They'll get off with a slap on the wrists and a lollypop. Or at least they would in Canada. And thats what p***es me off about our legal system. But, to avoid the politics and give something useful to this post...
Back in the mid-90's, a then-teenager was the sole reason a VIA Rail passenger train derailed in Stewiacke, NS. I won't go into the meaty details of it, as it's not really that important to this thread, but i will say that there were some serious injuries and (i believe) some lives lost. There was also HUGE property damage...VIA lost a car, and had major damages to several others, CN lost a half-mile of track, and the local co-op lost a feed store. The kid took a hammer (!!) to the switch lock, and once broken, tried to move the points. Not far enough to trip the CTC signaling system, but enough that once the massive weight of the lead F40 hit it, it snapped the throw arm and threw over to the diverging route, causing aforementioned massive damage. And, the kids defense was "i didn't know i was doing anything wrong"...not his exact words, but it was something along those lines. He got off with a slap on the wrist and had to make a public appoligy. A year or so later, the kid was picked up AGAIN, this time for stealing peoples cats and hanging them in trees by their necks until they died. I won't go into details about that one, either, as it's not related at all to this thread, but my point was more that kids like that who DO know better should get a LOT more then a gentle slap. You can't possibly tell me that these kids are stupid enough to think that jamming ties into the track isn't going to do anything.
Honestly...where's Darwin when you need him?
AR:curse: