The nation's toughest sanctions against driving and text messaging have been proposed in South Carolina. House Bill 4189 calls for fines of up to $2,500, two months in jail and a driver's license suspension. And that's for the first offense. A driver who kills someone while text messaging is looking at 25 years in prison. The legislation would also allow law officers to seize and inspect a driver's cell phone to if he or she was texting while driving when they were stopped. That provision, no doubt, would face opposition from civil liberties advocates. Rep. Don Bowen, R-Anderson, on … [Read more...]
Prolonged texting like DUI in Britain
November 2, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The New York Times continues its welcome crusade against texting and driving with a look at a British case in which one young woman was sent to prison for killing another young woman. Phillipa Curtis, 22, rear-ended Victoria McBryde's broken-down yellow Fiat, killing McBryde instantly. Curtis had been texting, but not at the exact moment of the crash, the Times reported. New British sentencing guidelines equate prolonged texting before a crash with drinking and driving, or with drag racing. The guidelines call for terms of four to seven years. Curtis received only 21 months. The Times … [Read more...]
Rhode Island outlaws text messaging
October 31, 2009 by Leave a Comment
In 2001, Rhode Island's General Assembly passed Peter Kilmartin’s bill banning handheld cell phones. It was to be one of the first laws in the United States protecting citizens from drivers who were distracted by their cell phones. The governor vetoed the legislation. Almost a decade later, Rhode Island finally sent another governor a distracted driver law, but this one was signed into law on Nov. 10. But the law outlaws reading, writing and sending text messages while behind the wheel -- not the use of cell phones. The sponsor? Rep. Peter Kilmartin, D-Pawtucket. “I realize this is a … [Read more...]
DOT adds ‘distracted flying’ to probe
October 29, 2009 by 1 Comment
"Distracted flying" is now under investigation by the Transportation Department, following news of two Northwest Airline pilots who overshot the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles, apparently while using their using laptop computers. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has widened his department's initiatives to "distractions as they apply beyond cars — to rail, buses, and now, planes," a spokesman told the Associated Press on Oct. 28. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called the incident “the ultimate case of distracted driving — only this time it was distracted flying.” The two pilots, whose … [Read more...]
Pilots’ screw-up: ‘distracted flying’
October 26, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Ever feel like doing some detailed staff scheduling while cruising along at 500 miles per hour? That's the story du jour from two pilots at Northwest Airlines regarding their infamous 150-mile overshoot of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport the other day. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called the incident "the ultimate case of distracted driving -- only this time it was distracted flying." Having just days before made that landing at MSP on that very airline -- sitting next to my 16-year-old boy -- I'm rooting for some serious prison time for these clowns (who apparently dressed as pilots for … [Read more...]
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