News British teen imprisoned after texting caused death

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/07...caused_death/1

A British teenage girl has been imprisoned for a fatal accident caused by sending a text message.

[LeMaltor]

Is she mad, she is going to miss Crysis, Alan Wake I just cant believe it. Still she should be out in time to play Half-Life 3 so its not all bad.

[cjoyce1980]

women drivers!!! i saw a copper doing the same thing the other day, but if i got my phone out to take a picture of him i'm sure i would of been slapped about a bit by now!

[Mister_X]

Way to go, trivialise a serious incident like this.

Alan Wake indeed. Obviously its GTA4

[Paradigm Shifter]

Is it just me, or does this show perfectly how people are ignoring this 'new' law? I mean, the law was pointless in the first place, because using a mobile while driving was "Driving Without Due Care and Attention"... but hey, Blair was good at passing pointless or loophole filled laws that did nothing or close to nothing.

Just ban the use of mobile phones in cars. Or actually have the police enforce the law, for a change. I see people driving using mobile phones all the time - why pass a law if you're not going to try to enforce it? Hell, the law is close to unenforcible anyway - why make laws you can't enforce at all?

[Jamie]

It does not say how long she is to be imprisoned for?

It also says that she was texting in the 15 minutes prior to the incident, if that is the case it wasn't the cause of the accident, it's just something the Police are adding to the sentence.

[[USRF]Obiwan]

I never anwer or even use my phone when driving. If it is that important they will call back.
But the car is not even that dangerous. Last week i saw some dude riding on his bike typing in a msg with both hands while listening to his i-pod. He almost drove straight into a parked bus. But he could avoid it in the last second.

Its a obsesion really. 25 years ago there where no mobiles at all in cars (maybe some expensive very weighty ones). Did anybody need it then? no...

Whats so damn important to make a call or type in a msg while driving any verhicle anyway? Car manufacturers should be forced to make a phone jammer inside the car so its imposible to use a mobile phone in a car...

[CardJoe]

Whenever I see someone on the phone whilst driving I either knock on their window if I'm close enough, or I throw something if not.

[[USRF]Obiwan]

Originally Posted by CardJoe

Whenever I see someone on the phone whilst driving I either knock on their window if I'm close enough, or I throw something if not.

You must be a karate-kid or builder type person. If i do that here. I have a 80% change to end in the hospital

[CardJoe]

Originally Posted by [USRF]Obiwan

You must be a karate-kid or builder type person. If i do that here. I have a 80% change to end in the hospital

N'ah, I just peg it.

[quack]

Originally Posted by [USRF

Obiwan]I never anwer or even use my phone when driving. If it is that important they will call back.
But the car is not even that dangerous. Last week i saw some dude riding on his bike typing in a msg with both hands while listening to his i-pod. He almost drove straight into a parked bus. But he could avoid it in the last second.

Its a obsesion really. 25 years ago there where no mobiles at all in cars (maybe some expensive very weighty ones). Did anybody need it then? no...

Whats so damn important to make a call or type in a msg while driving any verhicle anyway? Car manufacturers should be forced to make a phone jammer inside the car so its imposible to use a mobile phone in a car...

Blocking all calls is stupid, sometimes it's important to be able to receive calls while on the move. There's a reason hands-free devices were invented.

And if you think talking on a phone is distracting, how about talking to passengers, want that banned too? How about the radio? You may have to fiddle with the station or the volume, that's a distraction... let's ban the radio too. Next we'll ban air conditioning just in case you need to change the temperature and get distracted doing that.

[mandy_modded]

with the increasing complexity of cars any activity except actually driving should be illegal, and i'll incur the wrath of the forum by stating that car stereos should be redesigned so that most functions require the vehicle to be stopped to change (excluding changing volume or on/off).

I have 6 classic cars (Wolseley's 1936,1948, 1955,1962 and 2 Mazda's 1977) as well as a modern 2006 Mazda, and the older cars are very uncomplicated with so few gadgets or knobs or butttons' for the myriad functions and extras that modern cars have.

I actually bought my partner a mobile last year for while i was in hospital, it sits in my purse and comes out for charging periodically and topping up the pre-paid amount, it is for emergencies only.

[Paradigm Shifter]

Originally Posted by Jamie

It does not say how long she is to be imprisoned for?

Says right in the first paragraph - four years.

[xrob]

I think its a bit harsh to be imprisoned for 4 years because they sent/received messages and or calls 15mins prior to the crash, i know they are trying to set an example but really how big of a difference is sending 1 girl to jail for 4 years and pretty much destroying her life. In a few months everyone will have forgotten about it. Unless she is some white trash chav girl with no ambition in life i feel really sorry for her.
And dont say you've never used your mobile or text or make/receive calls in the car because i bet you have.

[Nexxo]

Originally Posted by quack

And if you think talking on a phone is distracting, how about talking to passengers, want that banned too? How about the radio? You may have to fiddle with the station or the volume, that's a distraction... let's ban the radio too. Next we'll ban air conditioning just in case you need to change the temperature and get distracted doing that.

Not quite the same. Operating a fiddly little mobile is hard to do without taking your eyes of the road, whereas radio and airco can generally be managed on touch alone. Moreover, radios and airco's don't demand your attention right at that tricky junction... Talking into a mobile also takes one hand off the wheel for a long time. Sometimes your arm blocks a bit of your view too, and it is harder to move your head to check left and right.

Originally Posted by mandy_modded

with the increasing complexity of cars any activity except actually driving should be illegal, and i'll incur the wrath of the forum by stating that car stereos should be redesigned so that most functions require the vehicle to be stopped to change (excluding changing volume or on/off).

Kind of awkward. Apart from the problems it may cause when people pull over just anywhere to change station or swap a CD (that should aid congestion, then), it is totally unnecessary --if you apply that increasing complexity of cars correctly.

Take the latest Honda Civic or Afa Romeo. All the radio and hands free phone controls are on the wheel. Moreover, they have voice control. You want to adjust the airco? You just tell the car to. You also tell it to dial numbers, pick up a ringing phone (it even turns off the radio for you), or change station or volume. You don't even have to fuss with CDs because you can connect your iPod --which you again can control over the steering wheel or by voice.

[CardJoe]

Originally Posted by xrob

I think its a bit harsh to be imprisoned for 4 years because they sent/received messages and or calls 15mins prior to the crash, i know they are trying to set an example but really how big of a difference is sending 1 girl to jail for 4 years and pretty much destroying her life. In a few months everyone will have forgotten about it. Unless she is some white trash chav girl with no ambition in life i feel really sorry for her.
And dont say you've never used your mobile or text or make/receive calls in the car because i bet you have.

She killed someone (Old, but still), through negligence and stupidity. It doesn't matter who she is or what her background is. I'm an absolutist here, true, but people exist in a society and agree to follow its laws. She broke those laws and got the appropriate punishment. Not everyone will have forgotten about it either, the family and friends will be affected at least and every little bit to stop deaths like this helps.

And i've never used a mobile in a car. But then, I don't drive.

[proxess]

Just use hands free kits and make a phone call. Is it that hard?

[Nexxo]

Originally Posted by xrob

I think its a bit harsh to be imprisoned for 4 years because they sent/received messages and or calls 15mins prior to the crash, i know they are trying to set an example but really how big of a difference is sending 1 girl to jail for 4 years and pretty much destroying her life. In a few months everyone will have forgotten about it. Unless she is some white trash chav girl with no ambition in life i feel really sorry for her.
And dont say you've never used your mobile or text or make/receive calls in the car because i bet you have.

First, let's get the facts straight:

Begg, a bank worker who hoped to become an accountant, used her cell phone nine times in the 15 minutes before she rear-ended Waites' car, which spun out and hit a crash barrier, police said...

...Waites, of Wingate, died at the crash scene. Begg, of nearby Ponteland, suffered neck injuries. An investigation showed Begg made and received phone calls and read and sent text messages in the 15 minutes before she hit Waites' car.

Not the same as using the phone 15 minutes prior to the crash.

There's a certain tragedy about it, but it is not only her life that was destroyed --we may forget about her in a few months, but it seems you already have forgotten about the 64-year old grandmother who got killed. In any case, laws mean nothing unless people are prepared to enforce them. Rachel may be a bright, ambitious girl, but that only means she should have understood the risks and the law better.

I've never used a mobile while barreling down a road at 70mph at night, in the rain, by the way. Certainly not nine times in 15 minutes.

[capnPedro]

God damnit, I can't believe people would be this stupid! It was not only raining and dark but she was only 19. 2 years of driving experience does not make you an expert. Yet she still decides to take her concentration off the road. What the hell? People who act that irresponsibly don't deserve to be allowed control over a potentially lethal car.

[Amon]

And I thought that driver licensing is stricter in the U.K.--not that it would have been a countermeasure against idiots like this girl. A hands-free kit doesn't offer a quantifiable advantage by measure of mental alertness, and could only be conceivably useful if you are driving a manual transmission. It's people like this who can't appreciate driving pleasure and think of it as 'just another task'.