Taylor Sauer Died While Driving And Facebooking; Now Parents Want To Make It Ilegal

[Jello Biafra]

Can I nominate this for a Darwin Award?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/taylor-sauer-died-while-driving-and-facebooking_n_1322727.html

I'm not going for the obvious joke.....this is really sad......

[MADem]

1. Good grief!

Talk about "No shit, Sherlock!" The scary thing is, how many idiots like her are still out on the road doing this kind of crap, unfazed by those 'consequences' that they believe only happen to others? Those of us who keep hands on the wheel/eyes on the road have this to fear, along with the drunk drivers, black ice, slippery autumn leaves, and hydroplaning in wet weather to worry about!

The 18-year-old college student said so in her last status update: "I can't discuss this now. Driving and facebooking is not safe! Haha."

At the time, Sauer was driving 80 mph from the Utah State University campus in Logan to visit her folks in Caldwell, Idaho, and was passing the time on the four-hour drive by messaging her friend about the Denver Broncos, according to MSNBC.com

Moments after her last update, she crashed her car into a tanker truck that was going 15 mph up a hill and was killed instantly.

Investigators weren't able to find signs that Sauer applied the brakes before her fatal crash, but, after checking cell phone records, they did discover she was posting about every 90 seconds during her drive, according to Idaho State Police Lt. Sheldon Kelley.

Last words: Haha.

What a waste.

[LiberalFighter]

68. The parents are not going to sue the Denver Broncos?

[the other one]

2. Either die or go to jail

Grieving parents find fascinating ways to mourn.

FTR I do agree that texting and driving don't mix.

[Quantess]

3. Too bad she didn't survive to have her driving privileges revoked / suspended until age 21 or so.

Teenagers can be real idiots behind the wheel. I caused an accident by not paying attention to the road, when I was a teen. I feel very lucky to have learned my lesson a relatively easy way...with a totalled vehicle but without any injuries.

[Juneboarder]

62. You shouldn't generalize...

Yes, it is known that they are new to the road, but that doesn't give reason to generalize. When I was 16 and began driving, I probably drove better and more alert then, than I do now...

Cell phone drivers are completely irresponsible when it comes to the action of using their phone while driving (whether for texting, email, social media, music, etc...). Here in CA, cops will pull you over if they see your phone in hand. The sad thing I notice in my local commute is that the majority of these cell phone drivers are adults that know very well what they are doing.

[Quantess]

67. I know better than to generalize.

I said teenagers can be idiots, which is true!
I was a good student, which supposedly meant I was supposed to be a good driver. Maybe they shouldn't have told me that, because it seemed to make me overconfident. "Oh I'm too smart to get in a car accident", I thought. But I underestimated the importance of paying attention to the road at all times.

Yes, I have also seen people drive lousy because they are on the phone or are fiddling with gadgets. They are as bad or worse than drunk drivers.

[Snake Alchemist]

4. When do cell phone jammers start being required in every car? nt

[customerserviceguy]

6. I'd settle for just getting rid of texting and Facebook altogether

We did fine without either one ten or fifteen years ago, now they're just piling up a body count on our highways.

[Snake Alchemist]

8. Would be a lot easier just to install the jammers. I understand your sentiment though. nt

[SATIRical]

55. Yep. They would be great for classrooms as well.

Too bad they are illegal.

[pipi_k]

37. People will always find some way

to kill themselves or others.

Years ago my ex boyfriend's coworker lost her brother when he dropped something on the floor, leaned over to pick it up, and slammed into the back of a trash/garbage truck.

Killed instantly.

I've seen people reading the paper while driving on the highway...putting on makeup...turning around to yell at the kids in the back seat.

Oh, and eating while driving...here's a good one.

The people up the road nearly lost their daughter and housekeeper when the daughter stopped at a fast food place, ordered a meal, then ate it while driving, only in this case she made the housekeeper take control of the steering wheel.

The housekeeper could barely speak English and could NOT drive.

They ended up in a ditch...the SUV totalled...the housekeeper badly injured.

[customerserviceguy]

75. True, we can't fix stupid

But people spend WAY more time texting and Facebooking while driving than those who eat, put on makeup, or pick up the occasional dropped item.

We're going to ban them both someday, but like Vietnam and Iraq, we're just waiting for the body count to get high enough.

[tabbycat31]

98. I'm in favor of banning cell phone use while driving

I text and Facebook all the time, but not when I am driving (like them or not, they're a dominant form of communication today and they're not going away--- I am one of those who texts more than I talk).

However, I was in an accident before texting or FB and still feel the effects of that on my body today. The cause was talking while driving. Had the other driver been driving the same size car of me (she had an Expedition) then it would not have been nearly as damaging.

She ran a red light that I was stopped at and rear ended me because she was on the phone.

[pipi_k]

104. I would venture to say

that more people probably die from drunk driving than from texting or cell-phoning while driving.

Yes, there are laws against drunk driving, but people do it anyway, and injuries and fatalities still happen.

I can't predict whether or not the use of cellphones in vehicles will be banned someday, but even if it is, people will still do it, and probably even find ways to get around whatever technology is put into cars to prevent the use of cellphones.

In short, they keep coming up with laws that get disobeyed...

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. So even passengers can't use cell phones?

That's a great idea.

[TheMadMonk]

19. JUST HOW FUCKING SELF IMPORTANT have cellphones, texting,...

...facebook, etc. made people.

I remember a time when people went WHOLE hours, days and sometimes even WEEKS without informing their nearest and dearest, let alone the whole world of the texture of their latest brownload.

Next obliviot I pass on my bike will be seeing their fucking mePhone fly into the creek.

[laundry_queen]

53. +1 nt

[TheWraith]

58. Well, clearly YOUR opinion is so important no one can live without hearing about it.

And just as clearly, no one else's matters for shit.

Maybe you might feel differently if you had an actual clue what people were communicating and why, instead of assuming that anything new is obviously stupid and trivial since you didn't do it.

[TheMadMonk]

80. Well in this case it was a bored (spoiled?) little girl...

...texting an account of her road trip AS SHE DROVE IT.

Not suggesting that EVERYTHING is unimportant, but there is very little so important, that risking your own life, let alone the lives of others is EVER justified.

We have a whole generation (more?) of people who's attention span AND sense of self importance is the same as a two year old.

[ScreamingMeemie]

103. It was a teenager making a stupid decision.

If you read her obituary it illustrates a girl who was active in community service. I wouldn't call that spoiled. She made a stupid mistake, only she can't fix it. I live in fear every time my smart (I think), wonderful (again, I think) kid gets behind the wheel.

[Dokkie]

59. +100

[customerserviceguy]

76. While I don't support violence as a way of dealing with this

I can appreciate your feelings here.

When I get a call, I find some out-of-the-way place to take it, I don't just walk around like an obliviot (great word, by the way) yakking it up.

[snagglepuss]

84. +1

[Myrina]

105. +10

Thank you!

[Snake Alchemist]

20. We used to have a thing called books. nt

[bluedigger]

27. Books are good, but I keep losing my place when I downshift.n/t

[Snake Alchemist]

28. When I lived in NY, I used to see drivers reading novels on the LIE in traffic.

Terrifying.

[bluedigger]

40. I saw a trucker reading a newspaper once.

On the Autobahn.

[proud2BlibKansan]

49. We used to have horses and buggies

Passengers fell out and died. Would you have suggested banning horses?

[kentauros]

15. While I like the idea,

it's not a good idea when instances require the need for emergency calls. Or, as also stated, not even passengers would be able to use their phones.

What we really need to do is either nationalize the driver education in this country, or withhold things like highway funds from the states until they improve their driver education to something akin to what is done in Finland. Because right now, most people are nothing more than "motor vehicle operators" with a license that merely states the same. They have zero sense of what it means to be a driver.

Top Gear did a segment on what Finnish drivers are like as well as what their driver's ed entails, and I wish I'd gotten the same, 35 years ago:


(wrong video; that one's been edited)
http://www.streetfire.net/video/top-gear-mika-hakkinen_199772.htm

[Spider Jerusalem]

17. If the circumstances require an emergency call? Pull the fuck over.

Unless you have a maniac with a gun following you who's made clear his intent to do you harm, there's no emergency so pressing that you can't stop the car (and in the case of a medical emergency stopping is probably advisable anyway).

[kentauros]

23. So, if you have to pull over to avoid the interior cell-jammer

just to make an emergency call, seems like you would also have to get out of the car to avoid the jammer. While that is probably easy to do on most surface roads, it's not always an easy thing to accomplish on some freeways or even country roads I've been on (six-foot ditches on both sides and no shoulder.) And then there's the weather to take into consideration. Do you really want to have to be forced out of your car when it's hailing, lightning, or in a white-out blizzard?

As I said, the better thing to have going on is to have better drivers, so the idea of an interior cell-phone jammer is rendered irrelevant.

[Snake Alchemist]

29. Turn the car off, jammer turns off.

If that's not enough for you, then have a specific button in every car that calls the local 911 when pressed.

[kentauros]

50. However, in this whole discussion,

is what doesn't seem to be getting through to you, that better drivers would eliminate the need for any kind of jamming system. Such a device would have to be implemented and mandated by the government (local, state, federal), it would require a cost to the owner (that many would balk at), it would then have to be tested annually to make sure people haven't disconnected it, and that cost would come back to us to pay.

Why not instead improve the driver's education classes, and mandate that all who get a ticket, for any reason, have to take remedial and updated driver's ed classes? And for those that want a discount on their insurance, people could upgrade their driving skills. All of that could be done on a track so that people could be put into real-world emergency situations and they have to react to them, including the hazards of distracted driving while on a phone. Get people's hearts pumping due to such hazards without endangering their lives, and they just might learn enough to stop that behavior.

[Spider Jerusalem]

51. "better drivers"? Really?

That's...stupid. There have been studies done on the effect of using a mobile phone while driving; an average driver suffers a severely degraded reaction time when using even a hands-free phone. Making "better drivers" isn't going to fix that. Unless "better driver" means "one who's not such a colossal fuckwit they're going to use a phone while driving in the first place".

[kentauros]

57. You seem to have a problem reading everything I write.

Go back to what I posted about better driver's ed. The kind like they do in Finland. It takes three years and they have to learn on a skid track, too. You can't be doing things on a phone while your car is skidding out of control. Thus, that such training makes people better drivers.

Now, why you'd think that a person that's a better driver wouldn't have the sense to remain aware of their surroundings at all times and not drive distracted, but if that's how you want to keep "interpreting" my words other than how I'm writing them, then I can't help you any further.

[Snake Alchemist]

66. Illegal driving is widespread it the Southwest and West. Also lack of insurance.

We are a long ways away from requiring the skid track.

[kentauros]

79. "We are a long ways away from requiring the skid track." Why?

What does that have to do with the rest of your statement?

A skidtrack would be an integral part of an improved driver's education training. Improved driving ability and awareness through training is the best way to lower incidents of distracted driving. As has been successfully argued elsewhere in this thread, a device to jam phone signals wouldn't be feasible. Improving people's driving ability is feasible. And you get bonuses from that. Driving in general becomes safer for everyone. Accident rates go down. Insurance rates (may) go down.

Why would a better driver's education and training be harder to implement than a device that isn't nearly as technologically feasible as you seem to believe?

[Snake Alchemist]

81. Fairly easy explanation. Check out what they do in Finland if you do not have your license or

insurance and compare it to here. Or if w';re talking about Finland, national ID are also requested.

[kentauros]

83. I used Finland only as an example of the kind of comprehensive driver's ed

that I'd like to see. I really don't need to research it beyond that point. And I'm guessing you didn't watch the video I posted (the second one, as the first one I posted was wrong.)

But, I don't feel like reiterating my point yet again! I get it now. You're one of those DUers that live for the argument, the debate. It's not a discussion where people come away educated about some topic. It's about winning that debate.

Well, I'm not going to "play" anymore. Make your final last word (preferably ignoring my whole point) and be done with it. I certainly am

[Snake Alchemist]

85. yes, Finland was YOUR example

And I gave you the reasons why their driving program is so effective. Their enforcement if driving law and licenimg is on a whole other level. Obviously, that is not what you wanted to hear. I always find it funny when people praise places longer Finland, but then recoil at the measures they impose.

[kentauros]

88. Okay, I'm breaking my rule here,

because you use those needling tactics to keep the argument going while continuing to avoid the point I made by adding unnecessary modifiers.

So, let's refresh on my one single point:

First Post
"Top Gear did a segment on what Finnish drivers are like as well as what their driver's ed entails, and I wish I'd gotten the same, 35 years ago"

Second Post (to another DUer)
"As I said, the better thing to have going on is to have better drivers, so the idea of an interior cell-phone jammer is rendered irrelevant."

Third Post
"However, in this whole discussion, is what doesn't seem to be getting through to you, that better drivers would eliminate the need for any kind of jamming system.

Why not instead improve the driver's education classes, and mandate that all who get a ticket, for any reason, have to take remedial and updated driver's ed classes? And for those that want a discount on their insurance, people could upgrade their driving skills. All of that could be done on a track so that people could be put into real-world emergency situations and they have to react to them, including the hazards of distracted driving while on a phone. Get people's hearts pumping due to such hazards without endangering their lives, and they just might learn enough to stop that behavior."

Fourth Post (to another DUer)
"Go back to what I posted about better driver's ed. The kind like they do in Finland. It takes three years and they have to learn on a skid track, too. You can't be doing things on a phone while your car is skidding out of control. Thus, that such training makes people better drivers."

Fifth Post
"A skidtrack would be an integral part of an improved driver's education training. Improved driving ability and awareness through training is the best way to lower incidents of distracted driving. As has been successfully argued elsewhere in this thread, a device to jam phone signals wouldn't be feasible. Improving people's driving ability is feasible. And you get bonuses from that. Driving in general becomes safer for everyone. Accident rates go down. Insurance rates (may) go down."

Sixth Post
"I used Finland only as an example of the kind of comprehensive driver's ed that I'd like to see. I really don't need to research it beyond that point."

~~~

As for your claim that you gave me "the reasons why their driving program is so effective", you really only told me to basically "google it" with the following:

"Fairly easy explanation. Check out what they do in Finland if you do not have your license or insurance and compare it to here. Or if we're talking about Finland, national ID are also requested."

Now, feel free to utterly dismiss everything I've said because you've got it in your head that in order to implement Finnish-style driver's education you must also implement their draconian licensing and other related traffic laws and courts. Nevermind that those are points that have nothing to do with my point, simply put: better driver's education training results in BETTER DRIVERS! None of your other added points have anything at all to do with that, and why I can tell you're a debater out to win your blood sport of debating on DU. If you're not already there, may I suggest honing those "discussion" skills in the Religion Forum? They all seem to prefer that tactic over actual discussion...

[Snake Alchemist]

89. And once again, having better drivers is meaningless unless you take stiff measures to ensure that

only those "better drivers" are on the road. If you pull someone over for having no license and then write them a ticket and let the be on their way, what good does having better driver training do?

[MADem]

90. That's just silly. If someone doesn't have a license, the cop isn't going to "let them be on their

way." That car is going to be impounded, and that person, if they aren't arrested after being cited, will be driving those Reeboks they got on...or pulling out that cellphone and calling a taxi.

And who gets pulled over for having no license, anyway? Cops run tags, and they most often do it based on a moving violation or "suspicious conduct" on the part of the driver. They don't know who is behind the wheel until they stop the person.

[Snake Alchemist]

92. No.

Numerous links can be cited, but here's one.

http://www.carinsurance.com/kb/content20397.aspx

[MADem]

95. You didn't say "forgot to bring my license" though.

You've switched horses in midstream.

[Snake Alchemist]

96. What? Here's another example or how to not have "good drivers" on the road

http://www.policeworld.net/vb/showthread.php?12945-Got-pulled-over-for-expired-tags-found-out-license-was-suspened

[MADem]

99. Not sure what your point is, there. That the policeman fucked up for letting the guy drive home?

As is noted in the 2nd post?

You're changing the subject again...

[Snake Alchemist]

100. Maybe you do not know what the subject is.

The subject was how without enforcement of licensing requirements it does not matter how much training you require.

1 in every 5 MADem

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=118913&page=1

[MADem]

101. Well, I will bet not many of those one in five are Finnish. nt

[Snake Alchemist]

102. LOL.

No doubt.

I'm also going to bet that the percentage of unlicensed drivers is much less in Finland.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

47. But how can I reach my husband or son when they are driving and there's

an emergency back at the ranch? It has happened.

I understand your frustration and anger with city people mindlessly chatting on their phones while driving in traffic, but we use ours when we really need to reach each other. It has proven life saving. There is no traffic here. Wide empty roads and tumble weeds.

We had our own tower and radios pre-1987. My husband actually got a car phone in 1987. For us, being able to get a hold of someone when they are driving in the other direction and won't be home for hours or days, is very handy.

[Spider Jerusalem]

52. They can stop to answer the phone? That's not hard either.

Honestly that's a stupid question.

[Snake Alchemist]

21. What did we do before cell phones in cars? nt

[kentauros]

25. People still did plenty of stupid things before cell phones

that took their attention away from the task at hand: driving their damn car!

However, even back then, driver's ed was deplorable. Good drivers simply know to not be doing anything BUT driving. However, you have to learn that, whether from other good drivers, or instruction. People aren't getting either of that today.

[Mariana]

69. We had CB radios.

Everybody and his brother had CB's in their cars for a while, it seemed like. We used them, too. I don't remember hearing a lot of squawking about how it negatively affected drivers. I wonder what the difference was?

I don't know what folks did before CB's. That was before I was old enough to drive.

[MADem]

97. You got off the road and went to a "full service rest area" or a service station.

There would be a thing called a "pay phone" there, and you could either put in a dime and make a local call, put in more coins if the call was long distance, or call collect and have the person on the other end overpay for the conversation.

[snooper2]

22. 911 requirements make this a moot point..

won't happen

[Snake Alchemist]

26. What did we do before cell phones in cars?

And have cell phones in cars saved more lives then they've cost?

[snooper2]

32. It's immaterial...

FCC rules and regulations change continually with changes and advances in the telecomunications industry. And even if current law was changed in regards to 911 the technological hurdles and cost of implementing a service where emergency calls were the only calls allowed would trump any benefit regardless. And we haven't even gotten into range and disruption of other services yet. Nor the fact that not every call being made is over a cellular network. I'm on a SIP call over 3G right now....


Sorry, but will not happen...

But to cheer you up, I leave you with - Eiffel 65 - I'm Blue

[Snake Alchemist]

33. Simple solution. Have a button in every new car that calls the local 911.

Put it next to the hazard lights.

Problem solved.

[snooper2]

35. Who's going to pay for the shared call appearance feature?

I could design technology to make that work, but it's not going to be free..or cheap-

You didn't cover any of the other issues I brought up, and also, even if you did have your "jammers", there are still more issues. How about 911 Hang-up calls? You hit the button to dial and car loses power. PSAP will try to call back on your TN but your cell won't ring because of the jammer. Too many issues and problems. Which is why I said originally it is a mute point. And I'm not even in legal or regulatory so I am can only imagine all the thoughts that would be swirling in their heads with this topic LOL.

Maybe people should either pay attention when driving a 3300 pound piece of machinery or continue to win Darwin awards.



Anyway, I leave you again with the smoothness of Warren G.. Chill beeeyatches!

[Snake Alchemist]

36. I imagine there were all sorts of arguments against seat belts and air bags too. nt

[snooper2]

41. Designing a rope to hold a human to a seat is a little different LOL

Cell phone jammers in cars aren't going to happen.

To be honest, in 5-8 years every car will have an app running on your stereo/navigation/display for telephony and you'll simply enter your TN from your smart device for sim ring. Will be over LTE or 4G networks....

So this makes your proposal even MORE of a moot point... I would just drop it


With that I leave you with Buttermilk Biscuits...Do you like buttermilk biscuits?

[Snake Alchemist]

43. But designing an explosive device to propel a bag with just enough force to save a person's life was

a piece of cake.

I imagine in 10 years we'll have Xbox's and PS3's integrated within the radio and we'll be wondering why there are so many "game playing while driving" accidents.

[snooper2]

44. It's already there LOL

Damn, haven't you ever seen Ridin'?

&ob=av2e

[Boudica the Lyoness]

45. This is such a bad idea.

I have commented about this before.

We live in the middle of nowhere. We can drive 50 miles and not see another car sometimes. The thought of not being able to reach my husband in an emergency scares the hell out of me now that I have gotten used to the convenience of cell phones. They save lives when used responsibly. We used to have our own tower and radios to contact each other.

Just because some idiots chat on the phone, text etc when driving, we all shouldn't have to suffer. Maybe there's another way...like parents putting jammers in their kids cars.

[dipsydoodle]

5. I have no sympathy

for a mug. Such people are/were a severe danger to others

[Snake Alchemist]

7. You have no sympathy for a teenager?

I took my first car across all 4 lanes of a 4-lane highway when I was 16 because I was trying to show off. Teeanagers are impulsive and reckless. Unlike her though, I was very lucky that day.

[dipsydoodle]

9. I don't think you've have said that in this case

if instead of driving into a tanker and killing herself she'd totalled another teenager on a bicycle and come out unscathed herself.

As far as I'm concerned anyone who uses a phone while driving should be given a stiff sentence as a deterrent to others.

[Snake Alchemist]

10. Yes, I generally have sympathy for the ones who are actually injured/killed.

[TheMadMonk]

46. None for idiots who do it to themselves.

Particularly when it is clear from her final text that she clearly knew what she was doing was wrong.

What if instead of it being a tractor trailer, it had been fully loaded schoolbus?

[trumad]

11. Pretty certain most didn't have any sympathy when they put a bullet in Che's head.

[dipsydoodle]

16. He remains a hero in Cuba

which is all that really matters.

If your understanding of the issue is purely as a result of reading comics I can only suggest you search for some alternative information on the subject.

[sudopod]

54. You are a true hero of the people.

lawl

[malaise]

18. I agree with you 100%

She could have killed others with her stupidity.
I have no sympathy for stupid people and anyone who believes that he/she can cross a pedestrian crossing while texting or posting on social networks or drive while doing the same shit should be charged with a crime. The public nuisance does not earn sympathy from me - they need prison time.

[Snake Alchemist]

24. Generally on DU if a teenager murders someone it is said that their brains are not developed and

they need help. But if a teenager texts while driving then hard prison time is needed.

[malaise]

34. That's the same penalty I'd give stupid adults

You cannot type and drive

[treestar]

61. Been a teenager is not an excuse for putting others in danger

Maybe we should raise the driving age. A car is a big responsibility. If teenagers are too impulsive for that, the age should be raised.

[Snake Alchemist]

63. It's like people that cross the border illegally. Break the law and suffer the consequences. nt

[treestar]

70. The similarity of "breaking the law" does not hold there

There are many different types of laws. Illegal border crossing doesn't kill people. Driving a car can.

This girl was putting other people in danger, too. It's mere chance she didn't kill someone else, too.

If you're arguing teens do these things, then they aren't mature enough to drive. We can't have people who can't control themselves driving vehicles.

[Snake Alchemist]

72. But if you crash your own car while texting and it doesn't kill anyone then you still deserve to die

We constantly hear on DU how teen murderers, rapists, etc. should not be tried as adults because their brains haven't fully developed. Text and drive and it's time for the death penalty though.

[Ikonoklast]

86. What would *you* do to teenagers that commit crimes?

We constantly hear on conservative websites that they should get the chair.

When flying under the radar, watch out for tall structures.

Just a safety tip.

[Snake Alchemist]

87. I suppose it would depend on the crime.

Triple murder maybe life.

Texting while driving maybe a stiff fine and licence suspension.

[treestar]

91. But their brains are supposed to have developed in order to drive

We let them drive at 16. The argument you're making convinces me that the age needs to be raised.

And that she didn't kill anyone else is just "good luck." Kind of like driving drunk and not having an accident. Some people text without having an accident or without having a fatal accident. That's just "good luck." Your reliance on the result doesn't sit right.

[Snake Alchemist]

94. Let me ask you a question. If your son was killed while riding with someone who was texting.

And you posted it on DU and got posts talking about Darwin awards, what would be your reaction? "I know. Thank goodness he was culled"

[treestar]

106. Well that didn't happen

Public message boards are for discussing issues in general. We don't expect personal sympathy here. If that happened to me, I would not be on message boards. And I would be very sorry I had not raised my kid better, and been flailing myself about that.

Again, you miss the point, why should teens have licenses if they are to be expected to be reckless?

Yet when I was 16 I knew the responsibility I had. I did not do stupid and reckless things. And neither do any of the teens in my friend or family group. We don't think being a teen allows us the right to risk others' lives with "normal" teenaged behavior.

[cherish44]

13. Guess I'm too much of an introvert to get the whole texting/always talking on the phone thing

I can't think of anyone I want to be talking to every waking moment of my life (even my hubby, sorry hun!) That being said I went to pick up my daughter from school and I'd say about half the people driving were talking on their phones and this was when kids were leaving school. It's a shame that common sense has to legislated but sometime it does I guess

[hobbit709]

14. In TX it's now illegal to be on the cell in a School Zone.

[customerserviceguy]

77. You mean while driving a vehicle, right?

In many places, it's illegal for a driver (actively driving a car, of course) to be on one anywhere.

[Blue_Tires]

30. If their daughter had gotten pregnant from a one night stand

would the parents want a law requiring chastity belts for all teenagers?

[Jennicut]

31. It is already illegal here in Connecticut.

No big deal really. Most of us here are used to not using our hand held cell phones because it is utter stupidity to risk your life and others for a text or a phone call.

[FourScore]

38. It's illegal here in NY, too; but implementing it is very hard.

People still do it and people still die. Unfortunately, it's usually the young who are texting.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3379012&page=1

[RebelOne]

107. It is illegal to use a cell phone or text here in Georgia while driving. n/t

[hifiguy]

39. Unfortunately you can't effectively outlaw stupidity. nt

[hobbit709]

64. We can't but sometimes the universe steps in.

[LeftinOH]

42. Teach your children well.. I nag my nephews constantly

about the dangers of distracted driving.. and they don't even drive yet.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

48. I'm sorry to hear about their loss

Such an awful thing to have to go through.

[barbtries]

56. after i read this earlier,

i asked my 19-year-old son if he'd been in the car when drivers were texting. he said yes. many times. i said do you tell them to stop? he said, yes, but they don't always stop.

they all need to learn about what happened to this young woman. in the meantime, one more thing for me to worry about...

[treestar]

60. Yes, this is a good warning story

A "scare story." When I was a teen, it was drug movies. The school showed us movies and told stories about people dying from taking drugs. That was the 70s. Now it's texting while driving. How things change but stay the same in another way.

[Snake Alchemist]

65. If your son rides with drivers who text then he deserves the consequences.

According to some others here.

[treestar]

71. No, but he does have some responsibility to get out

Self preservation. Same as driving with a drunk driver. You know you are in danger then.

[Snake Alchemist]

82. And then you could post the story on DU and get comments about Darwiin. nt

[sarcasmo]

73. I really think the insurance companies are going to force the car companies to put in a

signal jamming system. Let's say the signal gets jammed once you put the car into drive. Insurance companies are always looking to make a buck and this will be the next step.

[Gruntled Old Man]

74. Herd thinned

[customerserviceguy]

78. Yeah, well the herd also gets thinned

by the intelligent people who these dweebs run into.

What we need is an effort at least half as much as the MADD mothers have put forth.

[Broderick]

93. I used to skype, text, facebook, DU, news read, phone and watch TV driving

I got into some scary situations where I forgot my exit, or can't remember the last few miles, or barely stopped in time for traffic slow downs. I put it all away. Well, I might return a quick text here and there, and take a quick phone call but not all of them at the same time anymore. Too dangerous. I don't recommend it for anyone.