The New York Times is featuring Utah's anti-text messaging law for motorists, in which violators face up to 15 years in prison if a fatality results from their distracted driving. The Times calls Utah text-messaging ban "the nation’s toughest law to crack down on texting behind the wheel." State Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, says: “It’s a willful act. If you choose to drink and drive or if you choose to text and drive, you’re assuming the same risk.” The Times noted: Treating texting behind the wheel like drunken driving raises complex legal questions. Drunken drivers can be identified … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2009
International distracted driving roundup
August 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Distracted driving news from around the globe. (Does not include the EU member states, Britain, Australia or Canada.) View the European distracted driving news page, the British distracted driving news page and the Australia & New Zealand cell phone laws roundup. In England, a taxi driver was sentenced to six years in prison for causing a death by dangerous driving. Mohamed Farooq Saleemi hit a roadway worker near Southampton in early 2022, distracted by the text message he was sending. Police called it "a senseless death caused by a distracted driver." The sentence was handed down in … [Read more...]
Lower Chichester talks tough on texting
August 19, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The blah blah blah over text messaging and driving gets pretty tiresome: How could any law possibly be enforced? What about my civil liberties? Yadda yadda. We've heard it all by now. Meet a lawmaker in Pennsylvania who is mad as hell about texting and is not going to take it anymore. The president of the township commission in Lower Chichester, Rocco Gaspari Jr., had this to say Monday after the body voted to ban text messaging for all drivers, effective immediately: “Text messaging now supersedes drugs and alcohol for causing the most accidents in the United States. Something needs to be … [Read more...]
European cell phone, texting roundup
August 17, 2009 by 2 Comments
In Spain, the traffic law was revised in late 2021 to provide for 6 demerit points vs. the license for holding cell phones while driving. The tougher new traffic rules -- which go into effect in late March 2022 -- also make prosecution of mobile phone offenses easier, as police only have to witness the holding of the phone to write a citation -- not its active use. Fine remains 200 Euros. (View the British distracted driving news page and the International distracted driving news page.) In Spain, a plan to toughen mobile phone laws for drivers is advancing in parliament. The new Traffic, … [Read more...]
Text messaging road rage strikes
August 14, 2009 by 1 Comment
Like to text message while behind the wheel? Beware the wrath of vigilante justice. A woman in North Providence, R.I., allegedly was texting away on her cell phone as she cut off another motorist. Anthony Rapone, 60, allegedly forced her to stop in the middle of the road, threw her cell phone to the ground and punched the woman in the face. He then kicked the woman's car repeatedly for good measure, police said. Rapone said his father had been killed in a wreck caused by a driver who was driving and texting. He was charged with assault, vandalism and disorderly conduct, according to the … [Read more...]
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