Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"On the day of the collision last month, visibility was good. The sidewalk was not under repair. As she walked, Tiffany Briggs, 25, was talking to her grandmother on her cellphone, lost in conversation. Very lost. “I ran into a truck,” Ms. Briggs said. It was parked in a driveway."

It is becoming illegal in more places to use your phone while driving, without at least using hands-free and overall, I agree with the movement. I see driving as a privilege, and I see people holding a handset, let alone texting, as very dangerous. However, the war between drivers and pedestrians rages on, and pedestrians are far from innocent. People not using crosswalks and paying attention to the traffic signs is bad enough, but then there are those that are completely oblivious to the world around them which makes them just as much a danger as distracted drivers. If only there was a way we could impose or enforce the laws we currently have to encourage people to pay attention to the world around them, at least where safety is concerned.

"The first study of drivers texting inside their vehicles shows that the risk sharply exceeds previous estimates based on laboratory research - and far surpasses the dangers of other driving distractions. The new study, which entailed outfitting the cabs of long-haul trucks with video cameras over 18 months, found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting."

While common sense tells us that texting while driving is a bad idea, I frankly didn't realize what a stratospheric jump in the chances of having an accident texting incurs. This is a sobering article that I'd urge everyone to read and pass on to their friends - there's absolutely nothing cool about endangering the lives of those around you. Don't send or read texts, or emails, while driving. Nothing you're getting send to you is important enough to warrant endangering the lives of those around you.

"It's suspected, but not known for sure yet, that that the engineer of a Los Angeles Metrolink commuter train may have been text messaging when the train ran a stop signal, crashing into an oncoming freight engine. It will likely take the National Transportation Safety Board up to a year to investigate the tragedy, which resulted in 25 deaths, including that of the engineer himself, and 138 people injured."

Regardless of why this happened, the loss of human life is saddening - but if it was was due to negligence on the part of the engineer because he was texting, it's all the more tragic. In my history of texting, which is admittedly not as long as some people, I've sent exactly two texts while driving - or more accurately, composed most of them while at a stop light and finished them while driving. And that was completely and totally stupid of me to do - I couldn't imagine how badly I'd feel if I caused an accident because I thought my text messages were more important than the safety of the people around me. Reading texts and email messages is almost as bad - there's hardly any message that can't wait until you're at a red light to red, or pulled over to the side of the road. Time to confess: do you text while driving your car?