The High Court of Justice handed down a precedent-setting ruling against a motorist sentenced to four months imprisonment for excessive speeding. Because the driver was not involved in an accident or cause damage, he felt the prison term was excessive, deciding to appeal to the nation’s highest court.
Justice Noam Solberg wrote in his ruling that the driver was apprehended during the predawn hours on Route 25 from Beersheva to S’dei Teiman traveling at a speed of 195 KPH (121 MPH). The court explained it is difficult to feel the need for leniency for a driver with 17 other convictions in the past three years, violations that included speeding and running a red traffic signal.
The court ruled the driver will indeed spend four months behind bars, during which time it hopes he begins to understand the seriousness of his actions and the threat he poses on the nation’s roadways. The court added the prison term in this case is justified and it hopes it will also serve as a warning to other drivers, those who believe that at the end of the day one will only receive a summons. Now they must realize they can and may be sentenced to jail.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Prison is a mistake. The best way to significantly reduce and maybe even end reckless driving is to give such people lashes. The number depending on the severity and background of the person. I am sure if this person had been whipped the first time he was caught for speeding or running a red light, he would not have done so again. So many tens of millions of people have spent so many tens of millions of years in prisons and to date, there is no evidence whatsoever that it has any effect on crime or recalcitrancy. It is long past time to try a different way.
I remember Purim on 1976 was the first & only year I celebrated a double header Purim.I celebrated first in Tel Aviv then in Jerusalem. The Egged bus to Jerusalem was the last bus that evening with center isle stuffed with many standing passengers sardine style. I sat directly behind driver & was alarmed at cavalier speeding which when I peeked over drivers shoulder was 220KPH. If you must make an example, choose the biggest violator Egged.The car most likely would have lost control killing only driver, Egged loss of control would have killed far more.
As for the judge “feeling the need for leniency”,he should park his emotions outside the courthouse when issuing precedent setting rulings. Judgements and feelings don’t belong in the same sentence.
And tell the punk, once hes out, he wont drive fo 4 months. Then, if he ever gets another ticket, he will not drive for 4 years.
Get a Smart phone and Waze. Rumor has it the some smart phones are now kosher and comes with Rimon internet filters.
”Because the driver was not involved in
an accident or cause damage”
So driving rocket-style at
a mad speed of 195 KPH (121 MPH) isn’t enough to charge him as attempted murder?
Only when he’ll DO kill someone he’ll serve justice?
That is insane.
The fact that the punishment shocks us and makes the news, proves that it is beyond what people think is fair.
Or, in economic terms, the fact that it disturbs us is a disutility, and is a result of the fact that our taste for punishment is already satisfied with less punishment, so the punishment is not socially optimal.