Auto Accidents: Drivers Distracted by Text Messaging and Using Cell Phones While Driving
BASKETBALL COACH RESIGNS AMID ALLEGATIONS OF TEXTING WHILE DRIVING A SCHOOL BUS | Dallas, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Blog
CBS 7 out of Odessa, Texas is reporting that the coach of the Seagraves Lady Eagles basketball team, Renda Williams, has resigned after accusations of texting while driving a school bus with her basketball team on board.
A photograph of Coach Williams in the bus driver’s seat holding a cell phone is apparently circulating throughout the Seagraves community. However, CBS 7 reports that it is unclear whether the bus was moving when the photo was taken.
The background to this story may explain why this story may have led to Coach Williams resignation. It isn’t just that texting while driving a school bus is dangerous, it is also important to note that not too long ago, one of the high school students, Alex Marie Brown, was killed in a texting and driving crash.
Alex Marie Brown was killed on November 10, 2010 in Lubbock, Texas after her truck rolled and she was ejected from the truck. Investigators said she was driving above the speed limit and was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. In addition, her cell phone record indicated that she had replied to a text message moments before losing control of the vehicle.
Alex Marie Brown was a senior at Seagraves High School in Wellman, Texas, and was apparently very involved in a number of school programs including FFA, FCA, FTA, Basketball, Cheerleading, OneAct Play, the Leadership Team, the Kairos Prison Ministry and the Drama Ministry with the Youth Group at Calvary Baptist Church.
As a result of their daughter’s death, the Brown’s founded Buckle Up and Stop Texting (B.U.S.T.). B.U.S.T. is a program to educate youth and adults of dangers associated with texting and driving.
The School Superintendent, Kevin Spiller told CBS 7, “We don’t know if she was texting and driving. We have no idea but she decided to resign and we accepted her resignation.” Williams refers to her resignation as basketball coach, but while she is now on paid leave, Coach Williams remains a teacher with the district.
Regardless of the reasons why the coach has resigned, this report shows how the climate has changed over the past couple of years towards texting while driving. The behavior is clearly seen as a dangerous behavior, and one that is especially inappropriate for drivers of buses, subway cars, and 18 wheelers. It also shows how texting while driving can affect someone’s job and how some employers are starting to take the issue just as serious as allegations of driving while intoxicated.
AARP DRIVER SAFETY PROGRAM TEACHES SENIOR CITIZENS ABOUT TEXTING WHILE DRIVING | Dallas, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Blog
How many times have you been concerned that an elderly person is not a safe driver. Imagine if that elderly person is texting while driving! Texting while driving is dangerous for anyone. Fortunately, the AARP Driver Safety Program teaches older drivers new traffic laws, how to adjust driving to age-related changes in vision, hearing, and reaction time, and defensive driving techniques and about the dangers of texting while driving.
TEXTING WHILE DRIVING BELIEVED TO BE CAUSE OF CAR WRECK | Dallas, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Blog
According to an article on PinalCountyToday.com, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona believes Jason Michael Hair (30) drove a car with his four-year-old son into the side of a train because he was texting while driving. Police report that according to a witness, Mr. Hair was traveling at approximately 65 mph and that the witness observed Mr. Hair texting on his cell phone. Evidently, Jason Hair did not notice the Union Pacific Train, flashing lights and lowered railway arms until it was too late. Jason attempted to stop but unfortunately drove through the railway arms and into the side of the train. After striking the train, his vehicle rolled over onto its roof trapping both Mr. Hair and his son inside of the vehicle.Police report that Mr. Hair was transported to the hospital with a head injury and that his son was transported for precautionary reasons.
Montes Law Group, P.C.
Attorneys: Rachel Montes and Tom Herald
1121 Kinwest Parkway, Suite 100
Irving, Texas 75063
Telephone (214) 522-9401
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GOOD LOOKING DRIVERS CAUSE MORE WRECKS | Dallas, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Blog
STUDY REVEALS “FLIRTING WHILE DRIVING” IS A MAJOR DISTRACTION
A British survey revealed that 41 percent of drivers admitted to trying to flirt with while on the move, and 15 percent conceded they crashed their car or had a near miss because they were distracted by an attractive passerby.
One of the more controversial findings of the survey according to Natalie Grimshare was that “Men were by far the worst culprits.” Half of all men surveyed admitted to flirting with other motorists on the road, compared to just one-third of the women.
The survey failed to account for the vast disparity between the numbers of good looking women versus good looking men!
“We spend a lot of time in our cars,” she said. “Maybe people are seeing their car as an extension of their social life.” Ian Crowder, a spokesman for British auto insurance firm AA, said a lack of concentration on the road can be a huge hazard. He said that crashes do occur because of flirting, but that drivers are usually too embarrassed to admit their mistake. “When you’re behind the wheel you’re in charge of a machine that could kill somebody,” Crowder said. “If you really do want to watch the girls going by, then park up.”
What’s next? Are they going to tell us that texting while driving is dangerous?
TWO CRASHES ATTRIBUTED TO TEXTING WHILE DRIVING | Dallas, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Blog
A 16 year old female from Crystal Lake, Illinois has been charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision and improper use of an electronic communication device. Police say she drove her car into a house while texting and driving.
Police said the girl had been driving a 998 Lexus ES300 west on Country Club Road when the car left the road at a curve, went across a lawn, and then struck the house, causing extensive damage to both the car and home.
Meanwhile, Jordan Fernandes (21) from Westport, Massachusettes man has been charged with texting while driving and other vehicular offenses after his truck hit a utility pole. Mr. Fernandes was issued citations for sending or receiving text messages while driving after he admitted to reading a text message and replying to the text while driving his truck. Dartmouth’s texting while driving law went into effect on September 30, 2010.
Montes Law Group, P.C.
Rachel Montes
1121 Kinwest Parkway, Suite 100
Irving, Texas 75063
Telephone (214) 522-9401
Facebook @ Montes Law Group, P.C.
CELL PHONES & NIGHT-TIME DRIVING KILLING TEENAGERS | Dallas, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Blog
The percentage of teens dying in nighttime crashes is rising along with a rapid increase of cell phone use among young drivers, according to a new Texas Transportation Institute study released today. Researchers at the Texas A&M University-based institute analyzed Fatality Analysis Reporting System data collected by by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1999 through 2008, the most recent 10-year period available. Looking only at the fatal crashes where light conditions were either “dark” or “dark, but lighted,” the researchers found that the percentage of nighttime fatal crashes involving drivers 20 and older rose nearly 8 percent over the previous decade but more than 10 percent for teen drivers ages 16 to 19. This trend is happening despite the fact that the number of teen drivers involved in all and nighttime fatal crashes dropped.
Drinking while driving also fell among teens, leading researchers in College Station to conclude that teens’ unfamiliarity with nighttime driving was one of the chief contributors. “Driving at night is a common risk factor for all drivers, but it is particularly dangerous for young drivers,” the study found. “Distractions, speeding, low seat belt use and alcohol are also among the most frequently-faced dangers, but it is the nighttime risk that ranks at the top of the list for the youngest motorists on the road, primarily due to a combination of the visibility challenges caused by dark conditions, slower response time brought about by fatigue, and a lack of experience driving under such conditions.”
Cell phone use, while documented more recently as a troubling driving distraction is not always collected uniformly as a factor in police reports, the basis of the federal data examined for the study. “There is, however, substantial evidence demonstrating that cell phone use is growing rapidly (far more quickly for teenagers than it is for individuals age 20 and older) and that much of that use takes place behind the wheel,” the study’s authors wrote. “Clearly, the use of a cell phone complicates the driving task substantially for all drivers. The effects of this risk factor are compounded by the compromised vision and fatigue that characterize the nighttime driving environment, and for teenagers, the problem is further exacerbated by a lack of driving experience.”