For anyone who thinks texting and driving is no big deal

H2O_Doc

Noo, not at all. An EXPLANATION and excuse are VERY different. She is still RESPONSIBLE for her actions and shoulders the blame completely and that has never been in question here. She is both legally and morally responsible to those that she has harmed.

The distinction here is that humans are fallible; teens especially so. Our ability to fully understand risk, to mange risk, and understand our own capabilities changes with experience and age. Saying that it is unfortunate that the guilty party didn't die just seems harsh. At a minimum, how can one be held responsible and make restitution if absent from the planet.

It gets to a problem we have in society and that is that we use self righteous indignation as a substitute for a fuller understanding of the complexities of an issue. One can say that they recognize the sort of behavior in question as all too common; not wish dear upon the actor; hold them fully accountable; and in no way harbor any willingness to EXCUSE the behavior or vitiate the perpetrator of responsibility.

The notion that my words or the words of others here are meant to, or can rightly be taken as something that EXCUSES (in the proper meaning of the word) the girl is a gross misreading of the literal meaning of the written words and the intent of the author(s). The question of what should happen to the guilty party really hasn't been the subject of discussion except to say wishing a young driver death for what lots (wayyyy too many) people) do is questionable; the culpability of the guilty party has NEVER been questioned (certainly not by me).