Death by Texting: the Negligence of People Who Drive and Text

I can't tell you the numerous times that I have been driving and witnessed people doing things that they should not be. Women putting on makeup while smoking and talking on the phone at the same time. Men are just as bad, reading, driving and texting. Needless to say, texting at the wrong time can cost you your life or put it at great risk.

It is no wonder that five states have already banned using a cell phone as a handheld device. However using a cell phone with a headset is still acceptable in most States. The use of cell phones is not as concerning to me as the fact that people are texting while they should be driving or paying attention. Cell phones have begun to destroy the need to have interpersonal communication skills and to deal with people and reality for that matter. The modern cell phone does more or nearly as much as some peoples computers. They play music; they send e-mail, text, make phone calls, search the web and take photographs.

To substantiate my claim that texting instead of paying attention when necessary can be dangerous I have a story to share. A single father identified as Nicholas Moore was riding an ATV with his two year old son, Jackson Moore. The father claims that they were going slow enough that that father's brother was able to walk along side of the ATV. The father had his son on the front of the vehicle and decided to respond to a text message. As the father was responding to the text, he wasn't paying attention to the son who grabbed the throttle on the ATV. The throttle increased the speed of the ATV, ejecting the father from the vehicle. The ATV headed towards a tree and killed the young boy. It is unclear as this point if this was a freak accident due to the negligence of the father. It begs the questions as to why the father did not have a helmet on the boys head, and why did the father feel it was appropriate to text while operating a vehicle? There is a lesson to be learned, it does show that it is important to pay attention when operating any type of vehicle. This is especially true when a young child is with you. Unfortunately, the young boy did not have a helmet on which may have helped to save his life. It is unknown at this time if the father will face criminal charges for his actions.

In an instance of blatant disregard for human life involves a twenty one year old woman from the UK. The woman was driving at 70 mph while texting in the dark. The woman identified as Phillipa Curtis slammed her car into the back of another woman's car while texting and speeding. Due to the impact the victim identified as Victoria McBryde suffered from a fatal brain injury.

The cellular phone company verified that the perpetrator Ms. Curtis had actually sent 20 messages while driving. She claims that she thought it was legal and fine to do so, but the UK has laws against text messaging while driving. To seal her fate, Ms. Curtis said under oath in response to the prosecutor that she did think it was okay to send text messages while driving, that if she had known what was going to happen she "would have probably slowed down to send the messages while Currently Ms. Curtis is on bail and banned from driving.

The problem is that we have allowed technology to run us, not the other way around. We have become slaves to technology and people are paying with their lives for it. It is understandable that people make mistakes but ignorance is bliss and pretending that we don't know doesn't make it right.