Texting Driver Runs over MOtorcycle

In FLoyd Co Ind. a distracted 17 yr old driver wrapped his Car around a motorcycle and pushed 40 ft across an intersection.Throwing the passenger(Kayla Ratliff 18 yr old )and 40 yr driver 25 ft from point of impact.18 yr old passenger later died .Wittness at scene said Driver of car was texting while driving,according to WLKY news. Indiana has no law against texting while driving .Police report said driver was distracted.Motorcycle driver has serious back injury.

It's sad that someone was killed - it's more sad that the distracted driver may not suffer anything but a couple points on his driver license

It's sad that someone was killed - it's more sad that the distracted driver may not suffer anything but a couple points on his driver license

That seems to be the trend, doesn't it? Motorcycle riders don't pay as much road use taxes, property tax, and gasoline tax, so good riddance to second class citizens.

I am very glad that here in Ontario Canada we have made it illegal to text or talk with a cell phone while driving. Infact, do anything that is considered distracting. I still see many many people completely ignoring this new law though. It really makes me feel anger against these offenders as they don't seem to realize or understand that they shouldn't be doing this because it endangers the lives of other drivers, pedestrians and especially us motorcycle riders.

I have two encounters that I thought that I would share. Both of them I didn't know how to react, so I just starring in amazement. The first one I was at a red light behind a bunch of cars, two lanes, I was in the left, lots of traffic. A teenager/20 something pulled up beside me in the right lane in his lowered honda space ship, rolled down his window and asked me if he could cut in front of me when the light turned green because he "needed to turn left right away" - ALL while holding a cell phone against his head and talking to someone. I was shocked. I let him go cut in and left an unbelievable amount of space because I figured I didn't want this clown tailing me while chatting on his bberry. And what ticked me even more, he never turned left. If I only had a rocket launcher, I swear.

The second one was at a Wendys, for a hamburger run at lunch time. At this wendys you have to cross right in front of the path of the outgoing traffic from the drive-thru to get to the side door. As I was crossing, a man in his SUV pulled off from the drive thru window with his meal in a bag in hand and a cell phone in the other hand, pulled right up to my legs and hit the brakes. I walked past the SUV, stopped and did one of those stare blankly at him as he started to pull away while continuing to talk on his cell. He got angry that I was starring at him and he yell out "take a picture, it'll last longer". Completely oblivious! What a threat to safety for everyone. Again, rocket launcher needed.

I do work in a very busy town and I do realize that people are constantly in a rush, but come on, what about thinking for a minute! This angers me to no end - but I still won't act out on my anger because that will surely get me in an unsafe situation.

I'm sooo sorry to hear, again ....

Well, honestly, i can't say too much about these Fatalities anymore. Every Week there's a Report from somewhere in US where People get killed by irresponsible People and as long as there is no Gun Fight involved, they "only" use their Vehicle as a (deadly) Weapon, there seems not so much of Penalty involved.

I don't get it.

In Germany, we may not have the greatest Law System of the World, but each Driver who is involved in an Accident where People died will face serious Charges. And they will not only get a slap on the Wrist, but face a more or less serious Penalty. I believe five Years at Probation is the minimum Sentence you'll see, together with a hefty Fine. You'll be in Jail faster than you can say "I didn't do anything, i wasn't even there". And i'm talking about a real Accident, where mostly unlucky Circumstances got togehter and it just happened. Such a "Distraction" while Driving isn't an Accident, it's a Crime and should be punished as such.

The Way i read (and feel) it, in US, if you kill someone with a Gun or a Knife results in Life in Prison, whereas if you kill somebody with your Vehicle while Texting, Talking, Shaving, Nail Polishing or whatever else might "distract" you from the obvious Job at Hand, it's Kind of a freebie ...

What happened to premeditated Manslaughter ??

Sorry Folks, it's not against the US and the System, i'm really wondering about what's going wrong there.

You ain't the only one Squeeze!!

In FLoyd Co Ind. a distracted 17 yr old driver wrapped his Car around a motorcycle and pushed 40 ft across an intersection.Throwing the passenger(Kayla Ratliff 18 yr old )and 40 yr driver 25 ft from point of impact.18 yr old passenger later died .Wittness at scene said Driver of car was texting while driving,according to WLKY news. Indiana has no law against texting while driving .Police report said driver was distracted.

Here in Illinois it is against the law to text and drive but they don't/can't enforce it. It's a joke to most but my daughter lost one of her best friends last summer to texting and driving. 17 years old and driving down the road and texting her boyfriend and crossed the center line and then swerved back and lost control. What I don't understand is how many people have to die before we do something about it. There is a program available for phones that (all phones have gps) if the GPS says the car is going over 12 MPH then the cell phone is inoperable. THE PHONE WON"t WORK. People say it isn't fair since if they are a passenger they should be able to use their phone, Like I told them I don't care if it is incovienent (sp) for them because I don't want to be run over by a texter and since we ride we all see it going on.

Sorry I'll get off my high horse now

Rick

I wonder how many people have been killed already by a driver texting while driving? It would be interesting to know.

I feel so sorry for the family of the person who died. This stuff happens everyday: Texting needs to be outlawed while someone is driving.

How come supposed advancements in technology is really taking us backwards?

Yama Mama

What I don't understand is how many people have to die before we do something about it.

Apparently the government thinks if they ignore it long enough Darwin will take care of it. What they don't seem to realize the ones causing the problems are the usually the ones that survive to reproduce.

Apparently the government thinks if they ignore it long enough Darwin will take care of it. What they don't seem to realize the ones causing the problems are the usually the ones that survive to reproduce.

Hitler wanted to kill off the Retards. We are just letting then do it themselves!!!

You can tell these people all day and they just don't catch it!!

AIN"T GONNA HAPPEN TO ME!!

I know better. It can happen and more than once!!

Wife and I went for a ride last weekend out to Sooke. It is a long winding road, very narrow with no shoulders. On a rare straight stretch I saw a car coming the other way start to drift over onto our side of the road. Just before I had to take evasive action it pulled back to its own side. As I passed I saw the woman driving trying to light her cigarette.

On the ferry I see people sit in their car gazing out the window for the whole trip. As soon as they start moving off the ferry they grab their cell phone and start dialing.

While I agree that there should be laws against phone/text use while driving ( and we have such on texting in Ky.) the problem is the people that do these things with a total disregard for others. We can't legislate every little or big area of stupidity or responsibility. Just because we don't have laws country wide doesn't excuse this total lack of responsibility. Can't blame the government for everything although they have more than their share. AND, how can the texting law be enforced before the fact anyway???