Texting While Driving? Message Sent from Driver's Phone(5 Teens killed NY)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

Text messages were sent back and forth on a 17-year-old girl's cell phone moments before her sport utility vehicle slammed head-on into a truck, killing her and four other recent high school graduates, police said Friday.


Bailey Goodman was driving her friends to her parents' vacation home when her SUV, which had just passed a car, swerved back into oncoming traffic, hit a tractor-trailer and burst into flames. Five days earlier, the five teenagers had graduated together from high school in Fairport, a Rochester suburb.


Goodman's inexperience at the wheel, evidence she was driving above the speed limit at night on a winding, two-lane highway and a succession of calls and text messages on her phone were cited by Sheriff Phil Povero as possible factors in the June 28 crash in western New York's Finger Lakes region.


"The records indicate her phone was in use," Povero said. "We will never be able to clearly state that she was the one doing the text messaging. ....

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3378025&page=1

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I'm betting you're going to see a lot of this cause young people and some adults are so in to texting. Hell, we even had a Penn State football coach in story telling how he was text messageing a recruit while the coach was driving to see next recruit! I have no problems with laws banning text messaging while driving but laws alone won't stop it.

BTW it also looks like the teen driver in this accident was driving illegaly at the time on a junior license.

[TransitJohn]

1. You know what I see

all the time on interstates here in Wyoming? The freaking big rig truckers texting. Makes me so fucking angry...if they hit anything they'll not have a prayer.:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[AlCzervik]

2. We had a police officer here killed by a drunk driver who was text messaging

while driving drunk. the last text he sent was just a few moments before the crash.

[Alexander]

3. I always tell people "Call you later, I'm driving" unless it's an emergency.

Hang up and drive!

[dionysus]

46. that happened here Hoob.

suburbs of Rochester

[Art_from_Ark]

47. Absolutely!

Fooling with a cell phone while driving is just asking for trouble.

[Skittles]

49. I say that only when responding to an oncall page

everyone else can just f***ing WAIT

[napi21]

4. Yep! I heard that on CNN earlier today! I WISHthey'd really publicize

this not only on the MSM but on AM & FM radio too! I can't tell you haw many stupid driving manuvers I've seen and the idiots are ALWAYS on their damn cell phone!

[Gman]

5. There was an article a few months ago about teens and brain maturity

(oxymoron, but I digress) The article stated how the part of the brain that recognizes danger doesn't develop until about age 25 which is why so many of us were "young and stupid" and did young and stupid things. The description of this incident is the kind of behavior that was described.

I googled and found the link below that references that type of behavior in teens and why it occurs.

http://www.roadandtravel.com/safetyandsecurity/teensandtots/2006/teendrivingdangers.htm

-------------------------
My wife says I'm a "stick in the mud" now. But this is also why I'm putting my foot down that our 15 years old ADD daughter is not going to get a license until she's 18 and I don't have a say-so any more.

[Demeter]

7. Thank You for Being a Responsible Parent

I kept my daughter off the road as long as possible, because she had attention problems, and felt that as long as it left no mark, it was acceptable driving! She also would emote while driving, using the car to express her aggressions.

Well, she went to live with Grandpa and go to school, and he bought her a used car, and she totalled it in a couple of months.

She's since learned to be a better driver. His attitude was that every kid needed to total a car once. He even said I had done so (it was my sister, who was developing MS, not I). He had done so in his youth, and his injuries prevented him from being drafted into Korea.

I guess it's very American, but damn, there has to be a better passage to adulthood than that.

[devilgrrl]

9. Funny that you should mention that, I started to fear amusement park rides at that age.

I used to love them so much. :-(

[pansypoo53219]

13. hmm, i must have been advanced then,

i had death thoughts at least around 12. but then my great grandmother dies in a tornado when grandma was a toddler. always looking at clouds.
i guess darwinism is back despite lawyer warnings.
just wish jet skis were more lethal.

[marions ghost]

18. thank you

for looking after your daughter. I and my 3 siblings weren't allowed to drive til 18 and it was
so much better. None of us has ever had a major accident, while we saw our friends go through a whole bunch of them. (two of us are ADD too so I get that point).

[Throwing Stones]

6. Darwinism in action /nt

[Tempest]

10. I just submitted her for a Darwin award

We'll see if she makes the cut.

[Throwing Stones]

11. too bad about the other kids in the car, but I guess they're also Darwin worthy for riding with her

I'm just glad that their car didn't kill or injure third parties.

[maggiegault]

12. Me too. I do NOT feel ANYTHING for the little moron doing the texting while driving.

I don't care when your brain supposedly develops to recognize danger. How frigging hard is it to recognize that it is nearly impossible to do two such diverse tasks at once?

Because of her stupidity, four other families won't get to see their daughters grow. Zero sympathy here from me for the genius who offed herself.

Harsh? maybe. Then again, I have lost a loved one to a drunk driver.

[Thickasabrick]

14. I don't think they have proven it was the driver "using" the phone -

just that it was the driver's phone. Someone else in the car could have been using her phone. I have sympathy for everyone in the car - and their families.

[maggiegault]

15. Okay, and what if it had been YOUR loved one who was injured in the crash by this moron?

Heading home from a hard day at work, only to have their life ended by someone too damned stupid to hang up the phone and drive?

Maybe you are a better person than I am. I have NO sympathy for the person fool enough to be on her phone while in a car. NONE.

[bitchkitty]

17. Cold as ice. n/t

[Thickasabrick]

24. Again, you don't know that's what happened. Being judgemental

without actual facts is....wrong.

[Deja Q]

20. Also a reasonable possibility.

Maybe they were all chatting up a storm. That can be a big distraction as well.

In high school, I was riding in a car with a close friend and 2 other friends. The driver told everyone to keep it down because he needed to concentrate...

[WinkyDink]

25. One article said the driver had left a message a couple minutes before. I feel sad that so many

young lives were ended for nothing. NOTHING.

[dansolo]

29. Unlikely

Do you really believe that every girl in that car didn't have their own phone? I could understand handing off her phone during a conversation, but while texting? Not a chance. They should know who the text messages were sent to. That should give them a pretty good idea who was sending the messages at the time.

[Gman]

16. Of course, it's not hard at all to see the danger

but some teens really and truly don't see the danger at the time they are doing something dangerous. If you ask them before or after if that behavior is dangerous, they would agree immediately. It's while they're doing it and don't see the danger that's the problem. I think that in this case, the girl very obviously thought there was no danger otherwise she would not have done it because of the survival instinct that's there from birth. You have to be able to recognize danger for what it is at the time and many teens can't.

I sense that you do not have any children.

[smokey nj]

21. Unfortunately, it's not only teenagers.

My husband told me that one of the guys with whom he carpooled would text message his girlfriend while driving to work. This is a man in his 30s. I was pretty pissed off when I found out about it.

[VTMechEngr]

52. Disqualified. You cannot kill others in your stupid act. n/t

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BlooInBloo]

40. Um, you have to be *dead* to get a Darwin Award, OMC...

... and no, being metaphorically dead doesn't count.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

43. Who's To Say There Can Only Be One Keeper Of What A Darwin Award Is?

I say there should be some given for the intellectually brain dead as well.

Some people's brains obviously haven't evolved to that beyond snails.

[Forrest Greene]

8. How Can You

...be in two places at once, when you're not anywhere at all?

[Deja Q]

19. That's it. Somebody pass a law. That is beyond asinine.

At least there's one less SUV* and one less idiot to go around killing anyone else out of selfishness stupidity.

Doesn't basic drivers' ed discuss how driving requires concentration?!

I feel sorry for their families, but some objectivity has got to remain. That person was a damn fool and her irresponsibility killed 4 other people. Being under 18, I wonder what sort of lawsuit will ensue. And against whom.

Hadn't New York passed some law saying it's illegal to use cell phones while driving?

* Aren't those things built to be "safe"?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. There is a law in NY. It's illegal to use a cellphone while driving unless it's hands-free. eom

[mwb970]

22. Have you ever driven in the Finger Lakes area?

My ex-wife's family lived there, so I had to drive around the area from time to time. It was terrifying. Winding, narrow roads, many hills, every driver going 20-30 mph over the limit, tailgating, frequent blind passing on hills. I've never seen anything like it. They were insane. I'm lucky to have survived the family visits, never mind the marriage.

This young lady was driving on these winding roads, speeding, late at night, with four other teens, while texting. My God, if you wanted to die in your car for some reason, what more could you do?

[Wcross]

27. I grew up around there.

Your right about the whole thing.......

[mwb970]

30. It's a really nice, beautiful area.

Except the part about the drivers!

[ThatsMyBarack]

26. How TRENDY!

SUV, text message, Bailey had it all. The perfect teen for the new MILLENIUM!!! :sarcasm: :mad: :grr:

[kurth]

28. 5 people lost their lives for "QL WER ON R WA CU"

or some such inane crap?

[TommyO]

31. Goodman shouldn't have even been driving!

From the article: Goodman only had a junior driver's license, making it illegal for her to be driving late at night or to be carrying so many young passengers.

[Contrary1]

32. Yep, I believe her parents are ultimately responsible...

Driving without a valid license in an SUV?

[cherokeeprogressive]

50. Funny that no one has mentioned that little tidbit. She died and caused the deaths of others while

breaking the law.

[stirlingsliver]

34. What's Wrong With Texting While Driving?

What's the big deal with texting while driving?

It's not much different from dialing a phone number while driving.

It's not much different from lots of other things people do while driving.

[bleedingheart]

36. everything is wrong with it....and if you don't realize that I hope you don't

drive on the roads where I live..


your eyes should be on the road...and your hands on the wheel...

[stirlingsliver]

39. Hands On The Wheel? Eyes on The Road?

You cannot be serious.

There are millions of people who take their hands off the wheel in order to select a CD. And to insert the CD into the CD player.

There are plenty of people who have small kids in the car with them. They take their eyes of the road in order to attend to the needs of those kids.

Should we also ban CD's and kids from cars?

[TahitiNut]

41. Perhaps, as a public service, you'd indicate where you drive? I'd really appreciate it.

:eyes:

[stirlingsliver]

42. Request Granted

I drive on the roadways of the United States.

And sometimes in Canada.

And I always fasten my seatbelt.

AND I use my turn signal.

And I never drive slow in the fast lane.

[bleedingheart]

44. I am one of those folks who doesn't insert and play with CD's

when driving.

I also have two children...I have NEVER attended to my children while driving because I love my children enough to watch the road. A little bit of crying is no reason to take your eyes off the road and...if you need to attend to a child...pull off to the side or park somewhere.

About 5 years ago a mother who was "attending" to a child in her back seat swerved head on into a dump truck...she and her child were killed instantly..

Attending to a child or listening to music aren't worth dying for and aren't worth killing someone else for...

[ManiacJoe]

48. All the activities you state are already illegal

in WA state under the "driving while distracted" law.

Now if we could only get it enforced at a much higher rate....

[goodgd_yall]

55. I get the point you're making

that many and probably most people do SOMETHING that takes their attention off the road for a second, but text messaging takes your attention away for TOO long. Dialing a number on the cell phone is a bad idea too.

[cherokeeprogressive]

51. Forget that your first two paragraphs are BOTH things that shouldn't happen,

my cellphone has voice activated dialing. I'd be willing to bet that any teenager who has a cellphone has one that has the same capability. I'd guess you'd be hard pressed to find one that didn't.

[VTMechEngr]

54. Huh? The eyes have it!

You know, eyes on the road or eyes on the text pad. Texting requires you to focus on the keys because each key represents 3 letters, and you have to focus on them when it pauses to start the next letter. In the meantime, guess what your not focusing on?

[bleedingheart]

35. I would ask for prints off her cell phone..one of her friends may have

been texting ...not that it made a difference since the car was being poorly handled.

Sad for all the parents involved...here they thought these young kids were about to embark on their journey into adulthood and now they will be burying all of them.

[RamboLiberal]

45. If the phone survived - this vehicle caught on fire

eom

[bleedingheart]

37. A sad day for the parents...doesn't matter what happened to them

they are all picking out caskets and preparing to bury their children...

[Initech]

38. This is why I'm all for banning usage of cell phones while driving.

[cynatnite]

53. Our teenager just got her first car...

Car and cell phone will both be history if she acts stupid.