Posted on 06/26/2009 6:39:42 PM PDT by Chet 99
Last update Jun 26, 2009 @ 05:45 PM
EUREKA —
The Eureka teenager who was killed in a single-vehicle crash Thursday afternoon had been sending and receiving text messages when the accident occurred, according to a statement from the Woodford County Coroner’s Office.
Alyssa G. Burns, 17, was pronounced dead about 1 p.m. Thursday after losing control of the SUV she was driving at County Road 800N about a quarter-mile west of 1900 East.
Coroner Tim Ruestman said Burns was eastbound on County Road 800 N, but had traveled into the oncoming lane of traffic as the SUV headed up a hill. At the hill’s crest, Burns turned sharply to avoid striking a westbound vehicle. The SUV went into the south ditch, where it overturned several times, ejecting Burns.
Information recovered from Burn’s cell phone revealed she was texting when the crash occurred. The emergency 911 call — dialed by the driver in the car Burns narrowly missed hitting — and the last text message she received were within seconds of each other, the coroner said.
"The lady she about hit called 911," Ruestman said. "She looked back in her rearview mirror and saw the SUV roll."
Alyssa Burns is the daughter of the Rev. Joseph and Terri Burns. He is the minister of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Eureka. She would have been a senior at Eureka High School this fall.
The accident remains under investigation by the Coroner’s Office and Sheriff’s Department.
What state is this?
Illinois
Does Ill. have a law on texting while driving?
So are you going to start posting texting teen deaths along with the pit bull articles? Cool!
I am just amazed... I see people all the time... but mostly females... texting and driving. What’s up with that?
And then the SUV... so many people are misled into believe they’re safe, but in truth, a smaller and more nimble car would probably have been able to swerve out of the way of the oncoming car and still stay on the road.
If she hadn't been an idiot, definitely she'd be alive now.
Sorry, but even though she's cute and all, this is a Darwin Award.
Almost hit us.
If I'd let my foot off the brake in surprise and shock, the car would have tapped her vehicle just right and sent her rolling across the intersection.
She's gonna' die Fur Shur but I hope that's the last we see of her.
Ran N2 tree.
Cute girl. Damn shame. RIP.
I guess there are just so many things to be done while driving that there is no time left for, you know, driving.
“And then the SUV... so many people are misled into believe they’re safe, but in truth, a smaller and more nimble car would probably have been able to swerve out of the way of the oncoming car and still stay on the road.”
SUVs are safer than ‘smaller more nimble and more subject to severe damage in accidents’ cars
thats assuming you aren’t texting in which case they are still safer.
We don’t need another law. We NEED parents to teach their kids and an atmosphere where kids learn their actions have consequences.
Well, that was the point I was trying to pursue, but, I didn’t get an answwer to my query.
I was going to liken it to the over abundance of gun laws and the constant call for more gun laws to try to stop people that pay no attention to laws
We have a no-texting-while-driving law in MN. It doesn’t stop those that ignore the law.
And it’s not just kids.....
We were nearly hit this evening by a woman texting while she was driving. It happens almost every time we get in the car lately. I’m really sick and tired of it. Only a complete and total idiot would text while they were driving.
Sadly, many of the texters I see are adults (and yes, some are men).
I don’t have an answer other than, if someone causes an accident while texting, the other driver (if still alive, and if not, their next of kin) has the right to beat that person to within an inch of their life. I am sick and tired of stupid, selfish people who think that the world revolves around them.
I have never seen a man texting and driving yet, but I am sure thee are some. I have seen hundreds of women and girls texting though. I think it is safe to conclude this is mostly a FEMALE ISSUE.
You can tell them not to do such things,
you can reason with them on such matters,
you can pass laws to make it illegal
but in the end they are going to do what they are going to do.
they know better than you so you are probably going to just waste your breath.
If they somehow survive something that you warned them not to do they are probably going to start listening.
Just hope that you can get them over the hump early on but keep on warning them.
I’d have to disagree with you. I’ve seen 18 wheel truckers texting. They looked like big hairy men, but I guess you never know these days.
This texting phenomenon is right up there with clipping your hedges with a lawn mower. Dumb and deadly.
It’s amazing the lack of common sense these kids and younger adults are showing today. No wonder the state forces companies to put warning labels on everything. People are just too stupid to think what the consequences of their actions will be.
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