Climber
Well-known member
It's probably going to take some very popular figure or their child to get killed by a texting driver before any meaningful changes get made.We both know that's not going to happen unless the driver is found to have been under the influence, and so far there's no indication that he or she was.
In my OP, I mentioned the Michigan man who killed 5 cyclists in 2016 while under the influence of five different drugs and got 40+ years in prison.
I also mentioned the 18-year-old girl who killed 4 cyclists on Hecker Pass in Santa Clara County in 1986. More research reveals that she pleaded guilty and got 750 hours of community service and 3 years probation.
So there's often no justice in traffic deaths. Kill someone while sober and it's a tragic mistake with few consequences. Kill someone in the same circumstances, except DUI, and it's pound-you-in-the-ass state prison.
One case I'm aware of in which a driver got prison for a texting-while-driving motorcyclist death was in Tulare County in 2015. Somehow, the DA got evidence from the driver's phone. Without that, an eyewitness, or a Mirandized confession, there's no way to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
It's kind of crazy that getting phone records following a fatality isn't just standard procedure facilitated by the phone companies.