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Texting-while-driving truck driver crashes into swimming pool (2 phones at once)
Buffalo News ^ | July 30, 2009

Posted on 07/30/2009 11:38:05 AM PDT by Wolfie

Texting-while-driving truck driver crashes into swimming pool

LOCKPORT — The driver of a tow truck texting on one cell phone while talking on another Wednesday morning crashed into a car at Tonawanda Creek Road North near Willow Wood Drive, injuring a woman and her niece, Niagara County sheriff's deputies said.

The flatbed tow truck then crashed through a fence and into a house before ending up in a swimming pool.

Chief Deputy Steven Preisch said the driver of the Adams tow truck, identified as Nicholas Sparks, 25, of Burt, admitted he was both texting and talking just after 8 a.m., when he hit the car on Willow Wood, which was stopped to make a turn.

"According to witnesses, he did not even stop, slow down or hit the brakes," Preisch said.

Sparks was charged with reckless driving, talking on a cell phone and following too closely. Preisch said deputies will be seizing his two cell phones and will request search warrants for the phone records to verify allegations the driver was talking on the phone.

"It's crazy the law [for texting while driving] is on the governor's desk. But it's irresponsible," Preisch said. "Here's an example where technology is progressing faster than the bureaucracy and laws can keep up. It doesn't make common sense."

Sparks was heading east on Tonawanda Creek Road North when he rear-ended the car of Lily White, 68, of Lockport, who suffered head injuries and was taken by Mercy Flight to Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo. She was listed in good condition.

Her great-niece, Kiara McDowell, 8, of the Town of Lockport, who was in the rear seat, was taken to Women & Children's Hospital, Buffalo, for treatment of wrist injuries, Preisch said. She was later released. Sparks also was treated in ECMC for back and neck injuries.

Preisch said the flatbed truck was towing two vehicles, with two motor cycles on the bed.

Preisch said that after the collision with the car, the flatbed went through a yard and sideswiped a house at 6369 Tonawanda Creek, with one of the towed vehicles hitting the house, then continued through a privacy fence and into the in-ground pool.

He said the cleanup at the house, owned by Brad Kanel, took more than five hours. He said it was hard finding a truck big enough to pull the flatbed out of the family's pool.

A damage estimate was being tabulated.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: cellphones; texting
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To: fieldmarshaldj

21 posted on 07/30/2009 11:50:49 AM PDT by Bratch
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To: DustyMoment

“horrible ‘Convoy’ song!!”

Hey don’t go dissing CW Mcall....He’s one of my favs :)
Played all his records incessantly as a kid.


22 posted on 07/30/2009 11:51:30 AM PDT by Electric Graffiti (Yonder stands your orphan with his gun)
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To: Bratch

Red X fail.


23 posted on 07/30/2009 11:54:06 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)
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To: Electric Graffiti
"What is texting"

It's the modern version of the telegram.

The other day a friend of mine was wondering what if they had invented texting in its current form before the invented the voice telephone? When people got the new voice technology wouldn't they think that "texting" would be rather old fashioned? Why text when you could now actually talk to someone live?!

24 posted on 07/30/2009 11:56:01 AM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: DustyMoment
I don't think anyone ever wrecked texting on a CB. LOL
25 posted on 07/30/2009 12:01:56 PM PDT by org.whodat (Vote: Chuck De Vore in 2012.)
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To: Electric Graffiti

tweet tweet


26 posted on 07/30/2009 12:04:29 PM PDT by the long march
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To: ozzymandus

A true story.

Once a good friend of mine was doing a comedy routine on stage when an audience members phone rang. My friend grabbed the phone and told whomever was on the line that their friend “...can’t come out to play right now.”

There were no cell phone calls during the routine after that incident.


27 posted on 07/30/2009 12:11:05 PM PDT by This Just In
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To: Wolfie

Preisch said the flatbed truck was towing two vehicles, with two motor cycles on the bed. - (and talking on a cell phone while textig on another!)


28 posted on 07/30/2009 12:14:34 PM PDT by RoadTest (I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. - John 14:6)
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To: Wolfie

Preisch said the flatbed truck was towing two vehicles, with two motor cycles on the bed. - (and talking on a cell phone while textig on another!)


29 posted on 07/30/2009 12:17:09 PM PDT by RoadTest (I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. - John 14:6)
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To: RoadTest

“spelig”- that’s East German.


30 posted on 07/30/2009 12:17:45 PM PDT by RoadTest (I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. - John 14:6)
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To: RoadTest

“textig” is South Polish.


31 posted on 07/30/2009 12:18:26 PM PDT by RoadTest (I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. - John 14:6)
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To: thefactor
wow. a windows-bashing hijack on the first post! don’t see that everyday.

LOL, I agree, what a special day this is indeed.

32 posted on 07/30/2009 12:27:18 PM PDT by AxelPaulsenJr (Please God Save The United States From Barack Hussein Al-Obama. Amen.)
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To: I see my hands
"Towing two cars adds a whole lot of inertia."

No, it doesn’t.

Yes, it does.

33 posted on 07/30/2009 12:29:07 PM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (I can spell just fine, thanks, it's my typing that sucks.)
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To: org.whodat
I don't think anyone ever wrecked texting on a CB. LOL

Nope, you're correct, but damn did the government sure hate people having them. IIRC, 2 states made them illegal, unconstitutionally.

34 posted on 07/30/2009 12:31:14 PM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (I can spell just fine, thanks, it's my typing that sucks.)
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To: George from New England
Hey if Bill Gates can’t get Windows to multi-task without crashing, why should a human expect too?!

That same human who can't multitask must be the one that built our I-Pod. It can't play a "single" song without crashing.

35 posted on 07/30/2009 12:37:20 PM PDT by AxelPaulsenJr (Please God Save The United States From Barack Hussein Al-Obama. Amen.)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
The other day a friend of mine was wondering what if they had invented texting in its current form before the invented the voice telephone? When people got the new voice technology wouldn't they think that "texting" would be rather old fashioned? Why text when you could now actually talk to someone live?!

Hilarious!

I'm sure there was probably something earlier, but I can remember in the early 90's, using the VMS operating system's "phone" feature, while in college. We even had a programmatic equivalent of a status indicator, showing who was online at any given moment.

36 posted on 07/30/2009 12:39:18 PM PDT by Lou L
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To: Wolfie

OK, it’s at least debatable whether a law against using a cellphone while driving is necessary - some people can manage it, some people can’t, so it’s not by definition careless. Texting, on the other hand, requires taking your eyes off the road for extended periods, so by definition it’s careless (like reading or watching a movie while driving), which we already have laws against.


37 posted on 07/30/2009 12:40:47 PM PDT by -YYZ- (Strong like bull, smart like ox.)
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To: Travis T. OJustice

What are you thinking, T?

He has that oh-so-special box around his words. Therefore, all his posts are correct, and are more important than ours.

;^)


38 posted on 07/30/2009 12:41:47 PM PDT by Constitution Day (Eschew exclamatory abuse.)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
"The other day a friend of mine was wondering what if they had invented texting in its current form before the invented the voice telephone? When people got the new voice technology wouldn't they think that "texting" would be rather old fashioned? Why text when you could now actually talk to someone live?!"

Exactly...I never understood the phenomenon.
39 posted on 07/30/2009 12:53:40 PM PDT by Electric Graffiti (Yonder stands your orphan with his gun)
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To: Constitution Day

LOL!

He must be smarter than Newton, Newton never had a box around his text.


40 posted on 07/30/2009 1:03:14 PM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (I can spell just fine, thanks, it's my typing that sucks.)
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