Just down the freeway from me....

[Kines]

Yet another one! And the girl even admits to texting and driving!

http://www.wxii12.com/video/15757090/index.html

KN

[z. beeblebrox]

Yet another one! And the girl even admits to texting and driving!

http://www.wxii12.com/video/15757090/index.html

KN


i love how they close out that piece by telling bicyclists how to avoid being injured. How about telling drivers not to send any damn texts.

[giordana93]

i love how they close out that piece by telling bicyclists how to avoid being injured. How about telling drivers not to send any damn texts.
+1000
it's the cyclist's fault for being on the road at all, right? aren't roads for cars, sideWALKS for pedestrians, and bike paths for... inline skaters?

[mike p]

i love how they close out that piece by telling bicyclists how to avoid being injured. How about telling drivers not to send any damn texts.

+10000 My thoughts 100%

Mike

[Spinner]

... we cyclists need to ban together and lobby our legislators to increase the penalties associated with drivers causing accidents while text editing or using cell phones in general. thoughts?

[GregL]

... we cyclists need to ban together and lobby our legislators to increase the penalties associated with drivers causing accidents while text editing or using cell phones in general. thoughts?

In many locales, including NY state, it is illegal to use a cell phone without a hands-free device. I am not familiar with the penalty for breaking this law. Texting is, to me, another matter entirely. Hitting speed dial on a phone and then placing both hands on the wheel while conducting a conversation is a distraction, but texting while driving is nothing short of ridiculous. Texting while driving fundamentally takes all of one's attention off the road. To me, it's black and white. If you are caught texting while driving, you should face penalties similar to DUI. License suspension/revocation and/or jail time. Take a look at this article to graphically see the possible consequences of text messaging while driving:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3378961

There will never be any proof that the driver in the referenced article was in fact the one texting, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong. Regardless, how can any sensible person condone texting while driving?

Regards,
Greg

[giordana93]

I really dis-like Bicycling magazine but have of late been almost forced to subscribe because of school magazine drives for my 7 year old; their article a few months back though, on this very subject, was really on target and highly recommended reading--though depressing. in a nutshell, it's almost always somehow the cyclists fault, and the "I really feel terrible" pain of the driver is penalty enough, in almost every case, for what is essentially assault (or manslaughter) with a deadly weapon. Their pain and suffering for killing or maiming someone is the only punishment. hoo boy. if the glove fits...

[gone]

At comments@wxii12.com. Here's what I sent them:

I have a comment regarding your reporting of the incident shown in <link to clip>. You close your report with tips for cyclists ("Avoid busy streets, use a mirror, etc"). How about some tips for drivers? Like: "don't be an idiot and operate a 3000 lb vehicle at a high rate of speed on a busy street while sending text messages, using your cell phone, sending faxes, doing crosswords, etc".

This continued depiction of cyclists somehow being "at fault" for not taking adequate precautions when the drivers are clearly responsible really makes me angry and is at best irresponsible reporting on your part.

Edited to add: this kind of "journalism" that persists in blaming the victim really pisses me off. Imagine the uproar if they closed a report on a rape with tips for women ("dress in a manner that won't invite attention, do your best to look unattractive, etc") and yet it's rare that any kind of reporting on a cyclist being hit doesn't have some sort of comment about how the cyclist could have avoided it, mostly by not cycling.

[cw05]

To Whom It May Concern:

I watched with interest your recent story on the bicyclist that was hit by a car whose driver was text-messaging: (http://www.wxii12.com/video/15757090/index.html). However, I took exception with the manner in which you closed the piece by offering cyclists ‘tips’ on how to cycle more safely and thus avoid being ‘hit’ by motor vehicles. The victim was by all accounts traveling in accordance with traffic laws and helmeted at the time he was struck. To end the story in the manner you did continues to reinforce the false perception that cyclists are always at fault when struck by motor vehicles. I feel a message reinforcing the dangers of operating a several thousand pound motor vehicle while text messaging/using cell phone/any other distraction would have been a far more appropriate way to educate the public.



Best Regards,

[jthurow]

from Wired... A State-By-State Look at Where Cell Phones and Driving Don't Mix (http://www.wired.com/special_multimedia/2008/st_atlas_1604)

jimi

[Dave B]

You also drive in a parkway and park in a driveway.

Man drivers are stupid!

[BURCH]

Thanks, I actually just sent that video on to some of my friends that are text addicted on their blackberries. One of whom I have witnessed texting while driving. I am sure that they will not be too happy with my budding in with advice but maybe it will save a cyclists, child, pet, or pedestrian.

[Steelhead]

Bad deal - One of my tools for making a living is my Blackberry - but I DO NOT EVER email ot text while driving, and I rarely talk on the phone while driving, and when I do I always use a bluetooth/handsfree device.

I pull over if I have something hot that needs to be attended to.

Hard to tell I am in risk management .... :)

[BumbleBeeDave]

In many locales, including NY state, it is illegal to use a cell phone without a hands-free device.

. . . is rarely enforced in NY state. I know. I live here. Just another feelgood law passed by legislators who want us to think they are actually doing something.

BBD

[Tom]

I remember a tear-jerking headline in a local paper a while back... "A Ring, and then Silence'...

apparently a guy saw his wife and daughter drive by where he worked, he for fun called her to tease her about not waving.

She crossed the center line and she and her daughter were killed in a head on. Cops were completely baffled how it could happen.

I always wondered why the paper didn't run the headline "He called her, she tried to answer, they're dead, he did it."

[soulspinner]

. . . is rarely enforced in NY state. I know. I live here. Just another feelgood law passed by legislators who want us to think they are actually doing something.

BBD


Bingo-same here..

[Blue Jays]

Start having driving-while-texting lawbreakers picking garbage from the roadside every weekend for six months and see if that gives them greater appreciation for the problem.
If the driving-while-texting person also gets into an accident and/or causes injury, the sanction should be far more punitive.