I DARE YA TO TELL ONE OF THESE TEXTING AND DRIVING IS A DISTRACTION

TEXTING, PHONES, DRIVING AND ANOTHER DEATH OF SOMEONE I KNOW 10NOV12

 I sent the following e mail to my family, I am also sending it to all my friends because I do not want any of you to go through this. This is the second person I've known to be killed because of people driving and using their phones. My Aunt Lynn was killed two years ago by a person who was talking on their phone and driving. So please, DO NOT TALK ON YOUR PHONE OR TEXT WHILE DRIVING!

I am just heartsick and also angry. Friends of Jen, Ted and Katie, members of their church, lost their son, Levi, just 21 years old, in a car accident last night. Jen asked me to send this out asking that you please pray for his parents, Diane and Terry,  they are having a really hard time dealing with this. I am angry because he had just sent a text his Mom, while driving, telling her he was almost home when he lost control of his car and slammed into a tree. He and his friend (and I am sorry but I don't know the other boy's name) were both killed. Such a horrible waste, so tragic, and probably would have not happened had he not been texting and driving. Please keep these families in your prayers, and please remember this tragic lesson for yourselves and share it with others, because there isn't a phone call that has to be made or answered, or a text read or sent, that can't wait until you are not driving.
Craig

Cellphone Ban Proposed For Drivers By National Transportation Safety Board 12DEZ11

MY Aunt Lynn was killed on 14 MAR 2010 by someone who lost control of their car while talking on their cell phone while driving. The driver who T-boned my aunt's car walked away from the accident. Politicians that allowed this behavior to be legal then and still are just as guilty of killing her and hundreds of others as the drivers themselves.

By John Crawley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. safety investigators called on Tuesday for a nationwide ban on texting and cell phone use while driving, a prohibition that would include certain applications of hands-free technology becoming more common in new cars.
The National Transportation Safety Board recommendation covers portable devices only but still goes beyond measures proposed or imposed to date by regulators and states, most of which already ban texting while behind the wheel.
"When it comes to using electronic devices, it may seem like it's a quick call or a quick text or a tweet, but accidents happen in the blink of an eye," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman. "No emails, no texts, no calls. It's worth a human life."
More than 3,000 people were killed in distracted driving crashes in the United States in 2010, according to Transportation Department figures.
Most motorists participating in a Transportation Department survey released last week acknowledged few situations in which they would not use a cell phone or text while behind the wheel although they supported measures to curb the practice.
The five-member NTSB recommendation to states for a ban, except in an emergency, stemmed from an investigation of a Missouri chain-reaction crash that killed two people last year, an accident blamed on a driver who was texting.

The panel's action follows nearly 10 years of investigating transportation accidents linked in some way to distraction and is not binding. But the safety board has long been effective at articulating national transportation safety priorities and its views can be influential in legislative or regulatory decisionmaking.
Congress has shown no interest in banning cell phone use or texting while driving. So far 35 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, but fewer than a dozen prohibit using a cell phone.
The Transportation Department has waged an aggressive public campaign on the issue under Secretary Ray LaHood that has included limited bans.
"There's no call or text message that's so important that it can't wait," LaHood said.
LaHood has raised concerns about distracted driving and hands-free technology with automobile companies but has not prompted federal action or asked industry to stop putting it into new vehicles.
Cell phones and communication technology is ubiquitous and sweeping bans like the one proposed by the NTSB are considered difficult to enforce, experts have said.
This is one reason why federal and state restrictions so far have focused on the most obvious distraction - texting - or targeted individual groups, like truckers or federal workers.
The auto industry has invested heavily in hands-free communications technology, like Bluetooth, that is now available in most 2012 models sold in the United States as standard or optional equipment.
"It actually is a big decisionmaker for some consumers," said Jesse Toprak, a vice president of TrueCar.com, who noted that Ford Motor, in particular, has been aggressive in using it to attract younger buyers who may not otherwise have considered one of their cars.
Ford referred inquiries to the industry's trade group in Washington, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which said it was reviewing the NTSB recommendation.
"What we do know is that digital technology has created a connected culture in the United States and it's forever changed our society: consumers always expect to have access to technology, so managing technology is the solution.
"Features that are integrated into the vehicle, and are designed by automakers are engineered to be used in the driving environment. That means it's designed to be used in a way that helps drivers keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel," the group said.
The trade association representing carriers, suppliers, and manufacturers of wireless products said texting while driving is "incompatible with safety."
CITA-The Wireless Association deferred to individual states on "what they believe are the most appropriate laws" and said it has always encouraged industry to develop tools that would create safer driving.
(Editing by Christopher Wilson)

FACES OF DISTRACTED DRIVING

My Aunt Lynn was killed in a car accident on 14MAR10 because a person was talking on his cell phone while driving and lost control of his car and crashed into hers. This video is part of a series from the U.S. Dept of Transportation on the deadly problem of distracted driving.....please share with family and friends and coworkers....
 
On November 10, 2009, 17-year-old Alex Brown was killed when she crashed her truck on a rural road while she was on her way to school. She was texting at the time of the crash.

To honor Alex's memory, her family -- Jeanne, Johnny Mac, and 12-year-old Katrina -- formed an anti-distracted driving advocacy group, the Remember Alex Brown Foundation.

For more information, please visit www.distraction.gov. To share your story, upload a video to YouTube and email the link to faces@distraction.gov.