Honestly, as sad as this story is and as my condolences go out to her family, I have to admit, Darwinism has struck again. Few weeks ago I was planning on posting a rant about this issue but after witnessing something today and then this article....it's time for a rant.
So about 15 minutes ago, I witnessed a girl, probably in her 20s texting and driving as obvious as it gets. Pink phone case, phone up by the steering wheel as we are both taking an exit off Deerfoot. Thank god I was infront of her witnessing this from my rear view. Felt bad for drivers behind her as she was swerving and driving extremely slow.
In the last month, I have probably seen about 10 different instances of someone texting and driving. 2 worth noting, one was on my way into town from Okotoks, there is a man, probably in his early 30s in the furthest right lane but his left turning blinker is on....driving with my girlfriend, I tell her to take a look at the man as we pass by....surely enough his face is down in his lap as he is texting/reading/doing something on his phone
Instance number 2, still blows my mind. Driving in the right lane on Stoney Trail going about 110, and another female, probably in her 20s drives past me going about 130km but she's swerving and driving all over the place, so I decide to speed up and pass her just to see whats going, again I ask my girlfriend to look and sure enough she's texting away driving at a high rate, luckily she saw the both of us starring at her and she stopped. Seriously people, what is going on with our society?
Just want to add another thing, I myself am in my mid 20s, so I am not some oldie ranting about the good old days. Truth is, I am in multiple group chats and keep in contact with a lot of people. If I put my phone down for a hour, I will see at least 20 messages, especially with playoffs, the boys are always lighting up group chat. But here I am, putting my phone on do not disturb while I drive.
Seriously blows my mind how prevalent this issue is in our society, is it time to make stricter laws? When will people learn? Should more people die? I have no problem with our gene pool getting cleaned out but it concerns me that innocent people might die when some fool decides to take a selfie driving and goes into the wrong lane......also want to add what is up with the driving selfie??? All my friends do it.....snap chat galore but I never understood the concept. HEY LOOK AT ME IM DRIVING
Rant over. Thanks to anyone who has read this far
Last edited by steve9981; 04-28-2014 at 04:30 PM.
Reason: Quick edit, should clarify, 32 was posting on Facebook, not texting
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a fine of a couple hundred bucks aint gonna change anything. Having your car impounded for a week the first time might....having your license removed for a year the second time might.
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a fine of a couple hundred bucks aint gonna change anything. Having your car impounded for a week the first time might....having your license removed for a year the second time might.
You'd think being embedded in another car might be a sufficient wake-up call.
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Is it bad of me to take solace in the fact that it was her that died and not the guy she crashed into? I mean, I guess it's bad and all that she did die, but I can't say I feel that much sympathy TBQH.
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a fine of a couple hundred bucks aint gonna change anything. Having your car impounded for a week the first time might....having your license removed for a year the second time might.
Exactly. It's about as dangerous as drunk driving, need to punish it as such. Even in this example you still get a second chance before you lose your licence. Not saying I'd push for anything harsher than what you've suggested, but wouldn't be against it either.
But there needs to be real punishment and real enforcement.
I think part of the problem is it's all lumped together with the distracted driving law. And of course texting and driving came from talking and driving so it's natural to see it as very similar. But it really isn't. It's very VERY dangerous and needs to be treated as such.
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IMHO, you should be criminally charged, or have your licence revoked for at least 72 hours, if caught texting and driving. My coworker does this all the time at the plant site we work at. I cannot believe he has not been caught...
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IMHO, you should be criminally charged, or have your licence revoked for at least 72 hours, if caught texting and driving. My coworker does this all the time at the plant site we work at. I cannot believe he has not been caught...
On the job? I would have zero hesitation reporting him to HR if I were in your place.
Texting while driving is worse than driving under the influence. With texting your focus is not on the road at all. Driving drunk at least one could put their full focus there, their reactions are just delayed.
The only reason driving drunk is worse is because it lasts the whole trip length while texting takes a few minutes at a time.
I saw a brutal case of text driving last summer and I called the police. They sent a police car out right away and game him a ticket based on my report. They also said I can call 911 next time. Yep. 911.
I would like to see texting/emailing while driving stats separated from the general distracted driving stats to see how big of a problem this really is. All the stats i can find seem to be more general in nature and a little ambiguous.
Also it is interesting how the general opinion between distracted driving and speeding is so different. A quick search tells me that speeding is involved in double the amount of traffic deaths as the more general distracted driving.
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Texting while driving is worse than driving under the influence. With texting your focus is not on the road at all. Driving drunk at least one could put their full focus there, their reactions are just delayed.
The only reason driving drunk is worse is because it lasts the whole trip length while texting takes a few minutes at a time.
I would be inclined to agree, just didn't want to go down that road. As people would probably argue against it.
The reason is, there is a stigma about drunk driving. If you do it, you're a bad irresponsible person. Not saying the stigma isn't right, just saying it's looked at as a major sin.
There is no such stigma for texting and driving yet. Part of that is because it's so new. There really needs to be though. It's just as bad.
I have handed out quite a few fines for texting or being on the phone while driving. People don't seem to grasp that their safety and the safety of others is more important than simple communication. It only takes a minute to pull over and do your business. Stories like the one above are unfortunately becoming more common all the time.
32 dies texting she's HAPPY
