Deputy kills 2, 1 in critical cond.

[Eden]

Trust me, you are in the minority. Lots of people eat a cheeseburger while talking on the phone while in the car. I can't stop someone for multitasking while driving, but I see it ALL the time.
Sometimes even burritos.

I too never, never use a cell phone while driving and certainly wouldn't eat a cheeseburger... I take driving very seriously and I still think anyone who kills out of negligence, whether they fall asleep, are rummaging through a bag or even comforting a crying child (ask MMQFC if it makes here feel any better that the driver that ran a light and hit her was tending to a baby - NO, if you need to do something distracting like that PULL OVER) should lose their license permanently. I know at that point its a little late, but it sure will stop them from multi-tasking while they drive ever again.

(btw I didn't mean to imply that bike cop was a demotion, but rather that if they felt they needed to demote him they could reduce his rank/salary, but a better job for him to do than to sit at a desk and file evidence would be to be put on bike patrol)

Honestly I don't care what profession the guy was in - he did something dangerous and negligent in a car that resulted in two deaths. He shouldn't keep his license. As for his gun.... he didn't do something unsafe with that.... I don't see the need for him to have to turn it in, unless the position that they gave him means he is no longer entitled to carry it.

I don't think police are particularly responsible for dangerous drivers. Their hands are pretty tied - they can't do usually do anything until after there has been an incident and our laws and punishments are very, very weak. We have too easily accepted cars as a way of life, rather than than a serious privilege that can have serious consequences if abused.

[kenyonchris]

I too never, never use a cell phone while driving and certainly wouldn't eat a cheeseburger... I take driving very seriously and I still think anyone who kills out of negligence, whether they fall asleep, are rummaging through a bag or even comforting a crying child (ask MMQFC if it makes here feel any better that the driver that ran a light and hit her was tending to a baby - NO, if you need to do something distracting like that PULL OVER) should lose their license permanently. I know at that point its a little late, but it sure will stop them from multi-tasking while they drive ever again.

(btw I didn't mean to imply that bike cop was a demotion, but rather that if they felt they needed to demote him they could reduce his rank/salary, but a better job for him to do than to sit at a desk and file evidence would be to be put on bike patrol)

Honestly I don't care what profession the guy was in - he did something dangerous and negligent in a car that resulted in two deaths. He shouldn't keep his license. As for his gun.... he didn't do something unsafe with that.... I don't see the need for him to have to turn it in, unless the position that they gave him means he is no longer entitled to carry it.

I don't think police are particularly responsible for dangerous drivers. Their hands are pretty tied - they can't do usually do anything until after there has been an incident and our laws and punishments are very, very weak. We have too easily accepted cars as a way of life, rather than than a serious privilege that can have serious consequences if abused.

Are you kidding me? I am totally responsible for dangerous drivers. I stop dangerous drivers that are weaving, speeding, failing to signal, drunk, stoned, or inattentive. If I waited for them to crash, I wouldn't be doing my job. In fact, most accidents are just that...inattention. I put it on my report more than anything else. Very few of them are actually dangerous drivers, a great majority have clean driving records. We CATCH the dangerous drivers because they give us reason to. It is the person driving safely that we can do nothing about until an ACCIDENT, hopefully not a tragic one, happens.

Of course, it is not a right to drive a car. If you drink and drive, I snatch that license away and you have to go to court to get it back. And if you are in prison for manslaughter, it is hard to drive a car. I just think that the judicial system judges, not us.

There are a lot of responsible drivers that have accidents. And yes, should be held accountable for it. That is not the issue. The issue is that he is no more or less responsible than the average person in that it was an ACCIDENT.