I couldn’t be more frustrated when I read your editorial stating that education is the answer for distracted driving. It has been shown to be just as dangerous if not more so than drunk driving, which is a criminal offence.
People are dying. You admit that it will take time to educate, and during this time people will die. I would like you to imagine the person that you care about most in this world needlessly dying because of a distracted driver. Would that be acceptable while we wait to educate? How do you educate an imbecile? It’s ridiculous. Anyone who drives knows it’s wrong. What is there to educate?
The solution is like so many other laws that people continually break. Make the punishment fit the crime. This is serious. For a first offence take away the cellphone or whatever they are using and destroy it, plus a $5,000 fine. Second offence; destroy the device, a $5,000 fine, confiscate and sell the vehicle and two weeks in jail. The device and the vehicle are weapons that are killing people. Losing their car and two weeks in jail will soon get their attention. You think this is too harsh. How harsh would it be for the person you love the most to lose their life through the fault of a distracted driver?
To me, the penalties I have suggested are the least that should be enforced. If it were actually up to me it would be even harsher still. People are dying.
Paul Martin
Saanich