Posted on 12/27/2009 3:30:09 PM PST by Saije
Vinnie Sorce knew something was wrong when he saw a police officer pull into the driveway. He immediately sent his three children, two boys from a previous marriage and a little girl with his fiancee, to their rooms so he could talk to the officer outside.
"Time just froze," he said.
Sorce's fiancee, Stacey Stubbs, had headed to Phoenix for a doctor's appointment.
She never made it.
A Ford pickup truck hit Stubbs' rented PT Cruiser head-on on an isolated stretch of road near Lake Pleasant, killing her instantly. The other driver, Ashley Miller, 19, was thrown from the truck and later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Sorce later went to the hospital to identify Stubbs' body.
"You could see her nose was broken, and her fingers were all crushed, like she had gripped the wheel," Sorce said.
A familiar pain flooded back. Sorce had lost his first wife, Lisa, to cancer eight years before.
"The hardest thing I thought I'd ever have to do was tell the boys their mom had died," he said. "All of a sudden I had to do it again."
A few days later he was enraged to hear that Miller had been text messaging on her cell phone. Based on a message Miller sent a minute before the 911 call reporting the accident, police surmised that she became distracted and crossed the center line.
Crashes blamed on cell phone use and text messaging as well as recent studies outlining the dangers of the practice have helped build interest around the country in restrictions.
As of late 2009, six states - California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington - and Washington, D.C., required drivers to use a hands-free device, and 19 states and Washington, D.C., prohibited text messaging behind the wheel.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktar.com ...
You just opened up a sack of bitch with that comment, pal.
Yes, women gain weight and get fat.
And so do men. EVERY SINGLE MAN I KNOW except for one is at least 40 plus pounds fatter than he was when he was young.
I'm, frankly, very tired of the joke that women get fat after marriage.
The truth is the MOST PEOPLE get fat after marriage.
No, a fine is NOT enough. Impound cars and prison. These people are worse than drunks. I would rather have a drunk coming at me than a text message driver.
At least the drunk might actually see you and try to move out of the way.
I completely understand. Someone further up the thread said they did not understand why people would have a cell phone, except as a status symbol and I was explaining why I have mine.
People just perpetuating societal biases
Men who are lazy, good for nothing, layabouts
- As if working defines men
Women who get fat and ugly
- as if appearance defines women
Truth is that there is a societal premium on:
Size in Men (Body, Job, Car, Wallet, etc.)
Beauty in Women (and all this entails)
Always has been
Always will be
Doesn't make it right
Just the way it is
One can swim against the stream
And it can be very satisfying to
point out a persons unspoken biases,
upon occasion
If you would read the whole article you would find that his first wife died. That is why he has two children from his previous(actually not a correct usage of the word)marriage, not through divorce.
“Well here is something even more frightening, try riding a motorcycle and having the circumstance of another drivers attention being focused on something else other than seeing you.”
I was out riding and waved at an older dude on a bagger ,with a passenger, and he was texting! What a friggin’ idiot! I see younger dudes talking on cell phones while riding their bikes a lot.
That must have been spooky. Bet it got your adrenaline running! I don't know if you know San Marcos Pass, a mostly two-lane shortcut over the mountains behind Santa Barbara north toward Santa Maria (instead of along the coast through Gaviota). Coming over that road one day, I was surprised when a car had chosen to pass, in a no-passing-striped curve, right where I needed to be. Thank goodness there was a shoulder barely big enough to let me squeeze to the side without flipping my car, while the other regular driver coming opposite did the same, allowing the idiot enough room to get through, all choreographed at speed of 45 to 50 mph.
It was nearly a mile later that the adrenalin flooding my body forced me to pull over by the side of the road and get a grip. Had I tried to stand, my knees would have been jelly.
Thank you, God!
Like a lot of people, I’ve gotten rid of my home phone. The only phone I have aside from work is my cell.
Like a lot of people, I’ve gotten rid of my home phone. The only phone I have aside from work is my cell.
I have a coworker that I pass when commuting to work many mornings... and she is on her cell phone everytime. Then, every morning, as she walks in the door, she is finishing a conversation. Do people really have that much to say?
And in terms of obnoxious, I have seen many men talking loud on their cell phones for attention. Amazes me.
I honestly wish they would install cell phone blocks that would not allow the phones to work while the key was in the ignition. I don’t know how many times we’ve almost been hit by someone looking down, you know they are texting and not paying any attention to what they are doing!
You didn’t read the whole story did you? His wife died of cancer that was why he wasn’t married.
Yeah, someone died, but let’s concentrate on your morals.
I, too, spent my younger years driving fast and reckless and I've occasionally looked at my cell phone to decipher who was calling, only to find myself drifting into the other lane, so I know how easy it is to be distracted. And there's nothing like looking up and seeing one of those combines coming toward you, taking up 3/4 of the roadway.
Happy New Year and stay safe!
i pull over. always, no exceptions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pubTiDCEVZ8&feature=related
warning - that video is VERY graphic and sad...
I agree with you about the logging trucks and narrow roads here in Florida. My SUV being higher up makes it easier for me to see up high and when my husband is driving and I’m sitting in the passenger seat, I see plenty. The problem is more about drivers who have respect for other drivers vs those who think that they will live forever without ever making a mistake.
Like the woman who hit me. I saw her face with her cell phone to her ear talking as if no one else in the world existed, and there was no place for me to go to get out of her way. No one else matters to some of these people and unfortunately some of them recognize the error of their ways the hard way. If they are lucky, the hard way won’t involve innocent people.
You’re right. I shouldn’t have commented about that. My intent was that he was living unmarried with one illegitimate child and two others. Nevertheless, I should have read before commenting. My apologies.
Mendel-”He’s right and he’s right? They both can’t be right.”
Tevye-”You know, you are right also!”
Had you read a little less quickly you might have noticed the word "also." The fine is necessary to induce the police to make the arrests and charges. They make some money out of it. If you insist that traffic enforcement be motivated only by righteous anger then you will be eternally disappointed, both in the lack of that indignation and the lack of enforcement.
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