Cell Phone/Driving Horror Story

[Valinda]

http://www.wlextv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4449021http://www.wlextv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4449021
CLARK COUNTY
[font=Verdana,Arial]Woman's Arm Severed In Car Accident[/font]

A Letcher County woman suffered a horrible injury early Thursday when her arm was severed in a car crash on the Mountain Parkway in Clark County.
Jacqueline Dotson and her six-year-old daughter had to be cut out of their vehicle after the accident in which Dotson veered into the median and over-corrected, rolling her truck over the guardrail and landing upside down after flipping several times.

Several people stopped to help, and it turns out, the good samaritans may very well have saved Dotson's life. Sheila Vice, a nurse's aide, and an off-duty EMT from another county stopped to help, and put a tourniquet on Dotson's arm to stop the bleeding. Her arm was found near the accident still clutching a cell phone.

"Basically we stayed there and talked to them until the EMT drivers got there," said Vice.

Rescuers used the jaws of life to get the Dotson and her daughter out of the truck. Both were flown to hospitals, and Dotson is listed in serious condition at UK Hospital. Her daughter is not in the hospital, and sheriff's officials say they believe she's going to be fine.

Both were wearing seat belts.

LEX 18 News Headlines
http://www.wlextv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4449021

 

[lostfaith]

Her arm was found "still clutching" the cell phone!

 

[Valinda]

Her arm was found "still clutching" the cell phone!

Talk about getting caught red handed.

 

[luvahgirl]

I'm sorry but it's a little difficult to conjure up much if any sympathy for this woman. In fact, I'm surprised her mouth wasn't stuck to the phone also. Good grief - pull it on over to the side to talk!

 

[WebbyCat]

Talking on cell phones while driving should be illegal.

Just two months ago two teenage girls were killed in a head on collision here. The third girl survived with some pretty bad injuries. She said the last thing she remembered was the cell phone ringing and the driver trying to answer it and veering into the wrong traffic lane while she was fiddling with the phone.

 

[christine2448]

Talking on cell phones while driving should be illegal.

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[Lauren]

I always turn mine off. I do not wanted to be tempted. We had a local gal who got killed (single parent of 2) while on the freeway looking up a phonenumber(s)in a phone book. Crazy. If you need to talk, get at the very least a headset, although you are still talking and distracted IMO, I know I am not that coordinated. Or pull over. We got thru years without cell phones and I think we can for a few minutes.

 

[reb]

i have a solution.... i just avoid driving as much as possible. i work close to home, or if i do have to go far, i take the simplest/shortest/least crowded route possible... & also don't go out at rush hour. i used to LOVE driving, but not anymore. but then again, by using a car, i'm part of the problem.
anyway, i agree, since people cannot handle this type of thing, unfortunately-- it should be outlawed. it was bad enough with people fiddling with the radio.tape player, now they're fiddling with that AND their damn phones. now we have the global positioning map-finder thingies too-- more and more things to take your eyes & mind off where they SHOULD be, which is ON THE ROAD!!!! also, what's the deal with people now putting those little TV's in the FRONT seat, up near the rear-view mirror???

 

[reb]

btw... i can hear it now,, "uhh, ma'am.. we found your arm, and here's your phone-- you have four messages..." i bet she used the other arm to check right away.... sheesh.

 

[strach304]

My favorite women putting makeup on while driving. They're all distractions with children being at the top of the list for me.

 

[sleuthin4fun]

The best is when you see a mom in her car on the phone, putting on mascara, eating a muffin with a toddler in the back seat. By the way I am guilty of talking on my phone when I drive.

 

[AlwaysHope]

i have even seen people reading while driving at 65-70 mph... now that is crazy! I talk on my cell while driving, but only for a minute or two...never in bad weather, and never when there are children in the car.

DRIVE SAFE EVERYONE!!

 

[christine2448]

btw... i can hear it now,, "uhh, ma'am.. we found your arm, and here's your phone-- you have four messages..." i bet she used the other arm to check right away.... sheesh.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

I heard a report on the radio that research shows it's not talking on the cell phone that causes distractions. It's the dialing or looking at something and not the road.

People talk to other people in a car. It's the same thing if you think about it, except sometimes you hold the cell phone instead of use a headset/handsfree system.

The report said "talking" on a cell phone is no more dangerous that smoking, eating talking to another passenger in the car, etc. It bugs me when I am a passenger and the driver looks at me -- even glances -- when talking. I say, you can talk to me, but keep your eyes on the road! :slap:
Anyway, this report has the statistics to back it up from some research they did. I wish I could find a link. I will look for it.

Singing along with the radio could be just as much of a distraction as talking.

So I kind of agree with the study. It's not the talking so much as much as the dialing or doing other things.
You should always have both hands free though. I agree with that.
You need to use one hand for blinkers a lot of time. Some people who don't talk on cell phones don't use blinkers and they cause accidents, too.

That drives me nuts when people don't use blinkers!
I'd pull people over for it if I could!

 

[Valinda]

The best is when you see a mom in her car on the phone, putting on mascara, eating a muffin with a toddler in the back seat. By the way I am guilty of talking on my phone when I drive.

I hate to admit it, I've been guilty of it too. But I no longer hold my cell. I either use a headphone or speaker, and use voice dial when making calls.

 

[CyberLaw]

Oh please......

Prayers for Maura, please note:

www. drivenowchatlater.com

There are so many other driver distractions that cause accidents. Why focus on cell phones?

Answer: Phone conversations have been shown to cause a cognitive distraction in drivers. In other words, the driver's brain is intensely engaged with the conversation, although he may appear to be paying attention to the road. This does not happen with other common distractions, including conversations with passengers. Research has shown that phone conversations cause what is termed "tunnel vision" in drivers. Although they appear to be looking at objects, their brains are not registering a good portion of what they see. Therefore, a driver is impaired for the entire length of the phone conversation.

Why doesn't the use of hands free equipment solve the problem? At least both hands would be on the wheel.


Answer: The use of hands free equipment would free up both of the driver's hands during the phone conversation. However, since it's been shown that the distraction from cell phones is mostly a cognitive one, having both hands on the wheel will make little difference.

I drive fine while on the phone. It's other people who can't seem to handle it. Why should I be effected?


Answer: Research shows that drivers are rarely aware of their own poor performance while on the phone, but have observed others driving erratically while on the phone. This would imply that a consequence of using the phone while driving is that it makes a driver insensitive to his or her own impairment. Much like an alcoholic feels sure that he/she drives fine while intoxicated.

www.2 potsdam. edu

A study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that drivers who used mobile phones while driving were four times more likely to crash than those who do not, a rate equal to that for drunken driving at the .01 level.

www.cbc.ca

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO - It could be a first in Canada, charges have been laid against a driver who caused an accident and was reportedly using a cell phone at the time.

A man faces two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Two independent witnesses say they saw a driver talking on a cell phone immediately before the crash in Mississauga, Ontario.


Investigators plan to obtain phone records. A woman was critically injured and her adult daughter, who was also in the car, was badly hurt.

In conclusion: Talking on the cell phone increases your chance of accidents, either if it is hands free or mobile.

 

[strach304]

I have young daughters that drive and have complained often about the phone while driving but now I'll add one more to the newest distraction; the ipod. Great little gadgets just like cell phones but something that is a distraction and may take your attention away momentarily. I hardly ever answered my phone when I was driving for the sole reason that I found it to be distracting.

Now back in the old days :crazy: I was in an accident with my husband and our small daughter was in the back seat seatbelted of course and they were fine but it was my side the van slammed into, how I lived through that I'll never know but I did see it coming because I could see the driver looking at a map and as I looked over at my husband he was looking down putting out a cigarette. It was the man in the vans fault but I always felt if my husband had been paying better attention he would have seen it in time. I became a very defensive driver after that experience.

 

[Niner]

Her arm was found "still clutching" the cell phone!

is RIGHT!! geez... good thing I don't own a cell phone! Solves THAT problem!!

 

[Valinda]

Oh please......

www. drivenowchatlater.com

There are so many other driver distractions that cause accidents. Why focus on cell phones?

Answer: Phone conversations have been shown to cause a cognitive distraction in drivers. In other words, the driver's brain is intensely engaged with the conversation, although he may appear to be paying attention to the road. This does not happen with other common distractions, including conversations with passengers.

I don't understand the difference between talking on a hands free cell, or talking to a passenger. They're both talking, so depending on the conversation they both should be equally as distracting.

 

[CyberLaw]

Now I am not a Doctor, nor Brain Surgeon, but it has to do with the function of the brain and how a "conversation" with a passenger differs from a "conversation" on a cell phone. How the brain processes and "reacts" to each.........

Please note: Phone conversations have been shown to cause a cognitive distraction in drivers. In other words, the driver's brain is intensely engaged with the conversation, although he may appear to be paying attention to the road.


The only difference is that your hands are free. The only safe way to have a "phone conversation" while you are driving is to pull over to the side of the road. Concentrate on the conversation, and not on the driving. Or not answer the phone and concentrate on driving and not a conversation.

It has been shown, by doing both, you have a four times higher chance of having an accident. It should be noted also, that if you are having an angry conversation, your driving will relflect that. You will be a lot more agressive.......and the cognitive distraction increases significantly.


A Father and his daughter were at a level train crossing. There would be some sort of "warning" of a train approaching. The man did not pay attention as he was having a "conversation" with some one on his cell phone. I don't have to tell you the rest........


A women and her 4 year old son were driving in a "difficult" rural area, in weather that was not ideal. In this area, you have to grab the steering wheel and drive extremely slow and carefully as it is winding and snowy. The extra hazzard is that this road is winding beside a lake. You need 110% attention. The women was on her cell phone.........I don't have to tell you the rest.


It did not matter if hands free were used, or not, just the fact that "their" mind was on a conversation and not on the road was enough............it is extremely sad to think of what happened to them and that it could have been prevented. Especially the kids........


So in conclusion is it not the "method" of having the conversation, it is the conversation itself.


I even find this "when I am on the phone at home" and doing other things, like when I go to check dinner and find I put dinner in the oven, but did not turn the oven on. My mind was on the "conversation"..........