You can't legislate judgment, but we should try

On April 23, Dorval resident will be sentenced in Quebec Superior Court for the dangerous-driving incident that left St. Lazare resident Patricia Jolicoeur severely brain-damaged and unable to care for herself.

Now, 21, Hakim admitted to pulling alongside his friend's car, but in the wrong lane on Yearling St. on Nov. 29, 2006. Jolicoeur, 27, was walking her dog in the oncoming lane and probably never knew what hit her.

Hakim, who was 20 at the time of the incident, will be sentenced in Valleyfield April 23, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving. Justice Michel Mercier's sentence is expected to land somewhere between the 30 months in jail being demanded by the Crown and the 15 to 18 months of house arrest to be served in the community (i.e. in front of a video-game console at home).

It is only the first of three local cases involving motor vehicles and deaths in the area.

The second case will see Vaudreuil-Dorion teen Brandon Pardi tried in the death of three-year-old Bianca Leduc, who was killed Oct. 31, 2007, when Pardi lost control of his vehicle in Ile Perrot and crashed on the lawn of a day care, where Leduc was putting up Halloween decorations. Pardi is charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. Pardi didn't even have a valid driver's license at the time of the incident.

The third is the trial of Diane Lauzon, who is alleged to have fallen asleep at the wheel of her car, killing 34-year-old Erica Cadieux, as Cadieux was walking along Beaconsfield Blvd. in early 2006.

With tough new restrictions on speeding, bans on hand-held cell phones, speeding and other infractions, the government has indicated it is getting into the business of cracking down on road scofflaws.

They can start by sending a message to other lead-footed young men — like Hakim and Pardi — who drive as if the road is their plaything and act accordingly. A 30-month sentence for Hakim sounds good to us, and frankly, it sounds like too little.

The notion that they — and everybody around them — are invincible is a notion that is way too pervasive among young males, and maybe it's time the province starts staggering its age of driving eligibility. Maybe extending the learner's-permit period for two more years — for males, at least — might be the way to go.

Why did Edward Hakim think it was a good idea to drive alongside his friend in the wrong lane at night? How did Brandon Pardi come to have operation of a motor vehicle when he wasn't even licensed to do so? These questions are the ones that society needs to ask itself. The onus is on drivers to keep their cars in check. That's a given.

Justice Michel Mercier needs to remember that when he sentences Hakim next week.