Cellphone distracted driver could get up to 10 years' sentence in negligent homicide

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6650564.html

HOUSTON TX---
Jurors are expected to decide Monday on the punishment for a woman who was convicted in the death of a 25-year-old man after prosecutors argued that she was distracted by her cell phone at the time of the three-car crash.

Jeri Dawn Montgomery, 24, was convicted Friday of criminally negligent homicide for causing a March 2008 collision near the North Freeway and FM 2920 that killed Chance Wilcox.

The jury found Montgomery's vehicle was a deadly weapon, bumping the charge to a third-degree felony from a state jail felony, said Donna Hawkins, public information attorney for the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Montgomery, who was taken to the Harris County jail after the jury's verdict, faces probation or up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
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A third degree felony is 2 to 10 in prison, and that includes 2 to 10 years of probation and $10,000.00 fine. Apparently this is the lowest grade of homicide in Texas.

I don't think the answer is headsets or hands-free phones. The answer is that you cannot pay full attention to the road if you are yakking on the phone. It's that simple. When you are driving and talking, your eyes are seeing but your brain is not processing the situation. I see people yakking and driving huge SUVs all the time in Houston. It's scary.

:popcorn:



:popcorn:

Otherwise, I completely agree on cell phones. I've seen too many drivers yapping on the phone looking ahead, but obviously oblivious to what is happening in front of them. I find it funny that they drop the conversation when they realize they have to take immediate action to avoid a collision. And yet they claim they can do both. Morons.

Any cell-talking is distracting. But I also think automatic transmissions should be outlawed (and I'm still suspicious of power steering).

Really. Riding a clutch in heavy traffic is hell. You can wear a clutch out in no time.

In fact, I have an automatic tranny in my riceburner and the city traffic has burned it up twice -- once while under warranty (less than 30K miles).

Its all about the touch.

Saying that you can drive a car, but only if it's an automatic is like saying you can ride a bicycle, but only if it has training wheels attached. I think power steering was a nice advance, because the wheel doesn't have to be turned as much to make a turn, making the car more responsive. And if the power fails, you can still turn the wheel and control the car, it just takes some elbow grease.

but not by choice, and it is the first automatic I've had in 30 years.

I was determined to get an Insight, since I have a 27 mile commute daily. Unfortunately they stopped selling them before I was ready to buy one, so I was stuck with what was available on the scarce secondary market - it took me 3 months to find one without going out of state. I'd still rather have manual transmission - but I guess the sacrifice is worth the 57-60 mpg I get.

My teenage daughter was told by her driver's ed instructor that we should rent an automatic for the several months during which she needed to rack up driving time before she could get her license. We just laughed. She did use the Insight (purchased just before she got her license) for the maneuverability test - mostly because it is a smaller car...less risk of tapping the cones. She impressed all the guys, at least, by driving a manual her senior year in high school.

Power steering - yep - but I hate that they swiped the window cranks. If the automatic fails there, I'm up a creek without a paddle.

even if the car goes underwater water- the electric windows will still function.

however- if you feel paranoid- get one of those pen-sized devices for shattering car windows and leave it in the glovebox.

But nothing to do with paranoia.

I'm not specifically worried about the electric windows in an accident (although the reason I have the window shattering device is because my mother gave each of us (and all her grandkids) one after she was in an accident and had significant breathing difficulties caused by a combination of the failure of her electronic windows, the inability to open her doors, and air bag gasses).

It is more a general matter of the more automated things there are, the more there are to break. Motors fail, and you can apply manual torque even if the window motor is not powerful enough to overcome whatever resistance the interaction between the window and the track are creating. My driver side window currently stops about an inch from closed in certain weather conditions - I can nudge it up with appropriate manual pressure, but I'd much rather just have my hand crank than worry about whether the motor is strong enough to do its job. Good thing it's going in for a tune-up before it gets really cold.

they don't have transmissions at all.

Depends on the rated speed range of the motor and it's torque curves. I've seen DC motors popped right onto a manual transmission during conversions.

most fully electric cars don't have transmissions.

the accelerator ends up being comparable to a dimmer switch.

is so much safer. :eyes:

Germany has a lower vehicle fatality rate per capita, but per kilometers traveled they are less safe.

See figure 2:
http://www.vtpi.org/safetrav.pdf

the arthritic condition in my spine would make using a clutch a hellish experience.

suggesting that automatic transmissions should be outlawed is just...retarded.

When I went car shopping, I couldn't find that option.

nt

The companies make them, but rarely offer them for sale in a country where almost half of the drivers cannot drive a car without training wheels. Europe on the other hand...

.... we couldn't even do it. The idea of talking on the phone, while driving, seemed ridiculous.

At a nearby intersection, we had weekly rear-enders where someone would drive into the back of a stopped car because they had their foot down at 60 mph and were busy yakking away up until they slammed into a car stopped at the light at the top of the hill.

Then there are people who have the phone cradled to their ear and can't be bothered to turn their head and look for traffic when they pull out of a parking lot.

No cell phones. For anyone.

It's a tough call. You can't really pay full attention when you do a lot of things. Like turning around to yell at your kid in the backseat. Let's ban kids.

especially texting. Thing is how to enforce it. Without cameras how is someone going to be bust

They just don't get it that they're endangering others.

It's especially frustrating on the freeway where the high speed really require your full attention.

:mad:

Or they are so unaware that they drive totally out of sync with the traffic flow. I try to get away from cell phone drivers ASAP.

...so that they have time to brake if they have to.

Totally fucking Oblivious to the drivers behind them or the general traffic scene.

These people go into the same circle of hell as people on Cell Phones in Elevators, Theaters, and other loud obnoxious public behaviors.

:mad:

when you get home

I'm not big on imprisonment, however, and see no reason for a sentence beyond probation.

24 years old and prison would be a waste of state resources for this case.

I want to see the justice system improved by using home arrests much, much more. With GPS available, and ankle monitors, we could send a lot more folks home to serve their time, and place the necessary probationary restrictions upon them.

Half the people in prison today do not need to be there. They either shouldn't be serving any sentence, or should be under house arrest.

they can't get any cash from home arrests now can they?

What is wrong with some people?

I hope she had a beer between her legs and you just didn't see it.

"When you are driving and talking, your eyes are seeing but your brain is not processing the situation"

What about radio or talking with other passengers?
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

There should only be single-passenger cars, no businesses should have signs or billboards, and there should not be stereos in cars, etc.

Cell phones are much LESS distracting than an in-person conversation with a passenger, an argument with a child, or a screaming baby in the back seat.

You just can't prosecute for EVERYTHING!

People should not txt while driving. I can get behind "hands-free only." But it is just unreasonable to say that no conversations may occur while a car is in motion.

Or maybe any car that can seat more than one should be required to include "The Cone of Silence."

Studies show that a passenger will stop talking when a road hazard presents itself, allowing you to focus on the hazard, or they will help to identify that hazard to you.

turn to look at the person to whom they are talking. However, I have seen MANY people arguing with a passenger and looking away from the road.

Talking on a hands free device and looking at the road doesn't mean you are actually paying attention to the road at all. The latest studies show that a legally drunk driver drives better.

with a passenger? If not they are flawed.

I have seen people playing air guitar and drums on the road. Should stereos be outlawed? Should all "distracted driving" be outlawed so that people must focus on the road like they are taking the bar exam? Should eating while driving be outlawed? Should car seats be discontinued since babies are a HUUUUGE distraction? Should parents not be allowed to drive kids to school? What about busses? Bus drivers have more distractions than ANYBODY! I guess all kids must have to walk to school.

I doubt that any studies you hypothetically cite (no links provided) have included comparisons to all available hazards.

I drive all over the country and I see your kind all the time. Keep deluding yourself that you can conduct business or chat with friends/family while driving. I just hope it doesn't catch up with you when I'm anywhere close. You're driving a lethal weapon and you should take that responsibility seriously. You should be paying complete attention to the road.

I notice that you don't have any studies to prove your point either.

I rarely talk on the phone while driving. I occasionally take a quick call. I see people with way more distractions, and until you can outlaw all of them, I see no point in curtailing hands-free calls.

Want to take away the ability to have hands-free calls? First forbid people from conversing with their passengers and yelling at their kids in the back seat.

I have not had an accident since a fender bender when I was 16. I am 41. I haven't had a moving violation in over 10 years.

Bite me.

Cellphone distracted deaths are rising yearly. Hands-free doesn't mean you're not distracted. I wish you well.

Good luck with your high horse.

Aside: last night at the U2 concert there was a moment when Bono asked everyone in the audience to light up the stadium like the Milky Way. I swear that at least 95% of the people there were holding up cell phones, blackberries, iPhones.

I see people walking on the street yacking away on their phones. How the hell did we ever get any communication done pre-cell phones?

I can barely remember when I had to tell people in person, via mail, or through a land-line phone that U2 were the shittiest band in the world - ever.

They put on a helluva show on Saturday night.

I can remember the days when we often had to wait until the end of the day to talk to our kids or spouses. It's rumored that in prehistoric times humans used something called the pony express to communicate. WTF.

I think using a cell phone is less dangerous than when I used to use a typewriter in the car - I swear I spent more time fussing with that carbon paper at red lights than I did fumbling for 8 tracks in the glove box.

:hi:

when that gawd awful pager (remember those) went off. You also had to have change to use the phone and usually it was 20 degrees with a 20 mph wind. Ewwww some of those public phones were nasty also. Awwwww the good old days...

She killed someone. She deserves at least 10 years.

She deserves no more than that. (Despite the rantings of the noselifters)

So how much time does Armed Robbery get in your book?

By the way, your comparison, along with the mindset that had to be associated with it, are asinine.

I.E., Death, vs. being scared shitless for a few minutes...

How about if she had been drunk and killed somebody...60 days in jail good enough for ya?

I heard it on Houston television news, don't recall which channel. I was channel surfing in my office and saw it, and caught a bit on the outcome.

Also ordered to pay $10,000 fine, I think they said, and make restitution by paying for the funeral costs. Again, I heard it, but that's the story as I heard it reported.

In my opinion cell phone talking and text messaging should be treated under the same laws and standards as drunk driving offenses. Both have the same outcome, should have the same sentence.

You can get convicted of negligent homicide WITHOUT using a cell phone if you're driving recklessly enough, and that appears to be the situation in this case. From what I've seen on the local news here, she was driving erratically, changing multiple lanes without looking or signaling and just driving like an idiot whose phone call was far more important than the lives of innocent people around her. This isn't a case of someone who just happened to get in an unfortunate accident while at the same time talking on a cell phone. This is a case of someone who just didn't give a fuck, and yes if you are that reckless with other people's lives, you deserve serious jail time.

Ten years of probation is brutal. I used to work at the courthouse. A person on probation cannot take an alcoholic drink and cannot even go in a restaurant that serves alcohol without violating probation. There are tons of conditions. Some people would prefer hard time to probation because of these considerations.

At least she gets to walk around relatively free, do most of the other things she wants to do, and most of all breathe.

There really should be a stiff law enforced against talking on the phone while driving, texting and all that jazz.
But people are basically stupid in these things and it takes laws to put them into place, unfortunately. I remember a time when drunk driving wasn't such a 'big deal' until responsibility was forced down our stupid gullets by law.

But i feel bad for the woman nonetheless - she must be suffering lots too.

My sister does that too, talk on the phone while driving, and she gets a fair amoutn of calls. If I catch her at the wheel I always say goodbye and hangup, I don't want her doing the Olive Oyl driving while talking to me. I tried to talk seriously to her about this but of course she's always right and I'm just a big ole silly worrywart.