A lot of people do it. It’s distracting per say, but everyone things they’re careful enough to manage it. It’s just a glance, right? But if you slip up and cause injury or death, “the book” will quite likely be thrown at you. Not only did you destroy lives, you destroyed your own (if you survive unhurt – as Aaron Deveau did in Massachusetts). He was 17 at the time. Now he’s been convicted and sentence to a year in jail, with more years suspended, and 15 years suspended license. He’s going to have massive problems with employment due to his record.

His defense claimed that texts weren’t the cause of the wreck, but he’d sent and received 193 that day. There was a 37 minute gap around the time of the accident, but it was found upon examination of the phone records that two messages had been erased during that gap. I don’t know what the explanation for this, but apparently it was insufficient to convince the jury of reasonable doubt.

I wonder if an option will come out for cars that will prevent your cell from working inside, except for emergency calls and preset numbers (ie home, not friends). Would a parent of teen drivers consider this a good investment? I wonder if teen accidents have increased since the proliferation of cell phones?

B