Tragedy, Not Crime

Earlier this year, a man decided to give his 15-year-old a driving lesson. He took her to the school parking lot, and put her behind the wheel of the car.

She completely freaked out.

She hit the gas instead of the break.

She roared out of the parking lot, across the street, and into a young woman. The woman was able to throw her baby to safety, but she, herself, was killed.

Now, there’s a 15-year-old who’s killed someone. There’s a baby who will never have a mother.

And there’s a father who, acting like every other father out there, tried to teach his daughter a common lesson of teenagers – how to drive. Instead, he’s exposed her to this horrific experience. Wanna bet on how he feels already?

But the courts have decided his action – again, a VERY common action – of putting an un-licensed teenager behind the wheel was at least negligent, and possibly criminal.

They’ve charged him with felony homicide by vehicle and misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter. And the judge took his daughter’s court date (she just finished her community service) as an opportunity to deliver a diatribe on what an awful person the father is.

This is, to me, worse than the parents who sue cities when their children die and the police/fire/ems people didn’t save the child. The parents need to blame someone. So they blame the city.

But this man did not commit a crime. I don’t know his child, but I’m going to guess that his worst fault was thinking his child could handle something she couldn’t. He – and she – are already paying for that. I just don’t think criminal prosecution has any place here.

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