Tug pilot charged in deadly duck boat crash (Was on cell & laptop at time)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: philly.com

The first mate at the helm of a tug towing a barge that crashed into a duck boat in July 2010, killing two young Hungarian tourists, has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge in the case.

Matthew R. Devlin, 35, of Catskill, N.Y., has been charged with one count of misconduct of a ship operator causing death, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger announced today.

According to a plea agreement also announced today, Devlin potentially faces 37 to 46 months in federal prison under advisory sentencing guidelines and terms of the deal.

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The charge against Devlin follows a lengthy investigations by the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board, which concluded he was using his cellphone and laptop rather than watching the river when the barge under his command hit a Ride the Ducks amphibious vehicle in the shipping channel.



Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20110714_Federal_charge_expected_in_duck_boat_crash.html?cmpid=124488429

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The deckhand(on edit on the duckboat) was also texting.

[Divernan]

1. The younger adult generations have infinite confidence in their ability to multi-task

And in fact, I think they do so compulsively, even when there is no need for it. Just heard an interesting discussion of this on the Pittsburgh FM station formerly known as WDUQ. A newly published author was being interviewed on his book re how out of date traditional education was, and that it should be a lot more laptop/texting friendly. One recent college graduate phoned in to explain that of course students were going to text and websurf and google throughout a professor's lectures, and the professors just didn't understand that younger people HAVE to do this. They CANNOT just sit there in class and focus on the professor's presentation. And the author pretty much agreed with the caller.

I signed up to be an extra on the new Batman movie being filmed in Pittsburgh in a few weeks. It was made clear to all that no one was allowed to bring a cell phone, smartphone, Ipod, etc. onto the set. Someone asked about laptops, and was told that they could bring one into the waiting area, but would have to leave it there when bussed over to the shooting areas/sets, and it would most likely be stolen.

As excited as the thousands of young people were, who signed up for this, I truly do not think they will be able to go up to 12 hours without their devices. I'm sure they never have had to in their whole lives. We were told to bring something to keep us occupied while we were waiting - and I guess the waits could be for up to 8 hours - like a book, or needlework. While they were getting this talk from the casting person, they were sitting there texting like mad.

To clarify one point in your OP, the texting deckhand was on the Duckboat, not the tug.

[RamboLiberal]

2. Interesting points

You don't remember the book or author do you? On edit never mind found it - Don Tapscott - will have to listen to podcast.

Fixed my post about the deckhand - thanks.

[TEXASYANKEE]

3. I'm afraid we'll see more and more of this.

As others have said, the younger generation simply can not go without access to their phones or mobile devices.