12-14-2011, 03:07 AM
First off, let me just say that any texting while driving is moronic and in most cases cell phone use while driving is moronic. In most places this behavior is also illegal.
That said, there appear to be some misconceptions here. First of all, my understanding is that in the particular crash in question this guy died while performing epic darwin award behavior (11 texts!?). However, the two school buses that rammed the back of the stopped vehicles did so as a result of driver error (following way too close). It's not at all clear that the accident could have been averted if only the driver hadn't been texting. We don't even know if the errant texter might have survived if the school buses hadn't rammed him. We're talking TWO school buses ramming into a stopped vehicle. The school bus drivers were totally responsible for maintaining a safe following distance and didn't do so. For all we know the pickup could possibly have stopped behind the truck and the two school buses rammed him whether or not he was texting. The NTSB is making a big political to do about this, probably because of all the political hay that can be made of headlines with "DEAD KID - TWO SCHOOL BUSES - 11 TEXTS", but I don't see a solid connection in the presented facts.
Second of all, how is making new laws going to help the situation? What the driver was doing was already illegal. There's already a law against what he was doing. It didn't work, just as prohibition didn't work to prevent a destructive but common behavior. Laws that try to change common behaviors are generally destined for the dustbin of history. Why not focus on other methods, like requiring cars and cell phones to have interlocks that disallow all but emergency calls while a car is in drive. Oh no!! The carmakers and cell phone makers will fight that tooth and nail because it makes their products very slightly more expensive and worse yet, less appealing to their customers.
That said, there appear to be some misconceptions here. First of all, my understanding is that in the particular crash in question this guy died while performing epic darwin award behavior (11 texts!?). However, the two school buses that rammed the back of the stopped vehicles did so as a result of driver error (following way too close). It's not at all clear that the accident could have been averted if only the driver hadn't been texting. We don't even know if the errant texter might have survived if the school buses hadn't rammed him. We're talking TWO school buses ramming into a stopped vehicle. The school bus drivers were totally responsible for maintaining a safe following distance and didn't do so. For all we know the pickup could possibly have stopped behind the truck and the two school buses rammed him whether or not he was texting. The NTSB is making a big political to do about this, probably because of all the political hay that can be made of headlines with "DEAD KID - TWO SCHOOL BUSES - 11 TEXTS", but I don't see a solid connection in the presented facts.
Second of all, how is making new laws going to help the situation? What the driver was doing was already illegal. There's already a law against what he was doing. It didn't work, just as prohibition didn't work to prevent a destructive but common behavior. Laws that try to change common behaviors are generally destined for the dustbin of history. Why not focus on other methods, like requiring cars and cell phones to have interlocks that disallow all but emergency calls while a car is in drive. Oh no!! The carmakers and cell phone makers will fight that tooth and nail because it makes their products very slightly more expensive and worse yet, less appealing to their customers.