Dude, if you text while driving...at least HIDE IT!

[dash riposki]

I saw this coffee truck wandering around in his lane, and thought it was due to the wind, but that didn't explain while he was going so slow.

When I passed him, it was obvious.

It looked like one of those industrial smartphone things they use for inventory, orders, etc.

He was busy tapping away with a pen or stylus, with it held above the steering wheel.

 

[kamkar]

NO ! every one got to see his new iphone 6, for the same reasons the pinkish color for the new line of apple phones seem to be the most popular.

Then ppl can see by the color that you have the latest model, and therefore you are an exceptional trendy person.


I dunno, seem like i operate on a whole other plane than a lot of other ppl operate on

 

[Daywalker]

Here that would cost you $200 and five points on your license, people STILL aren't getting the message. Here's how one reacted to getting a ticket.

Man Who Rammed 5 Winnipeg Police Cars Speaks From Prison

WINNIPEG – He rammed five police cars and led officers on a high speed chase outside the city. Now the man behind the wheel of a five-tonne truck is speaking out from behind bars exclusively to Global News.

“Five demerits destroyed me,” said Wayne Rennie from behind a reinforced glass partition in the Winnipeg Remand Centre. “I was just really frustrated, upset, and I said, you know, if I’m going to lose my job, I’m going lose it all.”

Rennie is facing 12 charges including assault, flight from police and mischief. He admits he lost it after getting a cellphone ticket and five demerits. He wasn’t happy knowing he’d probably lose his driver’s licence and his job at B & R Transfer.

“So then I went and carried on with my day and did some more deliveries, and then drove on Princess Street and saw some cop cars,” said Rennie, “I said you know, f*** it, I’m going to do it.”

Damage to the five crushed cruisers was extreme, pegged at roughly $100,000 by police.

“After that you left, where did you go?” Global News reporter Lorraine Nickel asked Rennie.

“I did some more deliveries. They say I’m a hard worker.”

“At what point did you decide to head out of town?” asked Nickel.

“I decided to head out of town when my boss said “Has anyone been in an accident?” So I had said, “Oh oh, jig’s up. I guess I can’t say I backed into a dock too fast or something, because the tail was bent on the truck.”

“Where were you going to go?”

“As far as the gas would get me,” said Rennie.

He said police weren’t chasing him until he purposely swerved at a cruiser car near Headingley.

“Why did you swerve in front of the cop car?”

“Get his attention, pursuit, I didn’t want it, it happened … I looked in the rear view mirror and all I can see cop car, cop car, cop car,” Rennie said with a laugh.

About 20 police cruisers chased Rennie down Highway 1. The 30-minute, nearly 100-kilometre pursuit ended near Portage la Prairie, Man. Rennie said he had managed to dodge seven spike belts, but when police put one on a bridge, he knew he couldn’t go any farther and stopped on the side of the road.

“I gave up, ” said Rennie. “I’ve never seen that many cops and guns in my life. It was like a movie … assault rifles, you name it.”

After the interview, Rennie wanted Nickel to take a photo of him, but cellphones are not allowed in the Winnipeg Remand Centre. He had bruises on his face, bruises he said he got when officers arrested him.

“I got beat up. I guess it serves me right.”

Winnipeg police said Wednesday, “Mr. Rennie quite possibly suffered injuries while he resisted officers.”

Rennie knows he will be in jail for a while. He regrets what he did and learned a hard lesson, he said.

“I apologize for putting everyone in danger, and I’m glad no one got hurt,” said Rennie.

 

[sludgeguts]

Here that would cost you $200 and five points on your license, people STILL aren't getting the message. Here's how one reacted to getting a ticket.

Man Who Rammed 5 Winnipeg Police Cars Speaks From Prison

"Damage to the five crushed cruisers was extreme, pegged at roughly $100,000 by police." That's $100,000 to be paid for by you and I.

IMO, it's about time these people lost more than a few months' liberty. If they have the money in the bank, they should pay. If not, then if they own their own homes, these should be sold to pay off these bills. If they have a family, well, they maybe should've thought about that. If they can't repay the debt then maybe it's time we had prisons where inmates could work off their debt.
Maybe if the laws were stricter, people would join the dots...lose my licence=lose my job=can't pay mortgage=home might be put at risk...

 

[dash riposki]

He was using a mode which is pretty common, 'go slow while texting', thinking he was safer.

You can often spot them ahead of you, wandering in the lane, sometimes even doing this in the'fast' lane.

It was pretty windy that day so I thought he possibly could have been empty, and being blown around, but, no.

The device he was using looked like a commercial unit, like UPS/Fedex has you sign when they deliver a package to you.

FWIW, it looks like Oklahoma doesn't have a 'texting' law, yet, but there is a Federal ban for commercial trucks over 10,000 pounds,.

I see stuff like this pretty often, it's just pretty rare it shows up on the cam video. (The actual smartphone or device)

I had a car almost run into me yesterday where I could clearly see the smartphone in his hands, but you can't see the phone in the video.

At night, when it's dark, you wouldn't believe how many smartphones I can see being used in cars that pass me.

The glowing screen kind of makes it pretty obvious.

 

[DT MI]

...
IMO, it's about time these people lost more than a few months' liberty. If they have the money in the bank, they should pay. If not, then if they own their own homes, these should be sold to pay off these bills. If they have a family, well, they maybe should've thought about that. If they can't repay the debt then maybe it's time we had prisons where inmates could work off their debt....

I don't know about Canada or the U.K. but here courts can, and often do, order restitution for damages caused. Whether or not any monies are collected is another matter. As far as I know there is no 'statute of limitations' on court ordered restitution, it remains in effect for life, and I don't believe it can be discharged through bankruptcy either.

 

[kamkar]

Well the Winnipeg guy should have been thinking about that.

I am not the smartest guy around, and it was a lot worse when i was young, but i did by myself manage to figure out that if you proceede with this life of crime you will go to jail one day, and i am pretty sure that if you lock me up in a little room for more then 24 houres i will be dangeling from a rope.

The grey goo between your ears are there to be used, and its pretty easy, dont even need a manual or a licence for operating the stuff.

 

[Viking]

I have always hated when truck driver sneak peek down in the car. Good thing is I got better behavior now, than when I was young. Plus no phones and no Dash cams at that time.
I remember I got caught one time getting a BJ Truck driver gave me a BIG honk, so did GF.

 

[dash riposki]

We don't have to sneak a peek. Sometimes people do things they WANT you to see.
I usually avoid looking down into cars that seem to be lingering alongside on purpose.
It's usually a male driver, playing 'stick shift' in a car with an automatic transmission.



Here's a lady driving a little SUV who was alongside of me in a construction zone for a few minutes, during which I could see her texting away the whole time. (Not sure it shows up on the cam videos, will look closer later)

I'm sure she thinks she's a good driver, able to text and handle anything that comes up on the highway? Laws are for 'other' people.

(My horn is NOT that loud)

 

[Gibson99]

no, your horn isn't very loud. barely heard it in the video, even with it turned up. i too have startled texting/calling drivers who aren't paying attention. sometimes i get an even bigger reaction than you did. i expect that though, so i make sure i'm not directly beside them when i do it.

 

[Daywalker]

Places are starting to ban texting and walking, if that's considered unsafe how much longer before people relies texting and driving is really unsafe?

Communities Start To Fine For Texting And Walking

{If you're reading this story on your smartphone while walking, you're looking in the wrong place.}

A growing number of communities are trying to get that message across to stave off pedestrian accidents that can happen when people walking become too engrossed with their phones.

This spring, Fort Lee, N.J., police began issuing $85 fines for careless walking, and the Utah Transit Authority made distracted walking around trains punishable by a $50 fine.

Delaware has taken a different approach, placing about 100 large stickers with the words "LOOK UP" on sidewalks near crosswalks in Wilmington, Newark and Rehoboth Beach, urging pedestrians to pay less attention to their phones and more to what's going on around them.

"Delaware may be breaking some new ground," says Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, which tracks state highway safety campaigns. "It's really an emerging issue."

Nabree Tilghman, 18, slowed his walk slightly to check his Android smartphone as he approached an intersection this week in Wilmington, Del.

"If you're aware of your surroundings, it's safe. You just have to be smart about it." said Tilghman, a student at Delaware Technical Community College.

Tilghman admits he has, on occasion, tripped while texting and crossing the street, but says he hasn't run into anyone or had close calls with a moving vehicle.

Others haven't fared as well. Research from Ohio State University showed cellphone use by pedestrians led to more than 1,000 emergency-room visits nationwide in 2008.

In March, a 45-year-old woman had to be rescued from Lake Michigan after she fell off a pier while texting and walking, police said.

"When people are talking on cellphones, texting or even listening to music, unfortunately, they're not as aware of what's going on around them," said Police Lt. Mark Farrall in Newark, Del.

Texting While Walking, Woman Falls Into Fountain

READING, Pa., We've all been warned about the dangers of texting and driving, but for one woman, it turned out that texting while walking wasn't a good idea.

Cathy Cruz Marrero was doing just that in the Berkshire Mall in Reading, Pa. when she suddenly tumbled headfirst into a water fountain, getting completely drenched.

It was caught by the mall's surveillance video system, then posted on YouTube, where it's been viewed almost 2 million times.

Cruz Marrero, 49, who works in the mall, has hired an attorney.

She wasn't hurt, "at least not physically," remarked "Early Show" co-anchor Chris Wragge.

But Cruz Marrero says what does hurt is "the humiliation (from the video having been put online). The humiliation. Ask my husband: I cried for days. … You don't know how many people are laughing at me."

Texting while walking, Cruz says, is "dangerous. … I could have been walking into a bus, a car, a ditch, anything. Texting and walking, take it from me, is dangerous. It really is."

She told the Reading Eagle, "I don't think security was professional because they didn't send anyone to check on me until 20 minutes later and I had already left."

On "The Early Show," Wragge and fellow co-anchors Erica Hill, Jeff Glor and Marysol Castro weighed in on the incident, which was shown repeatedly as they spoke:

Watch Out! Texting While Walking Lands Teen In Trouble

On almost any busy street these days you'll find people enamored with their cell phones, happily tapping away at keys or peering at teeny tiny screens. Rarely are they looking straight ahead.

This apparently was the case when a Staten Island, N.Y., teen who was texting fell into a manhole while strolling with a friend last week.

Alexa Longueira was about to send a text message when she suddenly slipped under the sidewalk.

"She literally just handed me the phone and I opened it [and] I felt this big drop," the 15-year-old told the Staten Island Advance.

"It was four or five feet, it was very painful. I kind of crawled out and the DEP guys came running and helped me," she said. "They were just, like, 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!'"

The six-foot landing, which left her with cuts, scrapes and bruises along her spine and ribs was softened by raw sewage.

The Department of Environmental Protection said its workers briefly left the manhole unattended to fetch cones and was quite conciliatory.

"DEP is conducting a full investigation of what happened during a manhole incident on Victory Boulevard," said DEP spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla. "We regret that this happened and wish the young woman a speedy recovery."

But Longueira's family is displeased and, according to the Staten Island Advance, is considering a lawsuit.

Texting aside, Alexa's mother Kim Longueira said workers never should have left the manhole uncovered and unattended. Although it could have been worse, she said it was still disgusting.

"Oh my God, it was putrid," she said. "One of her sneakers is still down there."

Distraction is a real danger, as this Staten Island teen learned, but it comes to cell phones

 

[DT MI]

If I remember correctly the woman who fell into the fountain ended up filing a lawsuit for public humiliation. I don't remember who she sued - might have been a TV station, network, or maybe the mall for releasing the video.

 

[Daywalker]

If I remember correctly the woman who fell into the fountain ended up filing a lawsuit for public humiliation. I don't remember who she sued - might have been a TV station, network, or maybe the mall for releasing the video.

She wanted to sue the mall because having the fountain in the mall posed a safety risk.

It was all tossed out. Mall basically said blind people have managed to avoid that fountain, how couldn't you?

 

[DT MI]

Ah, found it. She was going to sue mall security for not coming to her aid.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...l-fountain-sues-security-guards-laughing.html

Turns out she isn't the naive, innocent person she claims to be either -

http://abcnews.go.com/US/fountain-falling-texter-cathy-cruz-marrero-dont-text/story?id=12685189

 

[Daleg]

If I fell into the fountain accidentally....I'd play it off by doing a couple of laps, then act like I picked up something from the bottom of the fountain and jump up and yell "Found it!"...then act like I was sticking a contact back into my eye. Slosh right out like everything is normal and continue shopping.

 

[dash riposki]

They should ban her from the mall for her own safety.

 

[Daleg]

They should ban her from walking...or only let her walk while wearing water wings.

 

[Daywalker]

Here's an update to the kid that intentionally rammed five police cruisers for getting a ticket for using his cell phone while driving.

Driver Sentenced For Smashing Police Cars

A delivery truck driver who rammed his vehicle into five Winnipeg police cars and led officers on a highway chase outside the city in July has been sentenced to 2½ years behind bars.

Wayne Rennie pleaded guilty to mischief, assaulting a peace officer with a weapon and fleeing from a peace officer, all related to the events of July 20.

He has received two nine-month sentences on the latter two charges, to be served consecutively. He was also handed a 12-month sentence on the mischief charge but was credited seven months for time already served.

Rennie backed the large truck into five Winnipeg Police Service vehicles — two marked cars and three unmarked cars — parked outside the Public Safety Building on Princess Avenue.

The smash-up, which caused extensive damage to the vehicles, was witnessed by news crews covering a protest by medicinal marijuana advocates outside the police headquarters.

Police said it happened about two hours after Rennie received a ticket for using a cellphone while driving.

After the police cars were damaged, dozens of city police and RCMP cars chased the truck on the Trans-Canada Highway west from Winnipeg. The truck was eventually stopped about 100 kilometres away, near Portage la Prairie, Man.

In addition to time behind bars, Rennie will have to pay Manitoba Public Insurance the cost of repairing the police cars.

 

[dash riposki]

^^^ It's no fair this happened in Canada. I bet he wasn't even tazed.

 

[erkme73]

While you obviously shouldn't text and drive, if you're going to do it, I would argue it's safer to hold the phone up high, and in your direct line of sight so you at least have your peripheral vision in play. But with the anti-texting laws, people who still feel the need to text, are now trying to do it surreptitiously, by holding the phone in their lap - looking down to read/text. Laws won't fix stupid, but in this case, it makes stupid even more dangerous.