Classmate killed a women and only got 10 days in jail.

[Toroc]

So last year a classmate of mine fell asleep while driving and ended up killing a pedestrian.

Today he was told he only had to serve 10 days of a 90 day sentence, 5 years probation, 300 hours of community service, and license suspension for a year. I'm pretty sure they dropped the charge from vehicular homicide to something lesser as well.

I feel bad for both sides and my classmate is a nice guy but is that really it? Just fishing for other opinions on this.

[Super Kami Dende]

If he fell asleep due to just not knowing he was so fatigued and it was a complete accident, I don't see the need for hardcore incarceration, Probation and community service seem enough for me as he would already feel extremely awful/depressed.
If he fell asleep due to being off his face on drugs or alcohol then I would say a longer jail sentence would be ok, since it was negligence causing death then.

[Video Games]

It depends on why he fell asleep and to where he was going.

[Super Kami Dende]

Seems kinda fucked up. He should of got like 3 years in jail (prison?).

I would say if people can get off from going to prison for shooting someone to death in "self-defence" then not having jail time and probation for a complete accidental with non-intent manslaughter should not be punished in a harsh jail-based form. Though as I said earlier - if drugs/alcohol caused the accident then yes.

[Blueobelisk]

I've drove extremely tired after like no sleep because of class/homework, and god damn that shit is dangerous. I don't know what to say because this isn't the kind of thing that's totally preventable like texting/drinking and driving.

I think it's okay. The sentence isn't THAT light and I doubt he'll do it again. It's a shame but that's an accident.

[diddle]

Seems kinda fucked up. He should of got like 3 years in jail (prison?).

How would giving him 3 years have helped anyone given it was an accident?

[Super Kami Dende]

Would teach him to pull over when he's tired....or not get on the road at all.

You realise that some fatigue isn't as cut and dry as "oh I'm getting tired I'll pull over" and I have had many times in my life where I felt wide awake after a rather exhausting day and went from awake to passed out on the couch nearly instantly.

[Blueobelisk]

Would teach him to pull over when he's tired....or not get on the road at all.

People have to get to work/home/whatever and sleep is like...depending on your life situation you may not be able to control it.

[lockedout]

Seems kinda fucked up. He should of got like 3 years in jail (prison?).

So a life is = to 3 years?

[diddle]

Would teach him to pull over when he's tired....or not get on the road at all.

I'm the sure the guilt of having killed someone did enough. 3 years in prison would just destroy another life.

Prison in America does not improve people, it punishes them.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

Would teach him to pull over when he's tired....or not get on the road at all.

Would also teach him how to sell drugs and break into a car.

Assuming he could survive prison, it's basically graduate school for felons.

[Deleted]

Would teach him to pull over when he's tired....or not get on the road at all.

No it wouldn't.

Not even fucking making sense on that one.

[Super Kami Dende]

I don't think anyone just passes clean the fuck out while at the wheel. You feel yourself getting tired then make the decision that you'll be okay and continue driving.

It happened to my Father. He was driving home one day said he was completely fine then woke up wrapped around a tree.

Also how many people have you ever met that would just pull their car up on the side of the road and sleep. In my country at least sleeping on the side of a road in a car is illegal and can actually get you fined for Vagrancy and pit stops that truckies generally use aren't everywhere.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

No it wouldn't.

Not even fucking making sense on that one.

Supposedly the reasoning is that if he was in a cell for a long, long time it'd teach him to not doze off in the car or something.
It'd kind of make sense if U.S. prison wasn't the way it is now.

[Super Kami Dende]

My husband, his father and his friends. They do allot of fishing and hunting and frequently stop to get a little shut eye when they're feeling drowsy.

So on their fishing and camping trips when time really is not a factor. Not just driving home between work or school which is quite a difference.

Also as I said sleeping on the side of the road is illegal in many places.

[mizeri]

according to the news lately you cant even get a trial for killing a dude by choking him out on camera, he is getting way harder punishment

[Feral Camel]

He fucked up and now has to live with the guilt for the rest of his life. Prison seems overkill.

[yurano]

I don't think anyone just passes clean the fuck out while at the wheel. You feel yourself getting tired then make the decision that you'll be okay and continue driving.

You'd be surprised how easily some people fall asleep.

Us insomniacs are jealous of those types of people.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

So last year a classmate of mine fell asleep while driving and ended up killing a pedestrian.

Today he was told he only had to serve 10 days of a 90 day sentence, 5 years probation, 300 hours of community service, and license suspension for a year. I'm pretty sure they dropped the charge from vehicular homicide to something lesser as well.

I feel bad for both sides and my classmate is a nice guy but is that really it? Just fishing for other opinions on this.

That doesn't really seem unreasonable to me. It was pretty much a terrible accident and what he did get is pretty significant too considering he's a student. The probation means he's screwed if he does anything bad during that time and the community service and suspension are going to make his life suck for awhile. Also if the conviction stays on his record, his future will be pretty much forever tarnished by that shit.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't think anyone just passes clean the fuck out while at the wheel. You feel yourself getting tired then make the decision that you'll be okay and continue driving.

That's not really true, some people get hit with sleep very quickly, particularly if their blood sugar is low.

[zephid]

I guess the reason why he didn't really get any jail time is because they deemed it to be an accident.