'We forgot to ask if he was playing NASCAR, but we'll assume'
(Newser) -
A man in Missouri has been nailed for completing an unusual trifecta of dangerous driving: speeding at more than 100mph, with a suspended license, all while playing a video game. According to police in Claycomo, the unidentified driver was in a white car on Tuesday evening on Interstate 35 when...
Officials said Danny Glen Tiner saw four videos just before the crash
(Newser) -
After Danny Glen Tiner crashed his tractor-trailer into stopped traffic on I-10 near Chandler, Arizona, he told officials he had been reading a message on his "electronic work tablet" and didn't have enough time to brake after he looked up. The crash killed five—and AZ Family reports...
Research shows brief impairment after trying to multitask at the wheel
(Newser) -
Research into distracted driving has found reason to think it's more of a problem than data and past studies have shown. And distracted driving already is linked to numerous fatal accidents—more than 3,500 of them in the US in 2021. The research published in the Journal of ...
Coalition plans to use technology to address what NTSB calls an 'epidemic'
(Newser) -
The methods of collecting the data are so flawed that it's not clear how many road deaths are caused by distracted driving, says the vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. But Bruce Landsberg is sure of this much: "This is an epidemic." The toll goes...
State Sen. Andrew Brennerd drives while Zooming, on day Ohio unveils distracted-driving bill
(Newser) -
On Monday, House Bill 283 was introduced in Ohio in a bid to tamp down on distracted driving by banning texting, taking photos, livestreaming, or otherwise using an electronic device while behind the wheel. That same day, a state senator was busted doing just that during a virtual meeting of...
Rebecca Saldana admitted she attended virtual hearing while driving in Washington state
(Newser) -
Washington state Sen. Rebecca Saldana has voted in support of penalties for distracted driving. She's also vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, which makes it especially surprising that she opted to break a distracted-driving law during a virtual hearing of that committee on Tuesday. The Democrat representing parts...
But what distracted Ravnsborg hasn't been revealed
(Newser) -
The investigation into the fatal crash involving South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is nearly complete, the state's governor and public safety secretary said in a Monday press conference. The big finding is that Ravnsborg was distracted when he struck and killed a pedestrian on Sept. 12—a crash...
Driver charged after 3 were killed in Indiana
(Newser) -
Police in Indiana say a fatal crash on an interstate happened after a trucker took his eyes off the road to set down his coffee mug, reports Fox News . The crash occurred Sunday morning on I-65 when a semi plowed into eight vehicles that had slowed down ahead, says the...
Australia's New South Wales may be the first to employ the technology
(Newser) -
Australia's most populous state is trying to get people to put down their phones while driving by rolling out cameras to prosecute distracted motorists. New South Wales Roads Minister Andrew Constance says his is the first jurisdiction in the world to use such technology to punish drivers distracted by...
Police hand out tickets under the state's hands-free law
(Newser) -
Drivers in Cobb County, Georgia got a little surprise this week when construction workers turned out to be undercover cops, CBS News reports. The helmet-wearing officers aimed to stop drivers from using smartphones behind the wheel, and wrote 170 tickets at one crossing alone in only a few hours, mostly...
Callison Mae Olson will also have to serve 60 days in jail
(Newser) -
A Minnesota teenager who killed a former police officer and his university professor wife after being distracted by her phone has been sentenced to 60 days in jail—and 25 speaking engagements on the dangers of distracted driving. Callison Mae Olson, now 18, was 17 at the time of last...
It's tough to shift and text, op-ed points out
(Newser) -
An op-ed in the New York Times makes the case for a low-tech solution to the problem of distracted driving: Embrace the stick shift. Drivers have to pay attention to actual driving when operating a manual transmission, writes Vatsal Thakkar, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU. "A...
Canadian woman who used Apple Watch found guilty of distracted driving
(Newser) -
A Canadian woman says she was just checking the time, a police officer says her mind wasn't fully on driving, and an Ontario judge has sided with the cop. The National Post reports Victoria Ambrose was found guilty of breaking a distracted-driving law, after a University of Guelph police...
New distracted driving law went into effect Sunday
(Newser) -
Washington state is cracking down on texting and eating at the wheel with a new law that went into effect Sunday. The new “Driving Under the Influence of Electronics” law puts stricter restrictions on the use of handheld devices in cars, reports the Seattle Times . Even when stopped at...
Dad who lost son to texting driver want cops to be able to examine phone data at scene
(Newser) -
When Ben Lieberman's 19-year-old son died in a head-on collision in New York, he sued to get phone records showing the driver of the car his son was in had been texting. Lieberman is channeling his grief into a proposal that would allow New York police at accident scenes...
Zendrive shares concerning numbers in largest distracted-driving analysis yet
(Newser) -
An eyebrow-raising new study assesses the extent of distracted driving, with stats revealing just how many people use their cellphones while behind the wheel. "Damn near everybody … damn near all the time," Wired concludes after reviewing the Zendrive report, which the driving analytics company says is the...
There's no statewide Texas law against it
(Newser) -
A witness says the driver of a pickup truck that collided with a church minibus in rural Texas, killing 13 people, acknowledged he had been texting while driving—highlighting the dangers of sending messages on smartphones while behind the wheel. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Conrad Hein wouldn't...
Judge advises teacher to educate others about distracted driving
(Newser) -
A Minnesota woman who struck and killed a man while allegedly texting and driving will spend just four days in jail over two years. As part of a plea deal, Le Sueur County Judge Mark Vandelist on Monday sentenced Susan Ann Russo to four days behind bars, 40 hours of...
Bill generates a lot of attention
(Newser) -
A New Jersey lawmaker wants to slap stiff fines on motorists guilty of distracted driving, which his bill defines as "any activity unrelated to the actual operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that interferes with the safe operation of the vehicle." A story at NJ.com...
'That's what I get for playing this dumb-a-- game': distracted Baltimore driver
(Newser) -
Even a Legendary may not be able to get a young man from Baltimore out of trouble after his SUV ran into a police car early Monday while he was allegedly playing Pokemon Go, the Baltimore Sun reports. USA Today notes body-camera video was released that shows a Toyota RAV4...
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