Do you agree that a harsh punishment should be enforced for texting and driving?

Yes. I live in Ontario and they recently made it the law that you can not drive and talk or text on your cell phone at the same time. It makes me so angry when I see a driver cutting me off or almost about to hit me because they have a phone in their hand. I hate it so much. People aren't taking this law seriously because they haven't enforced it properly and the penalty is not that bad. After all the deaths I've seen and all the accidents just because some idiot was on their cell phone while driving, I really think that they should get much harsher sentences and get fined even more - in fact they should have their license suspended. It probably seems like going too far but it isn't when you think of all the lives that can be lost with this. Not only cell phones, people shouldn't have anything in their hands while driving. Coffee, McDonald's, a banana, all of it is NOT safe to have in your hand while driving. One's concentration should be on the road, not on their food. It's not like they will die if they don't eat right away - and if they ARE that hungry then they can stop somewhere and eat. People don't see how serious this issue really is until it actually happens to them.

This one boy I went to highschool with had the perfect life, he was going to school to become something and was a part time security guard, he was driving and texting - he hit someone's car and they died. Now, he's in jail for manslaughter. He'll serve maybe 5 years and then continue on with his life - but there goes his life, and there goes the other person's life too.

5 years is not enough for justice. To all those people reading this, how would you feel (god forbid) if somebody you loved, your mom, your dad, your spouse, your own child, were killed in a car crash because some person was too dumb to think that its dangerous to text while on the road - and they were let off so easy. Your loved one will never ever come back - all because of a stupid mistake made by a careless person.

Sorry about the essay but this topic just gets me going.

And to "ioerr" above me - i would see negligent behavior on the road causing a death as MURDER.

Manslaughter is illegal, I am talking about the negligent behavior of people who are behind the wheel texting and driving. Its all about what a situation has a potential of becoming.

I say if people do know the risks of texting or talking on the phone while driving and they still do it - they should be punished, not with manslaughter, im not an idiot, but with something like getting their license suspended for a month or paying a HUGE fine. Why should they get let off easy if they can't care about what harm their actions can do? It's not until after someone dies where people say "****, someone should have stopped that driver".

No I think it's just another way for spiteful little pricks to get their rocks off vicariously, siccing the cops on some arbitrary group of marginally irresponsible people.

There's always one more two bit offense we need to get the cops chasing some damn body over. And next you'll whine about what a horrible "nanny state" you've ended up with. Well damn I wonder how that happened.

And the prisons are stuffed to bursting already, if you haven't noticed. How about we concentrate on enforcing the laws against stuff like "murder," "rape," "robbery" and so on...? Or is that just too damn boring?

Hello, "JK"? The question is whether texting while driving should be punished, not whether manslaughter should be punished. Now I'm no legal expert, but I hear tell that manslaughter is in fact illegal already. You're about as sharp as a rubber ball aren't you.

The harsher the punishment, the more you give the government power over everyone. We're already a socialized society enough as it is.

Harsher punishments don't deter someone from doing something. You could easily argue that you were looking at your nails, or adjusting your radio, and accidentally hit someone.

Accidents happen. People make mistakes. That won't change regardless how harsh you make a punishment.

You should shadow a criminal defense Attorney during a time when you're dealing with a client that has an involuntary manslaughter charge and he's just been convicted guilty, and then ask yourself the same question.

How would you feel about your father, or mother, or brother, or sister, or spouse, or child that went to prison for life because they were texting and accidentally killed someone? Would you agree with that logic then?

First motion - to give a $1000 - is a perfect. I would even propose suspending the license for a couple of months for the first time, second time incident must lead to criminal felony with years of suspension.

But I disagree completely with the second motion: it's unjustifiably harsh and cruel, cos there's no reasons to think that a 'texting killer' is dangerous for society in other ways. So it would suffice to give 1) several years in prison 2) life ban from driving 3) big (life-long if need be) payments for the family of the killed.

I trust u on third and 4th punishments. For rape, I believe rapist merits loss of life. Punishment for rape :Hanging to Death in public. Punishment for gangrape: Hanging to Death in public. Punishment for under the influence of alcohol riding: confescation of lisence permanatly Punishment for littering and dirtying the avenue: Jail for six months

Yes, you were negligent and have caused or could cause death or injury to a persons life. I agree with that in full!

Agreed !

Except $5,000 fine !

yes you can hurt others

Yeah People who do this are INCREDIBLY STUPID

as for me.it is as bad as attempted murder.