Prison as punishment

[robvalue]

The thing is, people already know they could go to jail for killing people with their car yet obscene amounts of people continue to use their phone at the wheel. So as a deterrent, it's not working. Would more people use them if the "punishment" became more akin to community service? I don't know. But it seems unlikely on the face of it. I like the idea of him being used to go around talking in schools and such. Maybe education and encouraging responsibility are at least as important here as having a deterrent.

When I mentioned being sorry, of course I refer to cases where the result is an accident. If you deliberately did something, how sorry you are is of less importance. And I agree using this to make any decisions is problematic; it would probably only highlight a psychopath or similar unable/unwilling to mimic remorse.

In this particular case, it was an accident. The guy didn't mean to kill anyone. Of course, he is accountable. But what does anyone gain by him being in jail for 10 years? Is there a better alternative? As a rough suggestion, how about being banned from driving and being indebted to society in some way, being forced to "pay back" in a positive way, with prison time being reserved for refusal to adhere?

This happened in the UK?

I don't know if the law is the same but usually this is considered negligent homicide or manslaughter, depending on the level of negligence. DUI, using your phone such as this guy did, things like that. I also don't know the maximum stretch something like that can earn you, but according to news reports they always get about 8 to ten months, sometimes even probation.

Which I think to be the right kind of punishment. Since the have to make ammends in some form of shape. Usually by having to pay a tidy sum to the relatives or the injured. Which is hard to do once you're behind bars. Insurance won't cover behavior like that, after all.

Yeah, in the UK I believe. I haven't fact checked anything so the sentence might not be accurate but it's not too important to the discussion.