Deadly Selfies?
A 32-year-old woman died in High Point, NC three days ago after crossing a median and striking a truck head-on. Police investigators are now reporting that “selfies” might have been involved.
This is another good solid chance for the media to report the usual dodgy statistics on distracted driving, and they’re doing it. Speaking as someone who had his only major automobile accident as an adult while he was awake, alert, sober, and had both hands firmly on the steering wheel, I’m always a bit suspicious of said statistics. One could argue that Miss Sanford was alive and well while she was texting and posting selfies but succumbed to something completely different later. Until the investigators manage to show that her last Tweet was “Turfing across the median towards a truck, still thinking about Pharrell Williams perhaps the lady should be given the courtesy of being presumed innocent.
You know, since our country was founded on that presumption.
In the meantime, all Americans are encouraged to hang up their phones, turn off the Candy Crush, pull the fuse from their MyFordTouch systems, place both hands at ten and two at the wheel, and stare determinedly at the bumper of the stopped car in traffic ahead. When it’s safe to do something else, we’ll text you.
More by Jack Baruth
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Candy Crush? That's *so* 2013. These days, people are trying to figure out how to sell their "Flappy Bird"-equipped iPhones for $100,000.
Presumption of innocence in a government court of law when accused by that government is one of our founding principles; not in casual discourse, not even in civil court. Much like freedom of speech only means you can't be arrested or fined by the government, not that we all have to treat any asinine speech as equally valid, or even grant it a place to be heard other than the sidewalk. And we're free to shout it down or walk away. It's not that no one can be held in any way accountable unless it's absolutely provable beyond a reasonable doubt, rather that they can only be imprisoned by the government if that standard is met. BTW, posting selfies while driving is dangerous.
"In the meantime, all Americans are encouraged to hang up their phones, turn off the Candy Crush, pull the fuse from their MyFordTouch systems, place both hands at ten and two at the wheel, and stare determinedly at the bumper of the stopped car in traffic ahead. When it’s safe to do something else, we’ll text you." Exactly. Put down the crap and LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING. If not they can do a gofuckyourselfie. John
Well, the deceased certainly can't put the blame on an icy patch. If she was texting at the time, she was texting-- there's self-documented proof of that. Of course distracted driving is a major cause of accidents. How many of the others-- like drunkenness, or willful violation of rights of way, or vehicle failure, or pushing your vehicle beyond the safe confines of the Circle of Friction -- do most of us practice every day? My personal experience is no more relevant than yours, Jack, but I can attest that one of my serious lifetime accidents was caused when I was reaching to pick up a stray KYB gas shock adjusting knob that was rattling around annoyingly in the left wheel well, while I was carving the twisties. Another happened when I drove up the tail of a pickup stopped in the fast lane. It was the same color as the mountain in the background, with no brake lights or flashers... oh, and I was trying to clean the windshield, with my eyes momentarily focused on the near distance. These days, yes, I try to to just keep my hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road, and just drive. I drive a GTI, just like those two I wrecked- not while racing, but while being mellow, "happy" and distracted. Those GTIs will really protect you in a collision, I've proved that. This time, I got the last model year, '09, that lets me tune the audio without resorting to an awkward, distracting touchscreen display. Keep it simple, that's my motto now.