to the editor: This is horrible. Only two and a half years for taking a young life (“Reckless driver who killed her son is about to be freed. This Southern California mother is furious.” February 12)?
This was someone who had already had four at-fault accidents, three of which involved being distracted by his phone. Prosecutors said she had been drinking before the accident, but of course she delayed turning herself in long enough to avoid being charged with a possible DUI.
Meanwhile, on the next page of the Los Angeles Times, we learn about a man sentenced to two years in prison for cutting down 13 trees (“He said he loved trees, but chainsawed down 13 of them in a bizarre act of vandalism in Los Angeles.” February 11). Both crimes detailed in these stories have the ultimate consequence: death, whether of a person or of nature. Dead is dead.
One suggestion mentioned in the reckless driving article is to install breathalyzers in the cars of everyone who has been convicted of DUI. However, this can be avoided if a sober passenger performs that test. For this to work, police would need to install ring cameras in driver-facing DUI offenders' cars.
The images would be instantly entered into a database that police can use when investigating a crime. This would show who is driving that car, if they are texting, and if they are the ones using the breathalyzer.
Cheryl Younger, Los Angeles
