A young driver who killed a grandmother while read a text message in southeast England, has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail. Photographers captured images of Keisha Wall, 19, of Reading as she walked into court clutching her mobile phone. She denied text messaging and said her mother, a driving instructor, may have grabbed her wheel, causing the fatality. Christine Lyon, 63 (pictured), died in February 2010 when Wall's vehicle jumped the curb. Lyon was pinned up against a wall, where she was crushed and killed instantly. The court heard evidence that Wall received and read a text … [Read more...]
It’s April, distracted driving month
April 1, 2011 by 3 Comments
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, debuting this year with the support of safety advocates, law enforcement agencies and the U.S. DOT. Former U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey, pictured, made the designation official last year, with the help of the victims and survivors group FocusDriven. The California Highway Patrol is one of many law enforcement agencies nationwide that have adopted a "zero tolerance" enforcement policy for the month. More than 225 California police agencies and 103 California Highway Patrol agencies are participating in the crackdown. Markey's resolution began by … [Read more...]
Sprint: Drive First with smartphone app
March 25, 2011 by 1 Comment
Sprint has dialed up an Android app whose mission is to halt distracted driving behaviors before they begin. "Drive First" will be installed on all future Sprint Andriod phones, but subscribers must pay an additional $2 a month to engage the app. Owners of Android phones don't need to upgrade as they'll be able to download the app once the service launches, sometime in the third quarter, Sprint says. The app engages GPS to determine when a cell phone is in a moving vehicle. Incoming calls are sent to voice mail while texts trigger auto-response messages. It also blocks all but three of the … [Read more...]
Teen license act to ban talking & texting
March 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Federal lawmakers have renewed their campaign for a nationwide standard for graduated driver licensing that would outlaw use of cell phones and text messaging for the young motorists. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., reintroduced the Safe Teen And Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act (STANDUP Act) this week. Parents who lost teens in traffic accidents joined with safety and insurance groups Tuesday on Capitol Hill to show their support for the act, previously introduced in 2009 and 2010. It failed to become law in the previous Congress. A day earlier, the … [Read more...]
N.Y. cell phone penalty adds 2 points
February 11, 2011 by 2 Comments
Most New York cell phone offenders are in for a nasty surprise come Feb. 16: With that distracted driving ticket comes two points against the driver's license. The rule change brings handheld cell phone violations in line with penalties under the state's 2009 text messaging law, which provides for 2 points against an offender's license. "It is only logical to assign two points to both of these forms of distracted driving," the New York DMV said in its proposed rule-making filing. "It will send a message that DMV considers cell phone violations a serious offense, in the same way DMV … [Read more...]
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