A judge in Rhode Island handed down what he himself called the “death penalty for license holders” when he took 17-year-old Lyle Topa’s driver’s license away. Permanently. Forever. For the rest of his life.
But is a lifetime driving ban smart — or even legal?
Reviewing the facts of the case, Topa seems like the best candidate — if there is such a thing — for a lifetime ban. The teen nearly killed himself and three of his passengers last October. Top was street racing while drunk when he tried to pass another car and hit a tree instead. One of the passengers went into a coma but survived.
Topa is also a repeat offender, having had his license revoked twice before — in less than two years of driving.
The small state seems split on whether or not this is actually legal or reasonable. Here’s what Rhode Islanders are saying.
Judge William R. Guglietta
“I’m trying to save your life”
“We didn’t think one of your friends was going to make it.”
“Thank God there were no fatalities.”
Jack Shippee, Charlestown Police Chief:
“As a young man, I would hope he takes time to reflect on the significance of his actions that night and realize, while the accident was horrific and those boys will be dealing with it for a long time, the outcome could have been much worse. Hopefully he and others will understand poor choices have consequences, not just for them but for their families and friends.”
State Sen. Robert Hedlund:
“I think it’s a little harsh. he kid might mature and actually be a responsible driver. I don’t know how you can take it away from a kid that age forever. What’s he going to do … bike for the rest of his life?”
Topa’s family asked that his license be revoked only until he turned 21 and legal experts seem to think that what the Judge did may not hold up since the guilty party can always appeal to get his license back in the future.
Whatever the ultimate fate of Topa, who could not look less deserving of a license on his Facebook page, a message has been sent to Rhode Island teen drivers: the old people who run things aren’t taking your crap anymore.
Because society thinks that driving is a right and tend to forget that rights don’t require tests or applications. (Not to go onto the tangent of firearms though).
Just like the few recent stories where the driver were being an idiot and killed their passenger (2 stories I believe).
I like it but it will just end up getting appealed and probably thrown out unfortunately. I think revoking it until he is the age of 25 and he can prove he is a hard working and honest member of society would be best. When he turns 25 if he has added anything to his criminal record then tack on 5-10 more years before he can go before a judge again regarding the matter.
kid is an idiot, but taking someones license away for the rest of his life is idiotic on the judges part…
#1 who says 10 years down the road this kid doesnt smarten up? Slowmarro did time in jail right? So you guys ALL must think Slowmarro is a scumbag and shouldnt ever be trusted or friended or be able to have any rights, right?
WRONG, people change and they smarten up. Kid should do jail time so he can learn… All taking his license away does it make it harder for him to find a job… No job means no money, no money means the kids going to steal, sell drugs and add to the criminals in this world.
If this was a first time thing…maybe I could cut him slack till he was 19 or 21, etc.
But two revokations in less than 2 years? Plus a nearly deadly accident? Throw the book at him. No driving for him. Keep that stupid ass off the roads.
Maybe give him a ‘parole’ option at like age 30. Or something.
He should move his ass to NYC and walk/ride the subway like the majority of that city does. He doesn’t have to stay in RI and live in a place that requires driving.
no offense iyla, but are you dumb? This goes for eveyone else saying yeah yeah, take his license away forever…
Kid has only had hair on his dick maybe 2 years? Motherfucker was watching pokemon JUST a few years ago… Because of his actions at 17 yrs old he should be punished for the rest of his entire life???
I’ve heard of Minors intentially MURDERING people and dont get that many consiquenses…
Lock him up in a juvy jail for 2 years at LEAST before you do ANYTHING to fuck the rest of this kids life.
When I was 16, I ran from the cops and got nailed for it.
Did I ever do it again? NO. Why? Because at 16, becoming an adult, I LEARNED MY LESSON. He has had, basically, 3 SERIOUS (KEYWORD!) issues with his license. The last incident nearly cost the lives of an entire car full of people.
Are you kidding me!?
He should have learned his lesson after the first time. People like this, who fail to learn after repeated mistakes…need to be punished as much as humanly possible. In this case, make him use public transportation for the rest of his freakin life.
I’d personally rather see him in jail myself as you say…for attempted vehicular manslaughter or negligence, whatever the charge may be. But since the judge doesn’t want to go that route (or prosecution), the next best thing is to lose his license.
Okay, maybe not for his life…but at least 10 years or so.
Bingo. We all learn from our mistakes. This kid is 17. Almost of college age, ready to probably go out on his own. He should be able to put 2 and 2 together and realize he can’t do this crap…yet he’s done it 3 times in essence.
[quote=Vovchandr;944217]How are you protecting him? I’m waiting for the rest to have a ball with this.
Loss of license leads to unemployment and life or crime? :rofl
You cant fix stupid.
quote]
Im protecting him because if I got permanantly nailed for the shit I did as a minor I would NEVER EVER EEEVVERRRR see the light of day again aside from behind bars… I was the stupidest motherfucker you could possibly imagine as a minor, I’ve done things that people go to jail for verrrryyy long times for…
Do I look/sound like that type of person now?? Now I am a succesfful business man with nice cars, a decent house and a couple pets I love to death… I dont do ANYTHING I know can seriously jepordize my life now aside from stupid shit.
FUCKING A Loss of license leads to unemployment and life or crime… Might not DIRECTLY result in it but it for damn sure increases the chances of it… Cant ever live in the suburbs aka a nice neihhborhood unless u have friends to drive you places, alot harder then you think to find a job and a boss for that matter thats ok with you taking a bus and the temptation to just drive a car illegally…
YES Vlad, YES, you CAN fix stupid… Heres how ----- A-G-E
With age we get smarter, wiser and gain alot more to loose… THE KID ISNT LEGALLY EVEN ALLOWED TO GO SEE A RATED R MOVIE FOR GODS SAKE!!! You took a shit on your pants at the age of 3 Vlad, you better not fucking leave your house without a diaper for the rest of your life becaause of what you did at the age of 3!!! Do you here me motherfucker??? Do you see how stupid that sounds? Telling a 17 yr old kid whos brain is not fully developed he cant ever drive for the rest of his life because of shit hes done AT the age of 17 sounds the same way to me.
Are you going to throw a 17 yr old in Federal prison becuase he doesnt do taxes for his summer job??? A 17 year old kid would have no dog damn clue how to even do taxes, but your telling me at 17 we know EXACTLY what the fuck were doing, so he should go to prison for 15 years…
Put the kid in jail… give him 1 year, 2 years, hell 5 years… I promise you 5 years in jail and he well understand what he did and never make that mistake again.
Doing taxes is something you need to be taught. Not drinking and driving (and racing while doing that) is something you SHOULD JUST KNOW. You should be 12 and know that…IT IS BAD.
The kid had 3 chances!! Ilya is right…you can’t fix stupid! We have all probably done stupid shit in our lives, but we LEARN from them. He obviously didn’t learn from any of his previous mistakes! That is the definition of stupid!
He is a minor with a DUI and street racing…top it off with almost killing everyone in the car…losing your licence really isn’t that bad!
Boost…I do agree that the kid should have to spend a little “thinking” time in jail and lose his licence for an extended period of time. While he might be considered a minor, he is driving a vehicle on public roads. Would you feel the same if he was one of your neighbors speeding around your hood drunk looking to race you? Jail and 10 years of no licence would be good for this d-bag.
Personally I think the lifetime ban is a little much. Something like 5 years to make him realize how much life sucks without personal transportation should suffice. That and a GPS tracker and interlock device in his vehicle when/if he does get to drive again.
Love4Boost…do you really think comparing his actions and age to other people actions and age are the same thing? Were not talking a punk teen vandalizing property or doing other dumb shit that isnt “life threatening” Were talking about a complete idiot who has mulitple offenses where innocent bystanders can be killed…HUGE differance, lets say he killed a pedestrian driving drunk, would you feel the same way? Regardless of the fact he was lucky that didn’t happen your ok with giving him yet another chance to take someones life???