Phone records show that at 10:05:02 p.m., a text message was sent from the cell phone of Bailey Goodman.Teens probably pass around cell phones as readily as they share clothing. I doubt the driver was also text messaging ...
At 10:06:29, a response text message went to Goodman's phone. Then at 10:07:07, just 38 seconds later, the first 911 call of the crash came in.
The state DMV also says there is no state law that prohibits a person from text messaging while driving.
Driving on a junior license, after 9pm with too many passengers, speeding, strikes against them already.
I would have thought that NYS's ban on hand-held cell phone use would include text messaging but "driver inattention" should cover it. Do they want to impose stiffer penalties for the nature of inattention? Yelling at the kids in the back seat ... fiddling with the GPS ... lighting a cigarette?
I don't do much text messaging. I have one friend who sends me the occasional text message. But I needed a mailing address in order to send out an invitation to the kids' birthday party and, after leaving two unanswered voice messages, I learned from a mutual friend that the woman only text messages. She doesn't check voice mail or use email.
So, I sat down in the big green chair in my living room and composed a wordy - by text msg standards - request for her address. And it was hard to do! Now, granted, I've already admitted to not living, eating and breathing this stuff. Thing is, I'm a great QWERTY typist ... when my keyboard isn't clogged with drywall dust. Nonetheless, my efforts garnered a reply.
Well, look, they didn't have to be doing anything wrong. Our highways (and byways) are dangerous. The fact they were "livin' on the edge" makes it easier for us to understand the accident, 'though their youthful choices oughtn't be "capital crimes". I don't want to sound like a Luddite, but technology feels like two steps forward and one step back sometimes.
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