CENTRAL ILLINOIS TEEN TEXTING WHILE DRIVING KILLED IN CRASH
A 17-year-old girl from Eureka, Illinois was killed Thursday afternoon in a single-vehicle accident. The teen swerved to avoid an oncoming car after she veered into the oncoming lane of traffic. Her SUV rolled several times in a ditch and she was ejected.
Early reports indicate that the young lady was texting while driving. The County Coroner said that another driver called 911 to report the accident just seconds after the teen's phone received the last text message.
The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill that would ban text messaging while driving. The bill is awaiting the governor's signature.
This story is just one of hundreds of examples that prove the danger of texting while driving. Researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk enlisted 21 teens between the ages of 16 and 18 to take part in a series of simulated driving experiments. The research subjects first drove through virtual scenes without distractions. They then drove through the same scenes while text messaging, while talking on a cell phone, and while operating an MP3 player. The findings, although not surprising, were frightening.
The researchers concluded that the teens' driving was worst when they were texting. The researchers attribute this to having to look down in addition to using your fingers when texting. When distracted, the teens did worse in urban settings, but whether driving in a virtual city or on a virtual country road, they did performed worst while texting. The study shows that distracted drivers changed speeds, slowed down dramatically, and wove more than a foot outside their simulated lane.
The American Automobile Association concludes that the rise of a car accident increases by 50% for people who text message while driving. The dangers are obvious, yet people continue to put their lives and the lives of others at risk when they send text messages while driving. The governor cannot enact this law fast enough. The danger is real. Lives are needlessly being lost in an instant due to texting while driving. It needs to stop.
