Key2SafeDriving = No Texting While Driving

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Who Is At Risk While You Are Texting and Driving?

Many articles have appeared recently discussing the dangers of texting while driving but other than news reports, not many have delved into the human cost of texting while driving.

When a driver who has been texting behind the wheel causes a collision it isn’t just that individual who is affected, the others in their car, the folks in the vehicle that was run into, innocents just passing by or who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

These are the real victims of this selfish and irresponsible act.

Just like a stone cast into a calm water, the devastation of our selfish actions ripple out affecting many more lives than just our own.

The consequences of our actions reach out and touch others, sometimes violently, and for some those secondary victims, the results of our actions may never go away.

To understand and comprehend the enormous depth of the increasing problem of texting while driving we need to be aware of  the many consequences (and the lifelong impact) they can and will have on you yourself, or your child or spouse.

When we read these stories of disaster and loss, we have a habit of comforting ourselves by saying “those poor people” and “that would never happen here”.

The only problem with this mentality is, it can happen here.

It has happened here and it will happen again… unless we do something about it.

In the following stories, to honor the privacy of those affected, names won’t be mentioned however some of these incidents made national news and will be familiar to most while others had local impact.

As you read these very true accounts, try to remember when and if that was you at some point in time (without the horrific results of course).

I know it has been me.

California Commuter Train

California Commuter Train

A California commuter train collided at full speed with a freight train. The investigation revealed that the train’s operator received and sent 57 text messages during his time on duty that day. The final text message was sent 22 seconds before the trains collided. The National Transportation Safety Board feels that, while texting, the train’s operator missed a stop signal. Had that signal been obeyed, the crash would never have happened.

• 25 people were killed.
• 135 people were injured. Many of the injured had to wait while rescue personnel cut through the debris to reach them.

Boston Trolley

Boston Trolley

A Boston trolley operator was texting his girlfriend when the two car trolley crashed into another trolley stopped ahead.

• 49 passengers had to be taken to the hospital; many after being cut from the wreckage by rescue personnel.

Paying Bills

A woman traveling at 66 mph in a 55 mph zone ignored 8 construction zone warning signs as she paid her bills on her cell phone and plowed into a line of cars stopped ahead.

• A woman with four children burned to death when her car burst into flames after being rear-ended.
• The texting driver was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and is now serving a 6 year term in prison.

Pedestrian

Pedestrian

A California man, who was texting while driving, hit and killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

• The victim’s employers raised money to send her body back to her Central American home.
• The texting driver is standing trial for vehicular manslaughter and could face up to six years in prison.

Teens

Five teens were traveling in a SUV. The driver crossed the center line and hit a truck head on. The driver sent a text and received a reply 38 seconds before the first 911 call reporting the collision.

• The teen’s vehicle erupted in flames and was totally engulfed long before firemen arrived.
• The 17 year old driver left is survived by parents, a brother, grandparents and an extended family.
• Victim one, 18 years old, was an only child and is survived by parents, grandparents and extended family.
• Victim two, 18, is survived by parents, a sister and grandparents
• Victim three, 17, is survived by parents, a brother, sister, grandparents, and extended family.
• Victim four, 18, is survived by parents, a sister, grandparents, and a large extended family.

A 17 year old in Florida was driving at 70 mph in a 45 mph zone while sending and receiving text messages. He failed to stop for a red light and caused a collision that involved 8 vehicles.

• A mother of two young children was killed.
• The texting driver was charged with vehicular homicide and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Teenagers

A 17 year old whose phone records showed he was sending and receiving text messages lost control of his car and struck a bicyclist.

• The cyclist left behind a wife and two children.
• When the teen driver met the victim’s widow in court he broke down in tears and apologized to her.
• The driver faces a year in prison.

College Student

An 18 year old texting driver rear ended and killed a motorcyclist.

• The 18 year old texting driver will be the first to be charged under a new Missouri law that bans texting and driving by anyone under the age of 21.

A 19 year old college student who was texting and driving caused a collision that led to the deaths of another motorist and his passenger.

• Both victims were married and had children
• The teen pled guilty and was sentenced to jail and community service.
• The teen broke down in tears when addressing the state legislature saying “I didn’t know the dangers.”
• As a result of his testimony, Utah passed a law that can result in 3 months in jail for anyone caught texting and driving and up to 15 years in prison for anyone who causes a death while texting and driving.
• The texting teen now tells his story, accompanied by the widows of his victims, at high schools throughout the state.

37 deaths and 184 injuries in just 8 instances of texting while operating a motor vehicle and a countless number of grieving relatives left behind.

Taking your eyes off the road for just a few seconds can have tragic consequences.

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