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Teacher Runs over Elderly Man, Given 4 Days in Jail

truthatallcost

truthatallcost

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The 48-year-old schoolteacher might have seen Tikalsky, if she had been paying attention.

Instead, she decided to answer a text message from her daughter while driving her van down County Road 29.

Russo struck Tikalsky in the road, his coffee still brewing inside. All she saw, according to the Le Center Leader, was a “yellow color blur.” She called 911, but it was too late.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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All accounts say that Tikalsky was a well liked guy, who drove a school bus at 79 years old. He was killed by a texting school teacher. Of all people, you'd expect a school teacher to not be a clueless idiot about texting while driving.

Is 4 days in jail enough for this crime?

Thoughts?
Comments?


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-79-year-old-man-her-sentence-4-days-in-jail/
 
truthatallcost said:
All accounts say that Tikalsky was a well liked guy, who drove a school bus at 79 years old. He was killed by a texting school teacher. Of all people, you'd expect a school teacher to not be a clueless idiot about texting while driving.

Is 4 days in jail enough for this crime?

Thoughts?
Comments?


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-79-year-old-man-her-sentence-4-days-in-jail/
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Distracted driving is an issue with or without the texting involved. I am guilty of it and sometimes I have realized I was lucky I did not get in an accident I became so engrossed in the text. Even for a few seconds, a car could stop short or someone could run out into the road, and I would be the Russo in this story. Unfortunately, texting has become at least as prevalent as email in my work so it is increasingly inescapable.
 
At the least it should be considered vehicular manslaughter right?
 
azgreg said:
At the least it should be considered vehicular manslaughter right?
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Absolutely.

Why would anyone choose to not text while driving, if they know that they can kill someone, and only get punished with 4 days in jail, plus community service. Doesn't make sense.
 
The skank bitch got off with 4 days in jail.

No wonder criminals do not fear the law.
 
A. It's a woman. Don't think for a minute that doesn't make a difference.
B. There is no comparison between distracted driving and drunken driving.
C. Texting is no worse than eating a hamburger while driving, reading a map while driving, putting on makeup while driving, or having sex while driving. All are, in my opinion, an unreasonable distraction.
 
truthatallcost said:
All accounts say that Tikalsky was a well liked guy, who drove a school bus at 79 years old. He was killed by a texting school teacher. Of all people, you'd expect a school teacher to not be a clueless idiot about texting while driving.

Is 4 days in jail enough for this crime?

Thoughts?
Comments?


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-79-year-old-man-her-sentence-4-days-in-jail/
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No, it should be treated just like drunk driving, heck the drunk is at least Trying to drive, whereas the texter has giving up the idea completely.
 
This is why we all hate teachers.
 
Patrickt said:
A. It's a woman. Don't think for a minute that doesn't make a difference.
B. There is no comparison between distracted driving and drunken driving.
C. Texting is no worse than eating a hamburger while driving, reading a map while driving, putting on makeup while driving, or having sex while driving. All are, in my opinion, an unreasonable distraction.
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Not sure I can agree on that last item ...............:mrgreen:
 
Patrickt said:
C. Texting is no worse than eating a hamburger while driving, reading a map while driving, putting on makeup while driving, or having sex while driving. All are, in my opinion, an unreasonable distraction.
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Having sex while driving is surely a reasonable distraction.
 
Josie said:
Teachers can be just as stupid and careless as the rest of the world.
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They seem to likie likie the sex with students fo sho.
 
Patrickt said:
A. It's a woman. Don't think for a minute that doesn't make a difference.
B. There is no comparison between distracted driving and drunken driving.
C. Texting is no worse than eating a hamburger while driving, reading a map while driving, putting on makeup while driving, or having sex while driving. All are, in my opinion, an unreasonable distraction.
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distracted driving is one of the leading causes of accidents, and texting and driving can be far more dangerous than drunk driving. Of course there is comparison. Texting and driving, distracted driving, should have the same penalties as DUI.
 
Patrickt said:
I understand that for some it's a momentary distraction but for others it can be a longer distraction.
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Depends, but I never need to take my eyes off the road.
 
Ikari said:
distracted driving is one of the leading causes of accidents, and texting and driving can be far more dangerous than drunk driving. Of course there is comparison. Texting and driving, distracted driving, should have the same penalties as DUI.
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Nonsense. If you're texting or eating a hamburger or putting on makeup you're distracted but you can focus quickly if something gets your attention. When you're drunk...you're drunk You don't sober up because kids are playing in street.

Texting should have the same penalty as putting on make-up, reading a map, eating a hamburger but to compare it to DUI makes no sense. Well, perhaps it does to people who drive drunk I can hear them now. "Why aren't you out there arresting people texting and leaving us drunks alone."
 
Patrickt said:
Nonsense. If you're texting or eating a hamburger or putting on makeup you're distracted but you can focus quickly if something gets your attention. When you're drunk...you're drunk You don't sober up because kids are playing in street.

Texting should have the same penalty as putting on make-up, reading a map, eating a hamburger but to compare it to DUI makes no sense. Well, perhaps it does to people who drive drunk I can hear them now. "Why aren't you out there arresting people texting and leaving us drunks alone."
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Nonsense. Distracted driving is one of the larger causes of accidents and fatalities. You may be able to put down a phone, but that doesn't mean that you are not a threat while on it. Given that it's the same type of dynamic with the same results, it should be punished similarly.

people like to argue against it because most people will think they were never drunk driving. Even though many times, by legal standards (0.08 is national DUI, but most driving while impaired laws start at 0.05), they have been. But people know when they've otherwise been distracted driving. Either looking at a text or eating or something that takes their eyes and attnetion of the road. They think "well I don't want to get hammered with fines and penalties for something I do", so they'll argue that it's not the same and doesn't deserve the same level of punishment.

But a dead person is a dead person whether they were killed by a drunk or some ungrateful millennial on a phone. You're only real argument is that the time scales of "recovery" are faster in one case than the other. But in both cases, they were equal threats (actually there are studies that suggest that texting while driving is far more dangerous) for the time they were impaired in their driving. Same crime, same time.
 
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For all those who can’t be bothered to read the actual article before weighing in, this is the sentence you need to consider, not “just” four days in prison;
Atop 40 hours of community service with Minnesotans for Safe Driving, two years of supervised probation and a $3,080 fine that will partially be used to pay for a public service announcement about the dangers of texting and driving, Russo will serve only four days in prison, Le Center Leader reported.

But those four days will be split into two-day stints, the first beginning this Oct. 28 and the second beginning on Oct. 28, 2017 — the first and second anniversary of Tikalsky’s death.
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She was ultimately convicted of only “reckless driving”, with the article suggesting there was all sorts of confusion and back-and-forth in court (and will so often be the case) without providing sufficient detail. I’m also not clear why there was apparently no consideration of any kind of “causing death by reckless driving” though I don’t know what the relevant laws are in that jurisdiction.

No comment on right or wrong from me here, just pointing out the raw details as reported rather than third-hand interpretation.
 
Ikari said:
distracted driving is one of the leading causes of accidents, and texting and driving can be far more dangerous than drunk driving. Of course there is comparison. Texting and driving, distracted driving, should have the same penalties as DUI.
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At least a drunk has his eyes on the road.

Every day when I spot someone driving poorly, drifting, swerving, holding up traffic, not going on green, 99% of the time when I pass them they have their phone in their hand, or are looking down. I hate people who text and drive, one of those idiots just t-boned my cousin (she's fine, thankfully)
 
Lachean said:
At least a drunk has his eyes on the road.

Every day when I spot someone driving poorly, drifting, swerving, holding up traffic, not going on green, 99% of the time when I pass them they have their phone in their hand, or are looking down. I hate people who text and drive, one of those idiots just t-boned my cousin (she's fine, thankfully)
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Bah, according to some people, it's not that bad. I'm sure that once the person put down their cell phone, they were really sorry for having t-boned your cousin.
 
I understand the hatred of cellphones but everyone is ignoring putting on make-up, fiddling with the radio, eating a hamburger, or what have you.

When I was working as a police officer, I never had a fatality involving someone temporarily distracted. Accidents, yes, but usually people had a moment to react and lessen the damage or avoid a collision with another vehicle. Drunks? They are incapacitated and frequently didn't care.

False equivalences are common. That doesn't make them any more sensible.
 
Patrickt said:
I understand the hatred of cellphones but everyone is ignoring putting on make-up, fiddling with the radio, eating a hamburger, or what have you.

When I was working as a police officer, I never had a fatality involving someone temporarily distracted. Accidents, yes, but usually people had a moment to react and lessen the damage or avoid a collision with another vehicle. Drunks? They are incapacitated and frequently didn't care.

False equivalences are common. That doesn't make them any more sensible.
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One who is on a cell phone is incapacitated during that time period and frequently won't care. They do it often. The guy on the phone t-boning a minivan wasn't on his phone for the first time ever while driving, and likely not the last.

The end result is the same. They've consciously engaged in behavior which is very dangerous, studies even show that it's harder to drive while texting than drunk. They are a major contributor to the accident rate and fatality rate. If we're going to go after one group so voraciously for the danger they put other in and the aggregate effect of their behaviors, than other actions which expose the public to the same, if not greater, danger with similar aggregation should be punished similarly.

I get it. Everyone is on their phone, and no one wants to get dinged for the 10,000+ penalty plus community service, plus losing one's license for a year, plus having interlocks installed, plus facing jail time, plus having the offense of their driving record for life (in some states) plus the multitude of things we have for punishing DUI. But if the action is on par with driving drunk, so should the punishment.
 
Ikari said:
One who is on a cell phone is incapacitated during that time period and frequently won't care. They do it often. The guy on the phone t-boning a minivan wasn't on his phone for the first time ever while driving, and likely not the last.

The end result is the same. They've consciously engaged in behavior which is very dangerous, studies even show that it's harder to drive while texting than drunk. They are a major contributor to the accident rate and fatality rate. If we're going to go after one group so voraciously for the danger they put other in and the aggregate effect of their behaviors, than other actions which expose the public to the same, if not greater, danger with similar aggregation should be punished similarly.

I get it. Everyone is on their phone, and no one wants to get dinged for the 10,000+ penalty plus community service, plus losing one's license for a year, plus having interlocks installed, plus facing jail time, plus having the offense of their driving record for life (in some states) plus the multitude of things we have for punishing DUI. But if the action is on par with driving drunk, so should the punishment.
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Distracted driving is not on a par with drunken driving. But, you're right. The punishment for drunken driving is so great that no one ever has a second or a third or a fourth....or a fifty-third drunk driving charge. The punishment is so severe no one wants to do it again.

Cellphone use should be a careless driving ticket. People die in accidents caused by careless driving, too.
 
backpacker said:
Distracted driving is an issue with or without the texting involved. I am guilty of it and sometimes I have realized I was lucky I did not get in an accident I became so engrossed in the text. Even for a few seconds, a car could stop short or someone could run out into the road, and I would be the Russo in this story. Unfortunately, texting has become at least as prevalent as email in my work so it is increasingly inescapable.
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Texting while driving is completely escapable. Take some responsibility for your actions.
 
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