Working the System

“Driving: It Shouldn’t Pay to Hit and Run.” The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe, 13 October 2009. Web. 15 October 2009 <http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/10/13/driving_it_shouldnt_pay_to_hit_and_run/ >.

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In the editorial, Driving: It Shouldn’t Pay to Hit and Run, written in The Boston Globe, the authors writes about Senator Anthony Galluccio and his latest run-in with law enforcement. He was involved in a car accident that occurred on October 4, 2009 and fled from the scene of the accident. Senator Anthony Galluccio turned himself in the very next day and released the following statement as to why he left the scene of the accident, “because of my driving history.” Senator Anthony Galluccio has received two DUI’s (Driving Under the Influence) in 1984 and 1997. The authors then writes about the laws of DUI’s and hit and runs. The penalty for fleeing the scene of a car accident that involves little or no damage is up to sixty day loss of the driver’s license, twenty to two-hundred dollars fine and possible jail time of 2 weeks. The penalty for a second DUI is a heavier fine. The penalty is one year loss of driver’s license, at least sixty days in jail but could be up to two and half years of jail time. The author of this editorial is trying to make the point that the penalty for leaving the scene of an accident needs to be harsher. The author mentions the point that a drunk driver can go home to sober up and return the next day and receive a lesser penalty than a DUI penalty. The author ends the editorial by saying, “Galluccio deserves a tough sentence. Whether he was drinking or not, he shouldn’t be driving now.”


I agree with the author of the editorial. Hit and run accidents are becoming more and more common. I cannot tell you how many times I have turned on Fox 5 News at night and heard a story about someone getting hit while walking or driving and the offender left the scene. No one can really tell from another car if someone is hurt or not. Even a small fender bender can hurt a small child or an elderly person in a car. I believe people who leave the scene of a car accident are leaving because they have something to hide, whether it is drinking, drugs, or anything else. I agree that the laws for fleeing the scene of a car accident need to be harsher than the current laws. I also do not believe that laws for DUI are harsh enough. I believe someone who has had two DUI’s or more should lose their license for longer than a year. I also believe they need to go to mandatory rehab for their alcoholism and community service. I believe the community service should be at a hospital or rehab center where people who have been hit by drunk drivers are recovering. This way the habitual offender can see what can happen to an innocent person. I also agree that the way they law is set-up now is allowing drunk drivers to flee from the scene to sober up and face the lesser of penalty the next day. The way the laws are right now, it does pay the offender to leave instead of staying. I always say, “Professional criminals know how to work the system.” The system needs to look at how the criminals are working the system and fix it.