According to the Ottawa Sun, a seventeen year old child was clocked driving 175 kph in an 80 kph zone.   When police stopped him, he had two other minors in the car with him. His license and vehicle have been seized for seven days.  The driver is facing a charge of “stunt driving”.  Actually, it wasn’t his car, it was his parents BMW.  So am I the only one who’s tired of this crap?

This kid will get a slap on the wrist, the parents probably won’t get even that.  In less than a year, he’ll turn eighteen and the entire incident will be officially forgotten.  He will face absolutely no consequences to his actions.  Is there anyone who is going to try and justify that to me?

This child could have killed himself, his passengers and who knows how many others, but none of that matters.  At least not to anyone in the business of passing laws.  The Conservatives talk about getting tough on crime, but there hasn’t been a lot of talk about rewriting the Young Offender laws.  Or putting some actual teeth into the law.  How about some consequences that might mean something?

This kid should have his name smeared across every possible media outlet.  His license should be seized for a lot more than seven days.  How about seven years?  How about a psych evaluation after that before he can get it back?  Let’s make sure he’s a little less self-obsessed, self-absorbed and just generally stupid.  If not, how about we make it a lifetime suspension?  Too much?  I don’t think so.

While we’re at it, how about something similar for impaired driving.  Only for that one, how about a mandatory lifetime suspension?  Too much again?  How about we take a poll of everyone who has lost a family member to an impaired driver?   How about just the people who’ve been crippled, maimed or scarred for life?  I bet they wouldn’t find it too much at all.

Let’s keep in mind that driving isn’t a right, it’s a privilege.  Like any privilege, it has to be earned, and it has to be deserved.  When a privilege is abused, it needs to be revoked.  If it is a serious abuse, that revocation needs to be permanent.

Some people do the right thing because it is right.  Others will only do it if they are sufficiently afraid of what will happen if they don’t.. Under the current laws, there’s nothing there for them to fear.  That needs to change.  It needs to change now, before anyone else dies.

That’s something worth thinking about.

Cheers, Winston