As a Christian turn Buddhist, agree +

Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammapada

Truth, but we need to consider road safety. Lock the lady up, and lock all other texters up. Motorcyclists all over the nation would agree.

or, just being empathetic to the guilt the driver must be feeling, as well as the lifelong ptsd they get to look forward to carrying the memories of taking someone's life

or, sometimes, you just don’t want to make harsh public statements after a loss of a loved one.

or, just, generally being a good human, esp when it matters, in times like these, instead of only when things are going well, then dropping that whenever something bad happens when it's more impactful and important to stay a good human.

There is nothing "good" about wishing positive vibes upon your loved one's killer. It's arguably evil. It's unconscionable.

I'd wager that the driver isn't feeling much guilt or PTSD. A lot of these kinds of blatant bad actors seem wholly disconnected from the concept of self accountability. Otherwise, they tend to get knocked down a few pegs before such a serious incident.

You have no idea what they are feeling. Regardless of if they feel anything now, things like taking a life have a habit of sneaking up on you later down the line, often when you least expect it.

In this case quite literally suicidal empathy.

Literally suicidal? Does that mean that other reckless drivers will find out about the empathy and will thus start hitting them on purpose?

Praying for somebody doesn't mean you have to let them continue their action? You can throw them in jail.