The NY Post is a rag.
The driver is in her eighties, in poor health, previously had a clean record, was not intoxicated or distracted, showed remorse for what happened, and did not contest the charges against her. It is unknown if she suffered a medical incident at the time of the crash.
If prisons are truly for rehabilitation and not punishment, what is she to be rehabilitated for? She already doesn’t have much time left, and being thrown into an overcrowded, run down prison purely out of spite would only serve to further reduce her life expectancy and waste state funds.
If anything, this is a symptom of the state’s over reliance on cars, and insufficient testing and certification of elderly drivers.
In what ways did she show remorse? After the murders, she transferred many of her financial assets away such that the family of the victims couldn’t sue for them in a civil lawsuit. That doesn’t sound like remorse to me. Also AFAIK, she has never apologized, despite not contesting.
I don’t think she needs to rot in prison necessarily, but she shouldn’t be allowed ever drive again at a minimum.
The article quotes her as apologizing in court.
Ah you’re right, I had missed that. I’ve been following this story since the murders (I live in the Bay Area), so most of the article was very familiar. I’m glad she said sorry, but I wish it hadn’t taken years and very lenient sentencing to get there.
Agreed
On Friday, a judge sentenced Lau to two years’ probation with a three-year suspended license after she entered a no-contest plea.
Jesus Christ.
80 fucking years old and suspended license?! Not even fully revoked for fucking ever, suspended.
Should be an example for all elderly people behind the wheel. You overestimate your driving, there are real consequences. Just because you’re 80 doesn’t mean you are off the hook for fucking manslaughter.
Your ability to evaluate yourself often degrades with age. It is the state’s responsibility to independently verify that the drivers they license are capable of driving safely.
If prison is for rehabilitation and not punishment, are you suggesting we rehabilitate this woman for being elderly?
Nope, not buying it. Just this year my mother admitted she shouldn’t be driving at night anymore. Plenty others know they don’t have the ability anymore, and too many are stubborn.
Wow, nice personal anecdote. It must be true, then. Let’s just ignore all medical evidence because you think it’s not true.
People age differently, and many people experience cognitive decline that impairs their decision-making, resulting in overestimation of their current, now-degraded abilities.
And so a great reason they should be held accountable for their actions then. They overestimated and estimated wrong. A family is dead because this woman overestimated her abilities.
Prison can be both for rehabilitation and punishment. It should serve as a deterrent for other would-be criminals in addition to rehabilitating the people who are incarcerated.
At the very least the defendant shouldn’t ever operate a motor vehicle for the rest of their life. The 3-year license suspension seems far too light (though could be a maximum for whatever the final charges were).
Hopefully the family will be able to seek financial restitution.
Suspended license? So she will be allowed to drive again. WTF kind of worthless judge orders that.
Maybe we need annual driving compentency tests for all people, this would incentivise better driving for all, maybe get more people off the road and improve our cities, and stop people who can’t see properly from driving. Maybe use some of the registration fees for cars for bus or shuttle services for the elderly to get around and do things.
This
This woman apparently played the game by the rules
The game is wrong and the rules need to change
The dad was an apple executive. So only 3 counts of manslaughter should apply.
