texting while driving

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Police: Officer Killed by Driver Texting Wife About Evening

Clayton Townsend was standing near a car after a traffic stop when he was hit

(Newser) - Salt River tribal police Officer Clayton Townsend was standing near a car after performing a routine traffic stop near Scottsdale, Arizona, Tuesday night when he was fatally struck by another car. Police say the driver of that car, 40-year-old Jerry Sanstead Jr., admitted to them he was texting with his...

Road Signs Will Warn Drivers Who Are Using Cellphones

In a UK first, the signs will detect radio signals from cellphones

(Newser) - Using your phone while driving in the UK? Expect a warning from a smart road sign, at least if you're in Norfolk. The county is introducing road signs that use scanners to electronically detect the radio signals transmitted when mobile phones are connected to a call—and then flash...

Woman Texts While Driving, Kills 2 Girls: Police

Police say she drifted over the white line

(Newser) - Authorities say an Ohio woman was texting on her phone when she struck and killed two 14-year-old girls with her car, the AP reports. Twenty-four-year-old New Franklin resident Natasha Boggs was arrested and jailed Friday. She's charged with voluntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide, driving while texting, and other offenses. Boggs...

Out of Dad's Grief, NY Mulls a 'Textalyzer' Bill

Dad who lost son to texting driver want cops to be able to examine phone data at scene

(Newser) - When Ben Lieberman's 19-year-old son died in a head-on collision in New York, he sued to get phone records showing the driver of the car his son was in had been texting. Lieberman is channeling his grief into a proposal that would allow New York police at accident scenes...

Witness: Driver Was Texting Before Crash That Killed 13

There's no statewide Texas law against it

(Newser) - A witness says the driver of a pickup truck that collided with a church minibus in rural Texas, killing 13 people, acknowledged he had been texting while driving—highlighting the dangers of sending messages on smartphones while behind the wheel. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Conrad Hein wouldn't...

Driver Kills Man While Allegedly Texting, Gets 4 Days in Jail

Judge advises teacher to educate others about distracted driving

(Newser) - A Minnesota woman who struck and killed a man while allegedly texting and driving will spend just four days in jail over two years. As part of a plea deal, Le Sueur County Judge Mark Vandelist on Monday sentenced Susan Ann Russo to four days behind bars, 40 hours of...

You Could Be Liable for Texting a Driver

Distracted-driving laws still murky, but more onus being placed on message senders

(Newser) - Court rulings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are taking texting-while-driving laws down a new road, opening the door to not only holding the offending driver liable for a car accident, but perhaps also the person texting the driver, Consumerist reports. In neither case has anyone (yet) had to legally...

'Textalyzer' Could Tell Cops Who Texts and Drives

NY considering device for cops at scene of accidents

(Newser) - When his son died following a car accident in New York state in 2011—he was a passenger in a vehicle that "drifted over the yellow line" and collided with another—Ben Lieberman was amazed that police didn't review the driver's cellphone records. The driver said he...

Amid Screams of 'Red Light!' Texting Driver Kills 2: Cops

Prosecutors say Carlee Bollig, 17, was texting

(Newser) - As far as alleged texting-while-driving stories go, this one is particularly rough: A 54-year-old Minnesota man and his 10-year-old daughter were killed when a pickup T-boned their van on a July evening between the towns of Becker and Big Lake. The driver of the pickup was not 17-year-old Carlee Bollig'...

Fatal Crashes Are Surging; Buffett Says He Knows Why

It's not just about more cars on the road, he insists

(Newser) - If automobiles are constantly improving, why are traffic deaths going up? Warren Buffett thinks he knows. Fatal accidents surged 14% in the first half of the year, and one of the consequences of that is that Geico lost money and is now raising insurance premiums. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns...

Jenny McCarthy: My Kid Called Cops on Me

12-year-old didn't like her texting and driving, is a 'rule follower'

(Newser) - It hasn’t been the best of summers for Jenny McCarthy: First the vocal anti-vaxxer was unceremoniously dumped from The View, then she was accused of slamming cousin Melissa McCarthy’s weight—a rumor that the blonder McCarthy denied to People . Now Jenny says her own 12-year-old son called the...

Oops: First Text to 911 May Have Come From a Driver

And if so, that's illegal

(Newser) - A 911 dispatcher in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County received a milestone message yesterday—the county's first-ever text to 911. One problem: It appears to have been sent by someone who was driving at the time, which is not only unwise but illegal in the state. “This is one...

Young Driver Never Finished This Text Before Fatal Crash
Young Driver Never Finished This Text Before Fatal Crash
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Apr 14, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

Young Driver Never Finished This Text Before Fatal Crash

Parents of Alexander Heit release it to highlight dangers

(Newser) - It was a nothing-special text to a buddy, but Alexander Heit made the mistake of trying to type it out while driving. He lost control, went off the road, and was killed when the car rolled, say police in Greeley, Colorado. Now the parents of the 22-year-old student at the...

Court: No, You Can't Check Map on Phone While Driving

California appeals court says it's basically the same as texting

(Newser) - If you're pulled over for texting while driving in California, don't try to use "But I was just looking at a map!" as an excuse. An appeals court in the state ruled late last month that using a mobile device to look at a map or...

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