Drivers Who Kill While Texting Could Face Life Sentences Soon in UK

It seems like the goal is to make sure that the punishment fits the crime. Stopping the senseless injuries and deaths caused by texting and driving seems to be of paramount importance in the UK. In fact, some of their laws are being reviewed. The goal is to make the penalty much more intense in these situations.

It’s quite impossible to pay back the family who has lost a loved one. However, ministers are looking to do the best they can by bringing the option of life in prison to the table. There has been an ongoing effort to put people behind bars for life who kill while texting and driving.

“In a major hardening of sentencing guidelines, ministers will propose raising the upper limit of imprisonment for dangerous drivers who kill from 14 years to a lifetime,” says The Telegraph

While there is no malicious intent with a texting and driving casualty, the carelessness is simply unacceptable. It seems like ministers are taking a hard line on the issue. They’ve been treating it almost the same as drinking and driving. In their view, it seems to exercise about the same level of carelessness.

Currently, we’re told that the average sentence doesn’t even reach the 14-year guideline.

Via The Telegraph, “Ministers have become concerned at whether the punishments are harsh enough, with evidence showing the average sentence for causing death while driving is less than four years.”

Creating the guidelines here is certainly a situation that we’re not envious of being a part of. It’s an incredibly important distinction to make that will set a precedent for years to come. With how intrusive technology is becoming, we would think that it’s only a matter of time before there are even more distractions. Being able to continue on with a clear cut law will make the decision-making process much easier in the future.

In a quote to The Guardian, Dominic Raab, the justice minister, said: “We’ve taken a long hard look at driving sentences, and we received 9,000 submissions to our consultation. Based on the seriousness of the worst cases, the anguish of the victims’ families, and maximum penalties for other serious offenses such as manslaughter, we intend to introduce life sentences of imprisonment for those who wreck lives by driving dangerously, drunk or high on drugs.”