Girl texting while driving hits cyclist, says “I just don’t care”

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

6 months is way too light of a slap on the wrist. They won't learn a thing from that.

How would someone learn anything from taking their license away forever after the first offense?

[Minnie]

So this incident - http://globalnews.ca/news/1275805/pe...outh-edmonton/ - this is my husband's aunt. We got the call last evening, after she was out of the first of her surgeries. She ended up with a broken arm, her pelvis is fractured in 2 places, she has 15 staples in her head, a concussion and obviously numerous minor scrapes and bruises. That was the last word we had last night. Haven't heard anything new this morning. She will be ok but it won't be an easy or swift recovery.

No word on whether the driver was texting or what - he has said he simply did not see her. She is incredibly lucky - she was conscious on scene and at arrival to hospital, and feisty as hell when asked if she thought she lost consciousness at the scene - "well D'UUUUUUUHH, I got hit by a truck!" That feistiness is going to be needed to get through her recovery and no doubt, some sort of physical rehab/physiotherapy.

[Dime_On_Flames]

She cares more about her car then the injured person?!? What a ####ing funt!

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Burninator

How would someone learn anything from taking their license away forever after the first offense?

Yeah that's extreme. IMO the laws should gradually ramp up to suspensions but we aren't even at the point of demerits yet. I still remember lots of people being up in arms about a 3 month suspension for drunk driving and a lot of guys would outright easily get off by hiring lawyers. When I was a teen I worked in a municipality in the summers and there were multiple guys there that were getting DUI's almost annually. It takes a long time for society to come around.

[SportsJunky]

I need to get better at ignoring my phone in the car. It's amazing how many times I look over at it while driving to see if there is an email or text I've been waiting for. I should throw it in the trunk some days.

[habernac]

just turn it off, Sportsjunky. That's what I do.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

I need to get better at ignoring my phone in the car. It's amazing how many times I look over at it while driving to see if there is an email or text I've been waiting for. I should throw it in the trunk some days.

Turn the screen away from you. That way any pop ups don't catch the corner of your eye. Or sit on your phone like I do.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Turn the screen away from you. That way any pop ups don't catch the corner of your eye. Or sit on your phone like I do.

And get the bum cancer?

[nfotiu]

I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think that cell phones and texting is the whole problem. I've been in cars with drivers who will never touch their phone, but jeez, if you have any kind of conversation with them, they'll be driving right through red lights. Others who will stare at their radio for hours as they flip through the stations barely looking up. I saw someone in a parking lot almost run over some kids as she was driving 10 mph focused on the drink she was sucking on. I've been with drivers who are way to focused on their cellphones, and others who seem to be able to quickly glance at it in their peripheral without taking their eyes off the road.

I'm sure phones and texting contribute to the distractions for people who aren't very good at concentrating on the road anyway, but the problem doesn't seem as simple as just taking away their phones either.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Dime_On_Flames

She cares more about her car then the injured person?!? What a ####ing funt!

Well to be fair, it was just a cyclist.

[19Yzerman19]

I am guilty of occasionally using my phone or other electronic device at red lights - be it checking a text message, or messing with my music, or trying to make my GPS tell me where I should be going. I'm not going to act all self-righteous about this.

But after you hit a guy causing spinal surgery how the hell is THAT your reaction? I would be devastated.

[puckluck2]

Get caught texting and driving and lose your license forever?

Lets not over react.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Burninator

How would someone learn anything from taking their license away forever after the first offense?

That is extreme, maybe make it 3 years for the first offense, 5 for the second, life for the 3rd.

I know that sounds harsh, but it would take something very harsh to curb the behaviour.

I can't wait till "auto pilot" cars come available in the next decade or so once comp power gets better.

[Table 5]

Call me an old fuddy duddy, but I think cars these days are so easy to operate, that most of the time it's just something that you do in the background. People think they can do other things because driving the car itself barely takes a finger. Simply driving is no longer the primary point of attention. Just look at any car commercial... it's all about your infotainment system, and being connected, and doing pretty much everything but driving.

The solution is to buy you and your kids a car with a stick. You'll actually start paying attention to the road, instead of looking for things to do because you are bored out of your skull steering your couch on wheels. It doesn't eliminate all distraction, but it sure makes you much more aware of what's going on. It's a lot harder (but not impossible of course) to text when both your hands, and brain, are doing things.

[burn_this_city]

It takes real skills to text and drive a stick shift.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by puckluck2

Get caught texting and driving and lose your license forever?

Lets not over react.

Did you miss the "Victim is a paraplegic.", "More worried about her car part?" and "Can't see how texting can possibly cause an accident ." parts?

Ruined someones life, zero empathy, and no desire to change. I think that is the exact recipe required to permanently revoke a license. She hasn't learned a thing. Texting and driving is being proven to be more dangerous than impaired driving. What would your stance be if she was drunk instead of texting?

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by pylon

Did you miss the "Victim is a paraplegic.", "More worried about her car part?" and "Can't see how texting can possibly cause an accident ." parts?

Ruined someones life, zero empathy, and no desire to change. I think that is the exact recipe required to permanently revoke a license. She hasn't learned a thing. Texting and driving is being proven to be more dangerous than impaired driving. What would your stance be if she was drunk instead of texting?

He's referring to the posts proposing a lifetime ban from driving for anyone who texts and drives

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Table 5

The solution is to buy you and your kids a car with a stick. You'll actually start paying attention to the road,

Tell that to the girl I carpool with who drives around 90% of the time with the transmission in 3rd .

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by pylon

Did you miss the "Victim is a paraplegic.", "More worried about her car part?" and "Can't see how texting can possibly cause an accident ." parts?

Ruined someones life, zero empathy, and no desire to change. I think that is the exact recipe required to permanently revoke a license. She hasn't learned a thing. Texting and driving is being proven to be more dangerous than impaired driving. What would your stance be if she was drunk instead of texting?

The post I was talking about wasn't about this instance only. They want anyone who gets caught texting and driving to lose their license forever. That is ridiculous.

How could anyone agree with this? This would be like living in Afghanistan.

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Honestly, I think if you are caught texting and driving even once you should get your license revoked permanently, same thing with drunk drivers.

If you are too important to pay attention, take a bus.

[19Yzerman19]

Which makes it ridiculous in this instance too... we can't have a markedly different standard for punishment based on whether someone says something idiotic to a police officer at the scene. Sure, if she's really unrepentant, that influences her sentence, but come on, the gap can't be THAT wide.