Call for tough law on distracted driving

It was good to see Marni Pyke's article regarding distracted drivers causing accidents and killing people. As a former motorcycle columnist for this paper, and now for Cyclefocus Magazine, I've been writing about this topic for years.

But the problem won't go away until there are laws like the one Rep. William Black is proposing to make negligent driving behavior a crime, with serious jail time, not "up to a year in jail." Jail time of two years should be mandatory, with a $25,000 fine.

And the local print and TV media should get more involved as well. Pyke mentions the names of the victims in her column, but why not the names of the perpetrators? By keeping perpetrators in the public eye, perhaps more drivers would see that their texting, tweeting, cell phone yakking, and other dangerous behavior will have serious consequences to their reputation, freedom, and wallets. That might wake people up, and be a deterrent.

And why doesn't the media call legislators ask them why they didn't support the law? What are they thinking? Why aren't they responding?

So I challenge this newspaper, the one with the local focus to focus on this local issue and work to affect change. Put the perpetrators and their behavior in the spotlight, and help to make it a crime for killing people.

Ken "Hawkeye" Glassman

Arlington Heights