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There should be a public service notice developed with pictures of the 13 victims on one side and the texting driver responsible for their deaths on the other.
Then copies should be distributed and posted all over the USA forcing drivers to see how dangerous texting while driving is.
While I understand your intent, I promise it's ineffective.
No how many times we hear/see all of the bad things that can and inevitably will happen when people are talking or texting while driving, people still do them. They do what they want. People are selfish and always operate under the guise of "it won't be me," or "i know better." It's nonsense.
My heart goes out to these poor victims and their families.
My friend had a rough childhood and a lot of adults were very cruel to him. His mother was the one shining light. My heart is breaking for him to lose her that way. She was very vibrant and active.
After his jail term, take away his driver's license forever. There is no reason this person should be allowed back on the road. There are PSA's about the dangers of texting and driving all over the place. He knew it was dangerous. Everyone knows it's dangerous. Some people are just ignorant.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. If you abuse the privilege, you lose the privilege.
While I understand your intent, I promise it's ineffective.
No how many times we hear/see all of the bad things that can and inevitably will happen when people are talking or texting while driving, people still do them. They do what they want. People are selfish and always operate under the guise of "it won't be me," or "i know better." It's nonsense.
My heart goes out to these poor victims and their families.
+1. I see people, all ages, texting or otherwise looking at their phones while driving almost if not every day I drive. It's absurd.
In 2015, 35,092 people died in motor vehicle crashes, up 7.2 percent from 2014, according to the NHTSA, the highest increase since 1966 years. Distracted driving seems the most likely cause for an increase. In 2015, 96 people died each day in motor vehicle crashes and 6,700 people were injured.
No different than drinking and driving. People have known it greatly increases the likelihood of an accident/fatality and endangers other drivers - but people still do it every day.
Again, autonomous vehicles can't come soon enough for me. Even if it takes 30 years, they'll reduce accidents before human drivers ever do...
My friend had a rough childhood and a lot of adults were very cruel to him. His mother was the one shining light. My heart is breaking for him to lose her that way. She was very vibrant and active.
So sorry for your friend's loss.
I think the driver who killed these people should be told this story, this and all the other stories of all the people he killed just because he had to say something "important" to someone that couldn't wait until he was out of his vehicle.
Texas is one of four states that does not have a statewide ban on texting while driving. After what just happened, it's a little shocking to read that the Governor of Texas opposes a ban because it would "micromanage the behavior of adults." The state House just passed a measure to ban texting on March 15, but it has yet to get through the state Senate.
Autonomous vehicles can't come soon enough for me. Too bad we're probably decades away from them being a majority on the roads...
In the context of such a tragic accident, its hard to make this argument. However, I believe the social disruption that will be caused by autonomous vehicles is so great that you may regret what you wished for. I agree this is a technology that is coming and there is probably nothing that will stop it. I also think it needs to be carefully studied, carefully evaluated, and highly regulated. I don't want private companies simply calling something an "autonomous vehicle" and that vehicle automatically being allowed to utilize the highway system. I want regulation, standardization, and solid proof that the vehicles are at least 200% or 300% safer than driver-operated vehicles.
When these vehicles are available, society will have to deal with the problem of 2 to 3 million unemployed truck drivers who may have little in the way of job skills that allow them to do much else. Perhaps, that's just the way it goes, but the country needs to prepare for this instead of focusing on the kind of trivial issues we've dealt with for decades.
I happen to enjoy the challenge of driving and I have what I think is an enviable track record doing it. Insurance companies have made fortunes from me because over forty years its difficult to find an accident I was involved in that was my fault. Others out there enjoy driving too. Because occasionally tragedies like this one occur, does not mean we should be restricted to an autonomous vehicle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unsettomati
Yeah, but every time an autonomous vehicle is in a fender-bender, people flip out and proclaim them insane death-traps that they'll never go near.
In fact, they probably text that to their friends as they're driving to work...
Perhaps, so. However, as I indicated above, autonomous vehicles will bring their share of problems as well as advantages. I think trying to stop technological change is pretty hopeless. As much so as trying to spit into the wind. However, rational people should fear a day when all decisions requiring discretion and judgment are given to computers or machines. What will become of people and their ability to make judgments and utilize discretion in such an environment?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suburban_Guy
Death penalty would be appropriate
Well, no. Yes, thirteen people were needlessly killed. What's missing from your analysis is that the law requires premeditation for homicide to be a capital crime and that is missing.
Its an awful situation, and one additional thought occurred to me. A twenty year old driving a pickup truck generally has little insurance or no insurance. Not only were these people killed. There will be little or no compensation available for their families unless the person who was deceased had uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance coverage. Plus, the way the bankruptcy laws are written, he can probably bankrupt out of any personal obligation he might have.
Last edited by markg91359; 04-01-2017 at 09:27 AM..
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