ERIK NIVISON, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? It is illegal to send text messages while driving in some states. Legit! 11 states and the District of Columbia have banned the practice for anyone who's behind the wheel.
Connection Obsession
AZUZ: Nine other states have that same ban for beginner drivers. Federal safety organizations say crashes are the number one cause of accidental death in the U.S., and they've also found that 80 percent of those crashes are related to drivers being distracted by things like using a cell phone. Bill Tucker explores the science behind the dangers of texting while driving.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 25 people died, 135 were injured in this crash. Investigators say the engineer of the Los Angeles commuter train was texting moments before it happened last September. In Boston last week, 49 people were injured when the driver of this trolley rear-ended a stopped trolley. The driver was texting his girlfriend. This San Antonio bus driver is texting as he drives into the rear of an SUV. There were no deaths, but the driver, 2 passengers and the driver of the SUV were injured. All of these accidents were easily preventable.
DAVID TEATER, NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL: 38,000 die every year on roadways. Virginia Tech and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have estimated about 80% of accidents and near-accidents are caused by driver inattention, and the number one driver inattention is mobile device use.
TUCKER: One trillion text messages were sent in just the United States last year. Text messaging is part of our supposedly multi-tasking way of living. Even under the best of circumstances, though, researchers at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research say our brains don't deal well with more than one thing at once. Texting behind the wheel of a couple of tons of steel moving down the road is a bad idea.
ROBERT DESIMONE, MIT, MCGOVERN INST. FOR BRAIN RESEARCH: Texting while driving would be the perfect storm of attentional problems. You are using your visual system for 2 things at once. So, this is the worse situation to be in, texting while driving.
TUCKER: 26 states this year have considered, and are still considering, laws to ban texting while driving. 11 states already have laws banning texting: Alaska, California, Washington, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia, Arkansas and the District of Columbia. Bill Tucker, CNN, New York.
Blog Promo
AZUZ: It doesn't take a genius to recognize the dangers of texting while you're behind the wheel, but the question is, why do some people still do it? That's what we're asking you to blog about today. We want to hear your thoughts on the issue. So, head to CNNStudentNews.com, click on "From A to Z," and share your ideas.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Texting While Driving Remains 'Serious Issue,' Officials Say
Monday, May 11, 2009
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Driving while texting remains a "serious issue" on the nation's roadways, transportation officials said Monday, days after a Boston-area trolley operator failed to see a red light while reportedly sending his girlfriend a text message and smashed into the back of another trolley, injuring 50 people.
For every two seconds a driver's eyes are off the road, a motorist is twice as likely to be involved in a crash, said Troy Green, national spokesman for AAA.
"Texting while driving ... requires your full attention and leaves no room for distraction," Green said. "You'd have to be foolish at best and delusional at worst to think you can send and receive text messages while operating a motor vehicle effectively and safely....
We believe that's something that should be banned."
Texting and cell phone use have been blamed for numerous deadly crashes in the past few years, including:
Nov. 20, 2008: Stephanie Phelps, 16, and her 4-month-old daughter, Katherine Pulsifer, were killed when the young mother, who was talking her cell phone, ran a red light and crashed into cement truck in Amarillo, Texas.
Aug. 6, 2008: Janet Indermuehle, 48, was reportedly speeding and using her cell phone while driving as she lost control of her car and crashed near Mount Horeb, Wis. Indermuehle, her 15-year-old son Daniel, and a 14-year-old passenger, Tiffany Kastner, were killed in the wreck
Jan. 3, 2008: Stephanie Phillips, 37, and Heather Hurd, 26, were killed when a trucker reportedly distracted by text-messaging on his cell phone crashed into their car along U.S. 27 in Florida.
Aug. 13, 2007: Ashley D. Miller, 18, of Glendale, Ariz., and Stacey Stubbs, 40, of Chino Valley, Ariz., die in a crash after Miller reportedly drifted across the center line because she was text-messaging on her cell phone.
June 28, 2007: Text messages were sent and received on the cell phone of Bailey Goodman, 17, moments before her sport-utility vehicle slammed head-on into a truck, killing her and four other recent high school graduates in upstate New York.
April 26, 2007: Eight people were killed when a semi trailer driven by Leonardo Cooksey, 32, slammed into stopped traffic on the Indiana Toll Road. Cooksey, of Mount Prospect, Ill., told state police that he was distracted when his cell phone beeped, indicating the battery was low.
March 18, 2007: Sela Anne Kalama, 19, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after she reportedly drove off the end of a road and into the Elwha River in Washington. Vanna Francis, 17, and Ronnie Scroggins, 15, were killed in the crash. Kalama and four others swam to shore and suffered only minor injuries.
Dec. 20, 2006: Brittanie Montgomery, a 19-year-old dancer for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets, died in a crash in Oklahoma City while reportedly using her cell phone as she drove to practice.
June 18, 2006: Karyn "Nikki" Cordell, 22, and her unborn child die in a crash in Deerfield Township, Ohio. Cordell's 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier was slammed head-on by a 2004 Ford Explorer driven by 16-year-old Alexander Manocchio, who was allegedly reaching for a ringing cell phone at the time of the wreck.
May 29, 2006: Jessalyn Sanders, 6, was struck and killed by a truck as she crossed a street near her home in Tulsa, Okla. The driver of the truck, Justin Pearsall, reportedly told police he had reached down to answer his cell phone and did not see the girl.
No Laws in Most States
Ten states and the District of Columbia currently prohibit texting while driving, with laws in Virginia and Arkansas to take effect later this year — and legislation is being considered in Rhode Island. Some major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Detroit and Phoenix, have instituted a ban.
Another 10 states prohibit novice drivers from text-messaging. But the majority of states have no laws that ban sending text messages from behind the wheel.
"It's a little bit like speeding; everyone at some point has used their cell phone while driving," said Jonathan Adkins, communications director for the Governors Highway Safety Association. "But the bottom line is texting and operating any kind of vehicle is very dangerous. It takes your mind from the task at hand. It's a common-sense issue."
Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes, according to a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event.
Despite those daunting statistics, Adkins said many drivers believe they'll steer clear of any trouble on the road.
"The sense is, 'I'm able to do many things at once,'" Adkins said. "People feel like if all they're focusing on is driving, then they're wasting their time. But people forget that you've got to be able to react to the other driver."
Recent efforts to highlight the dangers of texting while driving include a billboard in Byron Township, Wyo., created by a 17-year-old girl whose classmate was killed in a July 2007 crash. The billboard, created by Ally Steffes, displays the 17-year-old behind the wheel with a phone to her ear and a simple message: "Buckle Up … Hang Up … Heads Up … It all adds up!"
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Driving while texting remains a "serious issue" on the nation's roadways, transportation officials said Monday, days after a Boston-area trolley operator failed to see a red light while reportedly sending his girlfriend a text message and smashed into the back of another trolley, injuring 50 people.
For every two seconds a driver's eyes are off the road, a motorist is twice as likely to be involved in a crash, said Troy Green, national spokesman for AAA.
"Texting while driving ... requires your full attention and leaves no room for distraction," Green said. "You'd have to be foolish at best and delusional at worst to think you can send and receive text messages while operating a motor vehicle effectively and safely....
We believe that's something that should be banned."
Texting and cell phone use have been blamed for numerous deadly crashes in the past few years, including:
Nov. 20, 2008: Stephanie Phelps, 16, and her 4-month-old daughter, Katherine Pulsifer, were killed when the young mother, who was talking her cell phone, ran a red light and crashed into cement truck in Amarillo, Texas.
Aug. 6, 2008: Janet Indermuehle, 48, was reportedly speeding and using her cell phone while driving as she lost control of her car and crashed near Mount Horeb, Wis. Indermuehle, her 15-year-old son Daniel, and a 14-year-old passenger, Tiffany Kastner, were killed in the wreck
Jan. 3, 2008: Stephanie Phillips, 37, and Heather Hurd, 26, were killed when a trucker reportedly distracted by text-messaging on his cell phone crashed into their car along U.S. 27 in Florida.
Aug. 13, 2007: Ashley D. Miller, 18, of Glendale, Ariz., and Stacey Stubbs, 40, of Chino Valley, Ariz., die in a crash after Miller reportedly drifted across the center line because she was text-messaging on her cell phone.
June 28, 2007: Text messages were sent and received on the cell phone of Bailey Goodman, 17, moments before her sport-utility vehicle slammed head-on into a truck, killing her and four other recent high school graduates in upstate New York.
April 26, 2007: Eight people were killed when a semi trailer driven by Leonardo Cooksey, 32, slammed into stopped traffic on the Indiana Toll Road. Cooksey, of Mount Prospect, Ill., told state police that he was distracted when his cell phone beeped, indicating the battery was low.
March 18, 2007: Sela Anne Kalama, 19, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after she reportedly drove off the end of a road and into the Elwha River in Washington. Vanna Francis, 17, and Ronnie Scroggins, 15, were killed in the crash. Kalama and four others swam to shore and suffered only minor injuries.
Dec. 20, 2006: Brittanie Montgomery, a 19-year-old dancer for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets, died in a crash in Oklahoma City while reportedly using her cell phone as she drove to practice.
June 18, 2006: Karyn "Nikki" Cordell, 22, and her unborn child die in a crash in Deerfield Township, Ohio. Cordell's 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier was slammed head-on by a 2004 Ford Explorer driven by 16-year-old Alexander Manocchio, who was allegedly reaching for a ringing cell phone at the time of the wreck.
May 29, 2006: Jessalyn Sanders, 6, was struck and killed by a truck as she crossed a street near her home in Tulsa, Okla. The driver of the truck, Justin Pearsall, reportedly told police he had reached down to answer his cell phone and did not see the girl.
No Laws in Most States
Ten states and the District of Columbia currently prohibit texting while driving, with laws in Virginia and Arkansas to take effect later this year — and legislation is being considered in Rhode Island. Some major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Detroit and Phoenix, have instituted a ban.
Another 10 states prohibit novice drivers from text-messaging. But the majority of states have no laws that ban sending text messages from behind the wheel.
"It's a little bit like speeding; everyone at some point has used their cell phone while driving," said Jonathan Adkins, communications director for the Governors Highway Safety Association. "But the bottom line is texting and operating any kind of vehicle is very dangerous. It takes your mind from the task at hand. It's a common-sense issue."
Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes, according to a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event.
Despite those daunting statistics, Adkins said many drivers believe they'll steer clear of any trouble on the road.
"The sense is, 'I'm able to do many things at once,'" Adkins said. "People feel like if all they're focusing on is driving, then they're wasting their time. But people forget that you've got to be able to react to the other driver."
Recent efforts to highlight the dangers of texting while driving include a billboard in Byron Township, Wyo., created by a 17-year-old girl whose classmate was killed in a July 2007 crash. The billboard, created by Ally Steffes, displays the 17-year-old behind the wheel with a phone to her ear and a simple message: "Buckle Up … Hang Up … Heads Up … It all adds up!"
Monday, May 11, 2009
Boston Trolley Crash Prompts Cell Phone Ban
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority banned drivers from using their cell phones a day after one of their employees told police he was texting when his trolley rear-ended another trolley injuring about 50 people, the Boston Herald reported.
Since May of 2008 five trolley and train operators and 12 bus drivers were suspended, and one bus driver was fired over cell phone use, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told the Herald.
Drivers had been allowed to carry cell phones as long as they didn't use them while they were working. Violating that policy resulted in three-, 10- and 30-day suspensions, ending in termination, the Herald reported.
"Leave it in your car. Leave it in your bag. Leave it at home. But when you board a train or a bus to work, there’s no reason to have one,” MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas told the newspaper. “If you’re caught with one, you will be fired.”
The 24-year-old operator of the moving trolley that crashed Friday, who was the most seriously injured, admitted to police that he was sending text messages to his girlfriend from his cell phone when the accident occurred, Grabauskas said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519786,00.html
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority banned drivers from using their cell phones a day after one of their employees told police he was texting when his trolley rear-ended another trolley injuring about 50 people, the Boston Herald reported.
Since May of 2008 five trolley and train operators and 12 bus drivers were suspended, and one bus driver was fired over cell phone use, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told the Herald.
Drivers had been allowed to carry cell phones as long as they didn't use them while they were working. Violating that policy resulted in three-, 10- and 30-day suspensions, ending in termination, the Herald reported.
"Leave it in your car. Leave it in your bag. Leave it at home. But when you board a train or a bus to work, there’s no reason to have one,” MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas told the newspaper. “If you’re caught with one, you will be fired.”
The 24-year-old operator of the moving trolley that crashed Friday, who was the most seriously injured, admitted to police that he was sending text messages to his girlfriend from his cell phone when the accident occurred, Grabauskas said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519786,00.html
MBTA: Conductor in Boston trolley crash was texting his girlfriend
May 8, 2009 11:33 PM
By Milton J. Valencia and Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
Saying he was having difficulty containing his outrage, the MBTA's chief said a trolley driver was text-messaging from his cellphone when he rear-ended another Green Line trolley on Friday night, sending scores of people to the hospital and forcing the closure of the Government Center station.
The conductor, 24 years old and with 22 months on the job, was texting his girlfriend, said another MBTA official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
The driver's action caused a shutdown of a part of the Green Line and left a surreal scene as emergency workers set up a make-shift emergency area next to a circus tent before ushering the wounded to hospitals. It is difficult, MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas told reporters, "to contain my outrage'' at the driver's action.
Under MBTA policy, a driver can be fired for texting while operating a train, trolley, or bus.
None of the injuries — 49 were taken to the hospital — was considered life-threatening, Boston emergency medical officials said. But the passengers were certainly startled, screaming, and more than a few bloodied, when the collision came without warning at 7:18 p.m. The speed of the moving trolley was not yet known.
But the moving Green Line trolley that came from behind had enough force to jolt a second trolley parked at a red light about 100 feet into the tunnel toward the Park Street station. Both trolleys derailed and sustained significant damage at the point of impact.
Officials described a chaotic scene — with metal strewn about, passengers in disarray, and some people who had to be removed from under twisted metal using saws and excavation equipment. Each of the trolleys, which were headed westbound, contained two cars.
The operator of the striking trolley suffered a broken wrist in thecrash, officials said. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, andwas in stable condition Friday night, officials said.
‘‘There was just noise and the whole thing went black,’’ said Judy Brenner, a 41-year-old Brookline woman who was heading home on the rear trolley from her job at an executive search firm. ‘‘Everyone fell on top of each other.’’
Edmundo Silva, a 49-year-old from Medford, was sitting in the front trolley. ‘‘There was a big jump, jump, jump,’’ he said, emphatically pounding his fist into his palm.
At that point, everyone fell down, including him. He tried to grab for a pole but was knocked to the floor, injuring his side and leg.
‘‘All the lights went out and everybody just started screaming,’’ said Laszlo Panajoth, 28, whose girlfriend was taken to the hospital with neck injuries.
Brenner said she saw one person with a scalp laceration and, as she spoke to a reporter, she was on her way to get an X-ray at Boston Medical Center. At impact, she fell, hit her head, and blacked out momentarily before fellow passengers woke her.
‘‘It was so black, it was hard to see who was injured the most,’’ she said.
In total, EMS officials counted 49 people taken to hospitals around the city, after some were assessed next to the circus tent by Government Center Plaza. Another 75 walked off on their own, according to Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department. Passengers said the response from emergency workers — including 120 firefighters — was swift.
‘‘We went to a three-alarm, just to get enough people here to get people out,’’ MacDonald said.
Next door, at the Big Apple Circus, families were blissfully watching the clowns and dancers, even as ambulances circled them. A public address announcer came on at intermission to tell those in attendance that there had been a crash on the T, but offered few details.
Chris LaCorte, 26, of Quincy, who was there with his girlfriend and her daughter, said he was surprised to walk out of the tent to find the area swarming with ambulances, MBTA personnel, police, media, and emergency medical technicians.
‘‘No one told us how serious it was,’’ LaCorte said. ‘‘You hope it was just a train accident and nothing more. You hope everyone is alright.’’
Service between the Park Street and Government Center stations was expected to resume Saturday.
Friday night’s rear-end crash happened nearly a year after Terrese Edmonds, a Green Line operator, lost her life in another rear-end collision during rush hour in Newton. In that crash, Edmonds’ trolley hit the car in front of her. None of the other 200 people on the trolleys was seriously injured that night. The accident left a scar among T operators and commuters and heightened concerns about the potential for rear-end collisions on the line.
Federal transportation safety officials ruled that Edmonds was speeding, going nearly four times faster than the car should have been on that section of track.
The Green Line is a 19th-century antique and the oldest line in the MBTA, which is the country’s oldest subway system. It has been under scrutiny for years because of numerous crashes and derailments.
In the 1990s, after several incidents, the American Public Transit Association produced a report with 17 safety recommendations for the Green Line. A rear-end crash in 1995 at Copley Station left 32 people injured.
Globe correspondents Christopher Girard, John M. Guilfoil, Matt Byrne, and Jenna Nierstedt contributed to this report.
By Milton J. Valencia and Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
Saying he was having difficulty containing his outrage, the MBTA's chief said a trolley driver was text-messaging from his cellphone when he rear-ended another Green Line trolley on Friday night, sending scores of people to the hospital and forcing the closure of the Government Center station.
The conductor, 24 years old and with 22 months on the job, was texting his girlfriend, said another MBTA official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
The driver's action caused a shutdown of a part of the Green Line and left a surreal scene as emergency workers set up a make-shift emergency area next to a circus tent before ushering the wounded to hospitals. It is difficult, MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas told reporters, "to contain my outrage'' at the driver's action.
Under MBTA policy, a driver can be fired for texting while operating a train, trolley, or bus.
None of the injuries — 49 were taken to the hospital — was considered life-threatening, Boston emergency medical officials said. But the passengers were certainly startled, screaming, and more than a few bloodied, when the collision came without warning at 7:18 p.m. The speed of the moving trolley was not yet known.
But the moving Green Line trolley that came from behind had enough force to jolt a second trolley parked at a red light about 100 feet into the tunnel toward the Park Street station. Both trolleys derailed and sustained significant damage at the point of impact.
Officials described a chaotic scene — with metal strewn about, passengers in disarray, and some people who had to be removed from under twisted metal using saws and excavation equipment. Each of the trolleys, which were headed westbound, contained two cars.
The operator of the striking trolley suffered a broken wrist in thecrash, officials said. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, andwas in stable condition Friday night, officials said.
‘‘There was just noise and the whole thing went black,’’ said Judy Brenner, a 41-year-old Brookline woman who was heading home on the rear trolley from her job at an executive search firm. ‘‘Everyone fell on top of each other.’’
Edmundo Silva, a 49-year-old from Medford, was sitting in the front trolley. ‘‘There was a big jump, jump, jump,’’ he said, emphatically pounding his fist into his palm.
At that point, everyone fell down, including him. He tried to grab for a pole but was knocked to the floor, injuring his side and leg.
‘‘All the lights went out and everybody just started screaming,’’ said Laszlo Panajoth, 28, whose girlfriend was taken to the hospital with neck injuries.
Brenner said she saw one person with a scalp laceration and, as she spoke to a reporter, she was on her way to get an X-ray at Boston Medical Center. At impact, she fell, hit her head, and blacked out momentarily before fellow passengers woke her.
‘‘It was so black, it was hard to see who was injured the most,’’ she said.
In total, EMS officials counted 49 people taken to hospitals around the city, after some were assessed next to the circus tent by Government Center Plaza. Another 75 walked off on their own, according to Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department. Passengers said the response from emergency workers — including 120 firefighters — was swift.
‘‘We went to a three-alarm, just to get enough people here to get people out,’’ MacDonald said.
Next door, at the Big Apple Circus, families were blissfully watching the clowns and dancers, even as ambulances circled them. A public address announcer came on at intermission to tell those in attendance that there had been a crash on the T, but offered few details.
Chris LaCorte, 26, of Quincy, who was there with his girlfriend and her daughter, said he was surprised to walk out of the tent to find the area swarming with ambulances, MBTA personnel, police, media, and emergency medical technicians.
‘‘No one told us how serious it was,’’ LaCorte said. ‘‘You hope it was just a train accident and nothing more. You hope everyone is alright.’’
Service between the Park Street and Government Center stations was expected to resume Saturday.
Friday night’s rear-end crash happened nearly a year after Terrese Edmonds, a Green Line operator, lost her life in another rear-end collision during rush hour in Newton. In that crash, Edmonds’ trolley hit the car in front of her. None of the other 200 people on the trolleys was seriously injured that night. The accident left a scar among T operators and commuters and heightened concerns about the potential for rear-end collisions on the line.
Federal transportation safety officials ruled that Edmonds was speeding, going nearly four times faster than the car should have been on that section of track.
The Green Line is a 19th-century antique and the oldest line in the MBTA, which is the country’s oldest subway system. It has been under scrutiny for years because of numerous crashes and derailments.
In the 1990s, after several incidents, the American Public Transit Association produced a report with 17 safety recommendations for the Green Line. A rear-end crash in 1995 at Copley Station left 32 people injured.
Globe correspondents Christopher Girard, John M. Guilfoil, Matt Byrne, and Jenna Nierstedt contributed to this report.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
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