This is going to raise some eyebrows and get me all kinds of comments, but it needs to be said.

I was reading the paper this morning (yeah I don’t know how we starting getting it but we do occasionally, but that is another story) and I found an article talking about a memorial for a young lady (18, I believe) that had been struck by a person that fell asleep on the way home after a night shift at work.

It happened. What struck me odd was the fact that the prosecutor does not expect the driver to see any harsh sentencing because it was an accident.

Hold the phone. An accident? Spilling your coffee on your shirt is an accident. Dropping your keys is an accident. Falling asleep while driving home and killing someone alongside the road is NOT an accident.

Now that we have established that fact. Here is some food for thought: What if the driver had been under the influence of drugs or alcohol? I bet it woudln’t be an accident then. There would be every group known to man that’s against drugs and alcohol all over this one. You didn’t hear about the MAOD all over this one (Mothers Against Overworked Drivers, yes I made it up).

Why?

I’ll tell you why. Because this country is obsessed with putting people behind bars for drugs and alcohol but could give a shit about crimes committed without the use or influence of these two items.

Tests have already shown that driving while talking on the phone is as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. Why don’t we ban that? Why isn’t there Mothers pissed off about phone drivers? I know I am. I have been counting the number of drivers I see on my commute to and from work that are talking on the phone. My 14 day average is somewhere around 92.0389494%. I’m not making this up. I’m convinced traffic jams during rush hour traffic is caused by cell phones. And people eating, shaving, tuning their radio, messing with their GPS unit, changing the channel on their XM radio, trying to reach the CD they just dropped, scolding their kids in the back seat, etc.

Why can’t people just focus on driving when they are behind the wheel? Should we band together and sue the auto makers for creating so many distractions and allowing ourselves to add to the chaos by giving us at least 17 power plugs in new vehicles to fill with everything from hair dryers to cell phone chargers?

I think not. It takes common sense. Something this country is seriously lacking lately. I think the driver mentioned above should be tried with the same fury as if he/she were if they were driving under the influence. Why is sleeping at the wheel any better than drinking behind one?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to say that drinking and driving is a good thing. In fact quite the opposite. I just think that an “accident” should be tried equally, no matter the circumstances.

If somebody runs into me when I’m driving cause they were talking on the phone or scolding the kids and not paying attention to what they are doing (ie: DRIVING!), I want the assurance that I will get the same compensation whether they are drunk or gabbing on the phone, or even just a lousy driver. If not I’m gonna start driving with a 5th of scotch just to pour down the throat of anybody that runs into me so I can get the full extent and fury of the law.

The comment lines are now open!