"Paging Mr Mercer, you have a phone call"
Posted on 10/19/2009 4:30:33 AM PDT by jwparkerjr
COVENTRY, R.I. -- The Coventry Police cruiser sat idle, with its lights flashing, at Exit 7 on Route 95 north, diverting traffic off the highway because of a three-car crash further up the road.
No one was in the cruiser Wednesday night around 10 p.m. when an approaching Jeep Cherokee plowed into it, totaling both vehicles, according to State Police Lt. Eric LaRiviere.
Crash site on Rt. 95 north, at exit 7, Coventry
The driver of the 1994 Jeep -- David Mercer, 26, of 159 Bates Trail, West Greenwich -- told the police he hadn't seen the Coventry cruiser.
"He told the trooper that he was text-messaging, and he was distracted," LaRiviere said Thursday morning.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsblog.projo.com ...
I was stopped a traffic light a few months ago and beside me was a lady who was talking on her cell phone, applying makeup and smoking, all with her pet dog in her lap!
Trooper:
k thx. U undr arrst. lol
DARWIN AWARD, but sad for innocent bystanders...
I was ready to call the cops on what I thought was a drunk driver the other day who was ALL over the road, when I got a chance to pass him, he was texting. Why does ANYONE think they can text while driving? Total insanity.
"Paging Mr Mercer, you have a phone call"
I’ve seen three drivers completely blow through red lights (not lights at yellow turning red, but red with cross traffic already moving) while talking on cells. They just don’t see the red light while concentrating on that little far-away voice.
How do you know he was getting directions?
Texting is more of a danger than drunk driving.
I was texting last year in my car and realized I had not looked at road for about 10 seconds. I looked up to find myself driving on other side of highway.
Thankfully the road was empty. I have NEVER turned the phone turned on in my car since. It scared me straight.
Driving and using a cell phone, whether texting or talking, are mutually exclusive. No one can do both at the same time. It seems like every time I see a driver do a stupid and/or dangerous act they are on their cell phone.
That reminds me of the movie Seven Pounds.
Bill was the one giving the directions. Hey, nice running him off the road, Bill! LOL!
http://www.wbz.com/pages/5272322.php?
All too common
>>Police: Teen was texting, speeding before crash
SHIRLEY, Mass.—Police say an 18-year-old college student who died last weekend after her car sideswiped a tree was sending and receiving text messages and speeding at the time of the crash. Cassandra Poulin, a student at Quinsigamond Community College from Clinton, died at about 11 p.m. Sunday after her car sideswiped a tree in Shirley.
>>Shirley’s chief said in a statement that a state police accident reconstruction team recovered information from the car’s computer system indicating it was traveling above the 20 mile-per-hour speed limit. Police found phone records indicating that cell phone text messages were received and sent around the time of the crash. Alcohol and drugs do not appear to be factors. Poulin was alone in the car.
and:
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/traffic/Texting_May_Have_Caused_Teens
>>records show the Quinsigamond Community College student was texting around the time of the crash. “There was a new text that hadn’t been read, so I don’t know if she took her eyes off the road for a moment,” Shirley Police Chief Greg Massak said. Despite the cell phone records, Poulin’s father said his daughter was tired and likely fell asleep behind the wheel.
“He told the trooper that he was text-messaging, and he was distracted,”
The astonding thing is that the induhvidual in question problem thought this was a reasonable “excuse” for why he ran into the cruiser. To me, if you admit that you were involved in an accident because you “didn’t see” the immobile (or slowly moving) object right in front of you, that’s tantamount to an admission of failing to excercise due care and attention, and should be punished beyond what it’s going to cost the driver in increased insurance premiums.
And while even the best of us are occasionally distracted from road ahead of us, whether because of some visual distraction outside the car, something dropped in the car, kids screaming in the backseat, or whatever, deliberately and knowingly taking your eyes off the road for extended periods of time to send text messages, watch movies, read books or similar activities is so stupid and reckless that it should be punished fairly severely. It’s probably more stupid and reckless than driving with a BAC just over the limit - an offense that is punished fairly harshly, at least in some jurisdictions.
And why do we need a specific law against texting while driving? At least partially it’s because of the difficulty of getting convictions on the more general charges of dangerous, careless or reckless driving. By their very generality those charges are difficult to prove and get convictions for.
Driving While Stupid.
Is it just me, or does there seem to be a lot more that sort of thing these days? I just lump them all into the category I have labeled: DWDEBPATTR (driving while doing everything but paying attention to the road).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.