Sunday, November 1, 2009

Tough penalties in the UK for texting/driving

Here's the link. It's a NY Times piece. The photo of the victim's wrecked car is small but you can enlarge it - I did, and I don't recommend that you do. Bright yellow car on the road shoulder, flashers on. Should have been visible for 300 yards. "I never saw it," said the defendant....

2 comments:

cyclotourist said...

And that is unfortunately the reason/excuse for why I don't ride my bike to work. I would LOVE to ride to work but the only route is on a high-traffic two lane road. It winds through a foot-hill pass, and there is VERY little shoulder in places. Basically just the fog line painted on the edge of the asphalt. I can't get the over the idea of someone talking/texting/putting on makeup/fiddling with an ipod/whatever driving by my at that point and plowing right into me from the back.

Not commuting by bike really sucks, but so does being dead.

Anonymous said...

Two problems here -- a) some innocent person was killed by an idiot fooling around with a cell phone b) folks who might otherwise get outta their cars and ride a bike are frightened away from the idea after reading about a. This is one where the US Federal Govt needs to step in with witholding of highway funds in states which do not make distracted driving a serious issue. It worked with seat belts!