www.kisslinglaw.com
A local teen was recently charged with Vehicular Manslaughter as a result of turning left in front of a truck causing the death of a classmate who was in the car. It is of great concern when negligent behavior is seen as criminal. This young man was not impaired nor doing anything dangerous. I hope the DA does the right thing and dismisses the charges on this. A simple failure to see before turning should not result in a young man going to jail. He will have to live with this the rest of his life. That should be enough.
Below are two articles concerning the issue. One from Shea Denning and the other from WRAL
The fields of the Capital Area Soccer League
were a sea of blue again last night. Players of all ages shelved their
regulation orange jerseys and wore blue—Laura Yost’s favorite
color—instead. They wore blue last week too. Last week’s blue was to
support fellow soccer player Laura, who was hospitalized after she was
critically injured in a car accident on her way to school. Sadly, last
night’s blue was to honor her memory. Fifteen-year-old Laura died early Tuesday morning.
Laura, a sophomore at Panther Creek High School in Cary, rode in the back seat of her friend Spencer Saunders’ car last Tuesday. Her older brother Ryan rode in the front passenger seat. Spencer was turning left off of Highway 55 onto McCrimmon Parkway in Cary when a dump truck traveling in the other direction crashed into the passenger side of his vehicle. Reports indicate that the accident was Spencer’s fault as he failed to yield to the oncoming dump truck when turning left as required by G.S. 20-155(b). No charges have yet been filed in the case, but police reportedly have talked to the district attorney about charging Spencer.
Failing to yield when turning left is an infraction, not a crime. The maximum penalty is $100. A person cited for this offense may pay a $35 fine and court costs and resolve the charge without having to appear in court. But now that Laura has died, Spencer might be charged with a more serious offense—misdemeanor death by vehicle—a Class A1 misdemeanor, for which a first-time offender could receive up to 60 days imprisonment. Because Spencer is 16, he may be charged with this crime and tried as an adult.
Anecdotally, I’ve heard district court judges say that misdemeanor death by vehicle is among the most difficult misdemeanor crimes to sentence. By its very definition, the crime involves a violation of any State traffic law or local traffic ordinance, other than impaired driving, that causes the death of another. On one side of the scale, there often rests a defendant with no criminal intent. On the other, there is a lost life. Sometimes the victim’s family views a harsh sentence as necessary to justice. Sometimes the victim’s family sees the ends of justice differently. I’ve never been a prosecutor, so I don’t know how much the initial charging decision is based on the wishes of family members. In my time as an assistant federal public defender, I learned that there were rules of thumb about certain degrees of loss. If a client was alleged to have fraudulently obtained money that exceeded a certain amount, pleas for reduced charges or deferred prosecution were rebuffed, regardless of the client’s youth, lack of criminal history, or other mitigating circumstances. It may be the same for district attorneys when a life is lost as a result of traffic violations that otherwise would not even cross the threshold of criminal culpability. But perhaps the lines are not so clearly drawn.
One might expect that regardless of what charges may come, Spencer Saunders already is suffering mightily. He has expressed profound remorse in posts to his Twitter account that have been reprinted in the news. Spencer is 16. He is an inexperienced driver. He made a mistake that turned out to be fatal for his friend. Should criminal charges follow?
The prospect of criminal charges against Spencer would be no different under the raise the age bill that passed the NC House last session. While House Bill 725, if enacted, would have expanded juvenile jurisdiction to 17 year olds in its first year and 18 year olds in its second, it would have done so only for misdemeanors and infractions other than violations of the state’s motor vehicle laws.
Cary Police Lieutenant Steve Wilkins said that they were going to allow the “dust [to] settle” with the families before proceeding with any charges. So we don’t yet know the State’s view of what justice requires in this tragic case.
Laura, a sophomore at Panther Creek High School in Cary, rode in the back seat of her friend Spencer Saunders’ car last Tuesday. Her older brother Ryan rode in the front passenger seat. Spencer was turning left off of Highway 55 onto McCrimmon Parkway in Cary when a dump truck traveling in the other direction crashed into the passenger side of his vehicle. Reports indicate that the accident was Spencer’s fault as he failed to yield to the oncoming dump truck when turning left as required by G.S. 20-155(b). No charges have yet been filed in the case, but police reportedly have talked to the district attorney about charging Spencer.
Failing to yield when turning left is an infraction, not a crime. The maximum penalty is $100. A person cited for this offense may pay a $35 fine and court costs and resolve the charge without having to appear in court. But now that Laura has died, Spencer might be charged with a more serious offense—misdemeanor death by vehicle—a Class A1 misdemeanor, for which a first-time offender could receive up to 60 days imprisonment. Because Spencer is 16, he may be charged with this crime and tried as an adult.
Anecdotally, I’ve heard district court judges say that misdemeanor death by vehicle is among the most difficult misdemeanor crimes to sentence. By its very definition, the crime involves a violation of any State traffic law or local traffic ordinance, other than impaired driving, that causes the death of another. On one side of the scale, there often rests a defendant with no criminal intent. On the other, there is a lost life. Sometimes the victim’s family views a harsh sentence as necessary to justice. Sometimes the victim’s family sees the ends of justice differently. I’ve never been a prosecutor, so I don’t know how much the initial charging decision is based on the wishes of family members. In my time as an assistant federal public defender, I learned that there were rules of thumb about certain degrees of loss. If a client was alleged to have fraudulently obtained money that exceeded a certain amount, pleas for reduced charges or deferred prosecution were rebuffed, regardless of the client’s youth, lack of criminal history, or other mitigating circumstances. It may be the same for district attorneys when a life is lost as a result of traffic violations that otherwise would not even cross the threshold of criminal culpability. But perhaps the lines are not so clearly drawn.
One might expect that regardless of what charges may come, Spencer Saunders already is suffering mightily. He has expressed profound remorse in posts to his Twitter account that have been reprinted in the news. Spencer is 16. He is an inexperienced driver. He made a mistake that turned out to be fatal for his friend. Should criminal charges follow?
The prospect of criminal charges against Spencer would be no different under the raise the age bill that passed the NC House last session. While House Bill 725, if enacted, would have expanded juvenile jurisdiction to 17 year olds in its first year and 18 year olds in its second, it would have done so only for misdemeanors and infractions other than violations of the state’s motor vehicle laws.
Cary Police Lieutenant Steve Wilkins said that they were going to allow the “dust [to] settle” with the families before proceeding with any charges. So we don’t yet know the State’s view of what justice requires in this tragic case.
Raleigh, N.C. — Texting and driving isn't the leading cause of distracted driving among teens.
It's other teens, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for those between ages 16 and 19.
"Cellphones get all the attention, but it's really teen passengers that pose the biggest potential distraction for teen drivers," Adam Goodwin, senior researcher at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, said Thursday – two days after Panther Creek High School sophomore Laura Yost died from injuries she suffered in a recent wreck.
Cary police say the driver, 16-year-old Spencer Saunders, failed to yield to oncoming traffic – and although it's unclear what contributed to the wreck, Yost's death highlights adolescent driver-safety concerns.
Older drivers, researchers say, are more experienced and can anticipate problems behind the wheel. But a younger driver doesn't have the same skill to make the same driving decisions while being distracted.
Using in-vehicle cameras to observe driver and passenger behavior, the Highway Safety Research Center found that teens are six times more likely to be in a situation requiring an evasive maneuver to avoid a crash when passengers are loud. They're three times more likely when they are rambunctious.
"If you have multiple teens in a vehicle, teens are much more likely to be in a serious crash," Goodwin said. "It takes years of behind-the-wheel practice before you see the driving world in the same way an experienced driver does."
From 2003 to 2012, the number of fatalities among North Carolina drivers under the age of 20 decreased by 42 percent, according to the Highway Safety Research Center.
In 2012, for example, 170 drivers 20-years-old or younger were involved in a fatal crash – a decrease of 3 percent from 2011.
Researchers believe the state's graduated driver licensing system has played a big factor in the decrease.
The system – 42 other states have similar programs – imposes on teen drivers restrictions that are gradually lifted as young drivers gain experience behind the wheel.
For example, teens with a "limited provisional license" aren't allowed to drive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. without an experienced driver next to them. They're also limited to who can be in the car with them.
But highway safety researchers say that young drivers are still over-represented in crashes and fatalities.
In 2012, 16- to 20-year-olds made up 7 percent of North Carolina's population, but the age group represents 13 percent of all crashes and 9 percent of fatal crashes – most of which occurred near 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. – the same times teens are driving to and from school.
It's other teens, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for those between ages 16 and 19.
"Cellphones get all the attention, but it's really teen passengers that pose the biggest potential distraction for teen drivers," Adam Goodwin, senior researcher at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, said Thursday – two days after Panther Creek High School sophomore Laura Yost died from injuries she suffered in a recent wreck.
Cary police say the driver, 16-year-old Spencer Saunders, failed to yield to oncoming traffic – and although it's unclear what contributed to the wreck, Yost's death highlights adolescent driver-safety concerns.
Older drivers, researchers say, are more experienced and can anticipate problems behind the wheel. But a younger driver doesn't have the same skill to make the same driving decisions while being distracted.
Using in-vehicle cameras to observe driver and passenger behavior, the Highway Safety Research Center found that teens are six times more likely to be in a situation requiring an evasive maneuver to avoid a crash when passengers are loud. They're three times more likely when they are rambunctious.
"If you have multiple teens in a vehicle, teens are much more likely to be in a serious crash," Goodwin said. "It takes years of behind-the-wheel practice before you see the driving world in the same way an experienced driver does."
From 2003 to 2012, the number of fatalities among North Carolina drivers under the age of 20 decreased by 42 percent, according to the Highway Safety Research Center.
In 2012, for example, 170 drivers 20-years-old or younger were involved in a fatal crash – a decrease of 3 percent from 2011.
Researchers believe the state's graduated driver licensing system has played a big factor in the decrease.
The system – 42 other states have similar programs – imposes on teen drivers restrictions that are gradually lifted as young drivers gain experience behind the wheel.
For example, teens with a "limited provisional license" aren't allowed to drive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. without an experienced driver next to them. They're also limited to who can be in the car with them.
But highway safety researchers say that young drivers are still over-represented in crashes and fatalities.
In 2012, 16- to 20-year-olds made up 7 percent of North Carolina's population, but the age group represents 13 percent of all crashes and 9 percent of fatal crashes – most of which occurred near 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. – the same times teens are driving to and from school.
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