Texas bus driver crashes bus while text messaging video

[BirminghamExaminer]

Go here to see this video and explanation.

Is text messaging while driving legal in your state? It probably is.

[tularetom]

1. It isn't legal here but this is the only prosecution I can find

And this case was prosecuted only because she ass ended another car and killed the driver.

http://www.redding.com/news/2009/apr/04/shingletown-woman-sent-to-prison-for-text/

By the way, read the comments if you want to gauge public opinion about texting while driving. These people are PISSED. And rightly so.

[BirminghamExaminer]

2. What state are you in?

My son has hit a mailbox while texting and he also hit a car that stopped suddenly in front of him the first day he got an iPhone because he was 'fiddling' with the GPS thing. He was only 19 at the time but I feel lucky he wasn't hurt and didn't hurt anyone else.

I think talking on the phone while driving ought to be illegal too but I think I'm in the minority on that one.

[tularetom]

4. I'm in CA and driving while using a cell phone for talking or texting is illegal

But the fines are nickel and dime and the cops do not enforce the laws. They are in fact some of the worst offenders.



Its going to take more incidents like the one in that article before the laws get some teeth put in them.

We've already told our granddaughters don't call us on your cell phone when you are driving. We won't talk to you.

[MADem]

3. Here's another vehicular homicide under similar circumstances

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/16899872/detail.html

Michael Faria, of Stoughton, was charged with motor vehicle homicide, leaving the scene of an accident after causing personal injury or death and negligent operation of a motor vehicle so as to endanger.

Prosecutor Jessica Lennon said Faria was text messaging on his cell phone when he struck John McCarthy. Faria told a friend he had been looking down at his phone, text messaging, when he thought he hit someone, according to Lennon.

McCarthy was hit head-on by a vehicle as he walked on Route 138 in Easton at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Officials said McCarthy laid injured on the side of the road for about 30 minutes before emergency responders learned of the incident and arrived at the scene. Although he was found alive, he later died at a hospital.

"When police arrived, the victim was still alive. It is quite possible that if this defendant had contacted 911 at the time of the motor vehicle crash, the victim would be alive today," Lennon said.

And then, there's this:

http://www.wbz.com/pages/3077022.php?
MBTA drivers suspended for texting on the job


BOSTON (AP) -- MBTA officials say the transit agency has suspended nine bus and trolley drivers since May for texting or talking on their cell phones while driving.

The suspensions range in length from three days to 10 days, the maximum punishment short of termination.

T General Manager Daniel Grabausakas tells the Boston Herald the agency has to be tough on the violators because they hold the lives of passengers in their hands.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority stepped up enforcement of the rule following a May 28 trolley crash in Newton that resulted in the death of the driver. Although there were reports that Terrese Edmonds was using a cell phone just before the crash, an investigation ultimately determined there was no evidence she was using her phone.


According to this article, eight states have laws against it:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/apr/30/ban-texting-while-driving-tennessee-wins-final-pas/
If TN passes it too, that'll be nine.


The National Safety Council is campaigning for similar laws nationwide. Eight states, including Arkansas, have already banned texting while driving and nine others have imposed such partial bans as prohibiting teen drivers from texting.

State Rep. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, the House sponsor, said law enforcement officers have told him that they can often tell the difference between a driver keying in a number on his cell phone to make a call and texting. "They tell me... (that) if I'm dialing my phone, I'll pull that phone up to my ear but I'm never going to do that if I'm texting."

[BirminghamExaminer]

5. The really remarkable thing is that only 8 states have laws against it....

thanks for the info.