You may have read in the papers recently about the tragic accident where nineteen-year-old Rachel Begg, of Ponteland, caused the death of County Durham grandmother, Maureen Waites as Rachel was sending a text message whilst driving.
She was subsequently sentenced to four years in a young offender institution.
With two families lives being shattered by one insolent act that defies the law regarding driving whilst on the phone, Rachel will probably be free in two years yet Maureen will never see her grandchildren grow up, marry and perhaps have children of their own.
Brake, the national road safety charity, believes the sentence handed down by Newcastle Crown Court, is deplorably low for the offence of causing death by dangerous driving, for which the maximum jail term is 14 years.
Sadly, I will have to agree. If deaths like Maureen’s are going to be stopped, the justice system needs to get tough on drivers who take needless risks with terrible consequences.
Appropriate sentences have to be given to drivers who kill through their dangerous actions, and much bigger penalties given to drivers caught using a phone behind the wheel.
The message has to be loud and clear that driving while phoning or texting will not be tolerated by society and the only way to do this is to have zero tolerance on these offenders.
FemaleFirst Jackie Violet