympathetic and ease his pain.  He is Eddie Le Belle and she was Eleanor Le Bell.  They were husband and wife, a rare perfect match.  Eddie would’ve died for Eleanor, and she would’ve done the same for him. Everything was going perfectly until that fateful day came.

They were on their way to church; a religious couple they were.  It was Christmas Eve, at quarter to twelve.  They were going to midnight mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Their journey there took a turn for the worst.  A drunken driver, celebrating pay-day, struck their car on the side where Eleanor sat.  She was killed instantaneously with Eddie left to live, alone.  The drunken driver was dead; it’s only right, I guess.  Eddie escaped only with whiplash.

Eddie cried for the next week, unable to sleep.  Family and friends visited to comfort him; it did not help at all; it just wasn’t the same.  Tried they did, but they could not comfort him the way Eleanor did. They just don’t have the touch, Eddie probably thought.

As the remembrance of this tragic event leaves my head, I am drawn back to reality as I see the pain this tragedy has caused.  If there’s one thing I don’t like about being a reverend, it’s performing the ceremonies at a funeral.

A man draws my attention.  I see a man dressed in black, head down, grieving over the loss of a close friend or relative.  He sadly looks down at his trembling hands.  He’s fumbling around with a small piece of paper, trying to hold back the tears.  I see him kneel and pray to the Lord, probably that his loved one will be happy in heaven.  He probably wonders  how he’ll go on with this loss he has suffered, how he’ll miss the good times that drew them together, the hard times that made their relationship strong, and he’ll probably look back to regret all of the times he hurt his loved one and the pain will worsen.  The dark rings around his eyes indicate a lack of sleep, or that he’s been grieving for days.  I look at this man and I see a poor soul hurt and confused.  As he walks over towards Eleanor’s lifeless body, I realize who it is:  it is Eddie.

Eddie cried all day.  He was unable to give the eulogy because he couldn’t stop crying long enough to utter a single word.  I see all that I see because of one man, one stupid man, decided he could drive after excessively drinking alcohol.  Sadly enough, things like I’m witnessing currently happen more than once a minute, across the globe.

More evidence that our legal system is broken

Look up the word ridiculous in the dictionary, and you might find this story chilling right next to it.

A woman from Marietta, GA, jaywalked after getting off the bus one day. She had her 4-year-old son in hand.  In the midst of crossing the road, the 4-year-old was hit and killed by a drunk driver.

Here’s the kicker:  the mom has been convicted of homicide by vehicle and reckless conduct.  Reckless conduct?  Sure.  Jaywalking is a crime and can be reckless.  Homicide by vehicle?  That’s one of the dumbest, most asinine things I’ve ever heard of.  The mom was NOT driving.  She was NOT drunk.  And she DIDN’T kill her son.  Was she irresponsible with him?  Absolutely.  You should never jaywalk, especially on a multi-lane road that’s always busy.

It is a total travesty that 1)charges were even filed and 2)she was convicted.  This is so illogical I can’t even find words to describe it.  Words like stupid, dumb, irrational, illegal, wrong, illogical, retarded, moronic, or clusterfuck don’t even come close to describing this situation.

You might say that they would have never been in that position if they hadn’t jaywalked.  Maybe so.  But a drunk driver could easily run right over someone crossing legally.  The bottom line is this:  the drunk driver ran that boy over, not the mother.  Charge her with negligence or endangering a child, but not murder.  She didn’t kill anyone.  The man driving did.

Even had it not been that boy, it more than likely would have been someone else.  He could have hit a pedestrian on a sidewalk or meandered into oncoming traffic.

This is a miscarriage of justice and the legal system has overstepped it’s bounds.  Again.