Prison ordered for teen who caused fatal wreck while texting

[Sherman A1]

Originally, Platte County authorities and the victim’s family wanted to show leniency to a teen who caused a fatal texting-while-driving traffic crash. Some felt she thumbed her nose at that by repeatedly violating her probation.

In response Wednesday, a judge sentenced Rachel N. Gannon, 17, of Kansas City, North, to three years and six months in prison.

Gannon pleaded guilty on May 31, 2012, to second-degree involuntary manslaughter, third-degree assault and violating the 2009 Missouri law that prohibits motorists 21 or younger from texting while driving.

Authorities said Gannon, then 16, was sending text messages, looking at her phone and listening to loud music when she lost control of her vehicle in September 2011.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/07/03/4327269/teen-texting-while-driving-gets.html#storylink=cpy

[davidn3600]

1. She had a good deal but kept violating the probation. Judge finally ran out of patience

Studies show that texting while driving is actually even worse than drunk driving

[Sherman A1]

6. Indeed

The Judge was far more patient than I believe I could have been.

[JI7]

2. i read the whole article and seems very fair to me

[Sherman A1]

3. Agreed

This is a young lady who simply does not seem to "get it" from what I read. Even after the accident, it appeared that everyone was on her side and trying to make the best of a very bad situation, she has no one to blame but herself for her current state of affairs.

[theHandpuppet]

4. Yep.

She sounds like a real piece of work.

[TheMadMonk]

5. Good. She's clearly not showing much remorse...

...an argument oft used to justify leniency in cases where acts of stupidity cost lives.

Not that I give much of a shit for their feelings in the first place. Killing a person is a piss poor excuse of a motivator for improving a person's behaviour.

My concern is for the "bulletproof" idiots who are still texting and otherwise being stupid young (and not so young) idiots, and their future victims.

All they ever see is the minimal worst case penalty, which they count a small risk for the convenience of texting, putting on makeup or getting a gobby.


As far as I'm concerned the basic penalties for failing to maintain proper control of a motor vehicle are far too low, and vehicular killers should be hammered hard, because there's a huge difference between true accident and indifference to outcomes.

[surrealAmerican]

7. "law that prohibits motorists 21 or younger from texting while driving..."?

Does that mean it's legal for older drivers to text while driving? That's crazy.