[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On Tue, Apr 01, 2014 at 06:33:23PM +0100, Julian Hall wrote: > However, a greater penalty would - OK should - make people think > twice before driving in a manner which is more likely to cause a > death, than legally, e.g. speeding in a built-up area or > drunk-driving. At the moment the worst case scenario for most > offences is a hefty fine and a driving ban, if however the worst > case scenario was a hefty jail sentence people /would/ think twice. I don't think so. We're not talking about the difference between a hefty fine and a driving ban and a hefty jail sentence, which is obviously big. We're talking about the difference between a hefty fine, a driving ban AND killing someone and a hefty jail sentence AND killing someone. The reason people don't think twice is not because the punishment isn't severe enough. It's because people don't think they are going to kill someone. > At the end of the day they've caused a death, and company directors > have been charged with manslaughter negligence for deaths they had > no personal involvement in at all. I'm just saying drivers deserve > the same penalty. Perhaps it would help if those drivers making the same mistake (speeding, drunk-driving) but who through circumstances didn't kill or injure anyone were given the same sentence as those who do. That's more likely to make people think twice. But actually, I'm not for tougher sentencing at all. I'm a liberal sissy who happens to think that way too many people are sent to prison for too long a time and it tends not to help in most cases. (Apologies for continuing this obviously off-topic thread.) Martijn. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq