I've been keeping up with this story for a while now for various reasons. Over the summer a teenager who had just gotten his license the day before decided to smoke pot and go for a drive. He wrecked into oncoming traffic, killing the 8months-pregnant driver of the car he hit and her unborn child. What an idiot. This is one of those classic "don't do drugs" commercials that I usually don't buy into. Ohio has changed the driving laws since I was a teenager, making it harder for 16 year olds to get a license without proper practice and training. But hundreds of them still get their licenses every week still. I personally did not get my license until I was in college, but had a ton of practice before I did officially get licensed. I think that made me a better driver.
But today the kid, Alex Manocchio, was not sentenced to jail for his actions. Instead he'll be attending an unlocked treatment center in Hamilton County. Why? I can only guess the judge took pity on him and hoped he'd turn around. But he took two lives due to reckless action. Shouldn't that hold stronger consequences? He will undoubtedly be haunted for a long time by the memory of it, if he actually has a memory of that day. She was only 22, barely six years older than he was. The whole situation makes me terribly sad.
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This is a tough one. Do you try to salvage a young life that took those two lives, or do you make an example of them? This isn't as terrible, but still a story where I felt made a difference. In Iowa, if you are 15 and 16, you lose your license if you get a single ticket. I was on the south side of town and stopped at an intersection. A car in front of me burned it's tires and took off. I pulled it over. The driver, a boy, was 15. He got his license that morning. He knew that if I issued him a ticket he would lose his license until he was 18. He tried to be brave, but he cried. He really struggled to control it, but he couldn't. I lectured him, I did everything I could to make him miserable. The kid was shaking and sobbing. I cut him a break because I really felt that he would not do anything so stupid. Two years later I was at a mall and he was an employee there. He remembered me and told me that by giving him a break he drove responsibly after that. He said he'd even made a few enemies by not driving drunk and not being with a drunk driver. I was very pleased.
Wacked!
Sometimes there's justice, and sometimes there's "just us."
Tough situation....he's not a bad kid, just made a horrible mistake. Once through the treatment facility he's at he's someone that will never be in trouble again. May even be the type to use this situation to help other teens. Until you're directly involved, you can't really pass judgement. The judge in the case did the right thing.
I'm going to venture out on a limb here and guess that Big_Dog is directly involved in the situation, because he is passing judgement. I hope he's right, though.
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