I just saw this video of a teenager who reportedly was spotted texting and driving. For years, police have argued that texting has the same impact as alcohol on drivers. This video certainly shows the truth of that claim.
My only question is who is videotaping the texting driver from the car. There is no independent source to confirm that this was a texting driver — as widely reported.
Comments indicate that everyone survived, but it does not look like the text message was interrupted . . .
Anecdotal texting story:
I was sitting in the foyer of a restaurant last week awaiting a take out order. From my position, I could see young college age couple apparently on a date. I could not hear what they were saying but their reactions seemed oddly disjointed. When a couple with kids sitting between them and my vantage point left, I could see what the couple was doing with their hands. Both were texting away madly in-between bites of their meal. A nice young couple on a date totally uninvolved – or only half engaged at best – with each other because they were engaged with their phones. My reaction was “there is the end of the species unless we find a way to send sperm and egg as a file attachment.” Don’t forget to do a virus scan before opening any attachments from an untrusted source. But tell me . . . how is trust ever supposed to develop when people only partially engage each other? I took my order and left, my appetite dulled by the sad notion of what passes for a date among the college set these days.
I don’t understand why so many people* single out texting as somehow a unique and especially bad type of distracted driving.
There are many places with laws that single out texting as illegal while ignoring all the other equally distracting activities.
To the best of my knowledge there are no laws that makes stealing your neighbor’s lawn mower a crime. There are laws that make stealing a crime.
So why should yet another law be made which makes texting while driving illegal and yet would allow reading, eating, putting on make-up, turning around to yell at the kids in the back, and an infinite number of other activities legal.
Not saying texting while driving is okay. I am just saying that there are a ton of other activities that are just as dangerous. Do we make 1e+32 separate laws listing every conceivable activity that is distracting or do we just make the law that if the cause of the accident was from being excessively and needlessly distracted the penalties are greatly increased as well as make it a citeable offense to be excessively distracted period.
*of course the vast majority of the people who are most vocal about singling out texting as evil are those who wouldn’t do so in the first place. It is usually older people who just are not as addicted to texting. Then again, those are the exact one who would find texting more distracting so that might explain part of it.
To those of you curious as to whether the driver recording these events on video is any safer, please note the following facts: 1) The driver with the video camera skillfully keeps his car well between the yellow and white lines, well off the shoulder as well as from the on-coming traffic lane, in spite of the twists and turns of this road. 2) The driver with the video camera manages to maintain a safe driving distance from the swerving car at all times. 3) The driver with the video camera skillfully avoids the carnage of out-of-control crashed on-coming traffic cars flying at him as a result of the swerving car crashing into them, and brings his car to a safe stop well on the shoulder. After evaluating this evidence, in response to the question whether or not videoing while driving is any safer, the answer is clear: Yes, it is clearly safer. I recommend watching the video a second time if you still have any doubts.
Professor Turley,
You’re a highly respected lawyer, and for good reason. You’re at the top of your craft and I would gladly have you defend me on any charge.
I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU TAKE AT FACE VALUE THE CLAIM THIS DRIVER WAS TEXTING.
Even SeanSymons who viddied this says he thought he was texting, but he wasn’t sure.
Look at how far the driver swerves from one side to another, look how many times he almost crashes.
IS THIS THE BEHAVIOR YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM EVEN A TEENAGE DRIVER TEXTING?
To almost get into a crash while texting and continue to text in just as bad a manner?
Srsly dude, pull my chain, tell me another, piss on my back and tell me it’s raining, and I will almost always believe you, but, …
Clearly there was an awful lot more going on here than just simply texting.
Shouldn’t take an anonymous fool to tell you Turley you’re wearing no clothes.
This blogpost of yours is so stupid I had to check three times to make sure it wasn’t posted by rafflaw.
P.S. Sean almost admits he is trolling when he tells us all that “I stayed and gave my wittiness report.”
I love driving. And yet, driving is tedious, boring, and stressful.
Should actual lawyers interested in actual progress wish to actually contribute to society, they would encourage technology like heads up displays that included texting, instead of just suing everybody back to the standards of the 30s.
Lots of car driving could be done automatically — what’s keeping us from getting there? The pox, tax, and drain on society known as the legal profession.
TomMil, on the original YouTube page, it says he called 911, then started following the car ahead while recording. It appears he is not weaving or driving erratically himself. There is a difference between holding up a camera pointed forward and trying to use a keypad while driving, although I do not recommend either as ordinary safe practice.
This seems to be a good place to link to one of the best rants on driving safely I have ever read. “The Baculum King” is a guy named Jeff who is a trucker and brilliant writer. He wrote this several years ago, and it has been republished by his friends several times since then. TBK (aka Jeff) has some thoughts on texting while driving. The original diary was entitled, “Want to Die Slowly, Mangled Beyond Recognition?” Here is the most recently updated version.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/04/14/720033/-Youve-Seen-It-Before;-READ-IT-AGAIN-DAMMIT!!-(Redux)?detail=hide
rcampbell is right. Is it safer to videotape while driving? And while I don’t know what he did before breaking out the camera, I have to ask, did he call 911?
rcampbell is right. The narrator is videoing while driving; is that safer? Also he’s not dialing 911? Admittedly, I don’t know that he didn’t prior to breaking out his camera.
I learned it the hard way… ending up well off-road, damn lucky to be alive and still see with both eyes…
If only everyone could have an actual AUTO-mobile already. You know they have ’em… Drink and coast! Have the car drop off the kids… catch a little sleep in heavy traffic…
How is that the OMG driver was making this video while driving and wrrying about the kid texting?
This would be my first attempt at embedding a YouTube vide, but here’s my selection for the souind track for the video (from Bye Bye, Birdie):
RE automobile / truck crashes: distracted driving is the number one cause, fatigued driving is number two, and alcohol related is number three.
The “alcohol related” is skewed according to some experts, because it does not have to be the cause, only “related” (e.g. an empty beer can found in the car).
So it could be as low as fifth or so … it will take a few years of more focused and realistic apportionment to sort it out.
Church Chat
And yet many people do it. And when one of these distracted drivers murders someone? Well, it really isn’t their fault, not like they intended to kill someone they were just careless.
The analogy I use for driving drunk fits this too. If you took a gun out into the street and started shooting into random houses nobody would think that was simply careless when someone is injured or killed. Driving while impaired, if that is intoxicated on something, texting, putting mayo on your Mcfishwich, whatever is the same calculation.
Actually any cell phone use (talking or texting) while driving is about as bad as drunk driving and the indulgers are 5 times more likely to cause accidents as undistracted drivers according to a University of Utah study, but cellphone companies have a better lobby than drunks.
~Strayer, D. L., Drews, F. A., and Crouch, D. L. A comparison of the cell phone driver and the drunk driver. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2006 (Summer), 381-391; University of Utah. Drivers on Cell Phones Are as Bad as Drunks: Utah Psychologists Warn Against Cell Phone Use While Driving. University of Utah press release, June 29, 2006; (http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062206-1) Pa. should restrict drivers’ cell-phone use. (editorial) Delcotimes.com, July 8, 2006 (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16883506& BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18168&rfi=6)
Bad ideal…