Found out what driving and texting is like today and what could go wrong....

I didn't experience, but I saw someone else experience coming the other way on the local two lane road going into town.

String of about 8 cars were coming driving North Bound on what use to be old US HWY 99, before I 5 was built.
I was heading south bound going into town, to go to the hardware store.

on a slight curve in the road, the third cat was an early 2000s Lexus SUV ( 300 Series ). Looked like he was drifting onto what little shoulder the road has. Thought he would correct and was not just paying attention. Well he didn't correct, he goes into the ditch and never even reacted.

In about 25 yds he comes into contact, where there is a driveway that goes into a forest service area, with a gate about 10 to 20 yds off Hwy 99. he hit that doing about 40 to 45 mph. The Lexus goes airborne, comes down on its front bumper, and the way it got airborne in the ditch, it had a spin on it. Front bumper hits the ground and bounces twice, while doing a spin of about 270 degrees or so, and lands on the drivers side.

I was 100 yds away, but hit the brakes as soon as I saw him hit the ditch. Thru on my flashers and got on the phone calling 911, as I got out of my car. At first no cars were behind me, but in a half a minute, 4 or 5 were but they saw what happened and stopped. The Lady on dispatch was trying to ask me all sorts of questions, while some other guys who had been following on the other direction were at the vehicle and trying to get the guy out of the car. Evidently he wasn't wearing his seat belt and was also high on something. Dispatch was wanting to know what type of car it was, what was its color, where it was at etc. I told her and as far as info on the car, I just gave here the license number, and told her that should tell her all she needed to know.

One guy stopped by me and asked if I knew if the driver was hurt, told me he was an ER nurse from the hospital ( had his wife and kids in the mini van tho.) But he pulled over and got out. Same time, another vehicle behind me, the driver and passenger got out and they had a good sized aid bag with them. I think they were with county search and rescue. They were definitely medically trained, so I didn't need to pull out my rusty EMT and Paramedic Skills.

Driver had a concussion and was bleeding from his head and also his ears were bleeding, with blood running down his face.
he asked first, "What happened?" Then he wanted to know where his cell phone was. He gave me the number and I called it 3 times and each time the person hung up. The search and rescue guy got his smart phone away from him, and threw it back in the ditch were someone else found it. Guess the guy driving was busy texting and was going to pick up some recreational pharmaceuticals. Guess the clown was lucky to be alive and in one big live piece, instead of breaking his neck.
His age was around 30.

Two fire depts responded, the county and the city. Then AMR ambulance service. They took over the treating the patient, from the Fire Dept Medics, and took him to the hospital. Three State Troopers responded to the scene also. Told them I had witnessed it, and had called 911. The State guys were pretty decent folks and very professional. All the resources that arrived were for that matter.

Looking inside the vehicle, after they took the driver away, and seeing how the driver responded and had a clue what was going on, or what had even happened.... I have to assume he was one of our local 30 somethings, that live in Mom's basement, and was borrowing Mom's car to go pick up some drugs. No seat belt, never knew he hit the ditch, much less how his rig went airborne and rolled. One of the many of the county's model citizens...

Texting, high, not paying attention, using mom's car, and one the way to pick up some drugs... what possibly could go wrong....just another day in Josephine County Oregon. At least the Lexus had Oregon Plates instead of California plates, indicating another one of our million California transplants. We get a lot of good Californians here, but by far they ARE NOT ALL 'good'.

Oregon Legalizing ALL drugs a few years back, courtesy of our democRATS... on that subject... What could go wrong there also? Too bad the idiot didn't break his neck and do the neighborhood a favor for once.

My son in law owns a Wrecker Service. He says telephone are the best thing that ever happened to his business

Ya I had some dumfuk dam near take me out not long ago I was 30 ft off the street in a parkin lot walking😵‍💫😵‍💫

When I was driving the Big Rig 11 hours a day over the interstates, about once an hour I'd see someone doing something really stupid, like driving in the left lane on I-10 in rural Texas, at 55 mph. You're supposed to go 75! Looked like the driver must be drunk. And as I got near the miscreant, 9 times out of 10 I could see it was a 30-something female texting on the Iphone.

The texting driver is worse than the drunk driver.

Voice to Text feature, piece of cake.

Easier than Self Checkout

Ever watched a 79 year old doing 75mph stare at an air conditioner knob for 4 seconds on a car they’ve been driving for 10 years? Mouth open, catching flies.

around here, I swear that 40% or more drivers are either talking on the phone when in motion. Bad enough that they all text at the stop light, and then fail to move when the light turns green.

Texting and driving don't mix just like drinking and driving don't mix.

I see it every day during my commute. Almost without exception, the 30 and under crowd.

I have noted women tend to have less spatial awareness than men do. Distracting themselves while driving seems like a sure fire way to kill anyone around them.

I'm seeing a lot of big rigs, with the drivers texting & driving - mostly all over the road, all 4 lanes AND the shoulders.
Seems to be about one out of three or four.

Pulled out on the main road one morning. Car upside down , stop sign flattened. Fire truck blocking turn, guys sweeping up glass. Later, walking the scene, it was obvious. Coming into a curve and not turning, the car hit the ditch, launched up over the stop sign and landed upside down. IV pacs and other medical wrappers scattered about and the girl's library card in the mud. Saddest thing imaginable. Poor family.

Several years ago my family and I were traveling for Thanksgiving. Running up I-35 in heavy holiday traffic, my son says "Dad check out the crotch rocket coming up beside us." I looked and he was texting on his phone which was balanced on his gas tank, I shook my head and my son said "dumb a**." Couldn't argue with that.

I text but never in a curve and I always have my cruise on so I keep my speed

Not that difficult

Should be against the law! First offense 6 months in county, $10,000 fine and 10 year suspension of DL. Second offense 25 to life. For the children.

This is one reason I leave the trailer hitch in the receiver all the time

Around the city you see a ton of vehicles that very obviously were on the giving or receiving end of a rear end collision.

I asked a guy at a body shop a few years ago if cell phones had replaced deer as his biggest revenue generator. He said not just cell phones but people fooling around with all the other technical innovations they have to play with in cars today.

THIS...at least

following a guy that i seen was texting, traffic was traveling at 50 mph, he was busy texting and went off the road and took on a big sycamore tree, he didnt even hit his break, all kind of car parts were flying, he had to dead, tree wasat least 6 feet around and didnt even shake the.limbs much

Going out of my small home town this morning, 4 of the 5 cars coming in had drivers looking down at a phone. And wonder why they run into deer.

A few years ago I was driving on a busy 6 lane arterial road where I noticed a car driving slower than traffic and weaving from one side of their to the other. As I passed her i saw she had a book open on her steering wheel reading it.
In my travels I see crap loads of drivers looking at their phones including big rig drivers on the interstate. Some driving pretty good some not so much.

Very seldom do I even answer the phone while driving, let alone make a call. And I very, very seldom use the text at all! I have fat thumbs and it’s hard for me. If someone text me, more often than not, I’ll call them and talk.
But then I’m 58, and I never, ever had a cell phone until I was 43, and needed one for my job as a truck driver.
I’m fine without the damn things, and seldom use it other than browsing through the ‘Fire and maybe playing FreeCell in a waiting room! 😀
I know some younger people who cannot function without one, I have had adolescent kids bump into me in a store, because they ain’t watching where they’re going, they’re looking at a screen!🤬
To me, it’s a special kind of dope, for a special kind of stupid!😟
I hate the damn things. And I’m convinced there’s a nice section of hell waiting for the people who create and design these devices, and a big thank you from Satan himself!
Reon

Eleven years ago the Feds made a law that if a driver was caught in the big rig, just talking on the cell phone while driving, not to mention texting, it was a $2,500 fine and six points against the CDL license. Of course, it is hard to see up into the cab of the truck if you are in a cop car. Yes lots of drivers still do it and it is not the sign of a high IQ.

Because if you have a wreck, the cops will pull your Iphone data, and they can prove you were texting while driving, and that probably will be the end of your CDL career.

There was a crash on I 16 in Georgia several years ago, traffic was stopped due to a wreck. An 18 wheeler crashed into the last car in the backup at 65 mph, the CDL guy never even hit his brakes.
Four nursing students killed in the car. Diesel driver was unhurt. Cops pulled his Iphone data, he was texting while driving, he got 5 years in prison.

This crap is an epidemic, especially on country roads. At least in town the texters can do their thing while at a stop light. In the country they just do it on the open road. I get pretty tired of folks drifting into my lane. I drive around 55,000 miles a year, so I see this a lot.

Lady from work a few years ago coming up north US52. Notorius for answering emails while coming in to work. Never hit the brakes and rear ended the stopped semi.in the road.
She's dead. She never knew what killed her.
I pull over to text. And phone comes thtough the radio.

Around here the most dangerous drivers are women and/or old folks (of all races) driving small SUV's. They text while driving, drive too slow about 50-100 yards behind the car in front of them and if they are sitting at red traffic light you have to honk or they'll just keep sit there texting on the their cell phone until the green light turns red again.

I forget, what are they called?

I wouldn't lump them all in there, I know a few with good heads on them.

I think that is PRECISELY what he and I were trying to convey. Gross generalizations are just that, GROSS.

4 years ago a guy texting and driving ran into me and totaled my 2002 Ranger. I had that truck since it was new and really liked it as a run around town and go to work truck. Since it was old the insurance check didnt amount to much and with the price of new and used trucks I havent been able to replace it.

Texting and driving should be charged the same as reckless driving.

No surprise. The general public is as retarded on this subject as they are at deciding who to knock up, how to pay bills, and whether to get the jab.

You mean like how we knew the guy was driving high in his moms car, living in his moms basement, and going to pick up drugs…???

we see that on I 5 here on the left coast. Its a higher percentage, with Hispanic drivers who are here illegally, and then with the Indians, Pakis and whatever Canada is importing into their nation. If I see a truck with BC plates, I bet one in 10 of them is a white guy.

And they think they are immune to speeding tickets here, like they are in BC.

I use my phone while driving at times. It’s not terribly difficult if you’re not retarded.

In 2019 our Grand Cherokee was t-boned and totalled by a young girl driving out of a WaWa parking lot while looking down at her phone.
Oncoming traffic was heavy and there was no way to avoid her.

This reminds me of a situation I had up in Portland on a city thru way. Was sitting at a redlight about the 5th car back. It was a summer day, so the windows were down in my car. The street had been widened to wear they had parking space in between trees that lined the side of the street. They had also put in a bike lane.

The street was going down a slight incline, which Portland doesn't have much flat land around it. The curb goes around these big trees that were on each side of the intercity street. The radio was off. I hear this 'Rackety Rackety Rackety' of a skate board , and look in my right rear view side mirror and here's this 20 something riding a skate board, down the bike lane, not paying attention with his doing something on his smart phone. He's also going at a pretty good clip.

Right past my front fender, he drifts off the bike lane, staring at his phone, and hits the curb around the tree. It sends him and his phone flying into this pretty wide tree. Me and everyone behind me are laughing our asses off. The several cars in front of me start to go as the light turned green. Before I can go, I hear another guy coming down the bike lane on his skate board. Look in my right side mirror and sure enough, he's doing the same at the last guy. Face buried in his phone and not looking to where he is going. He hits the same curb and goes flying into the tree, like the last guy.

Me and the cars directly behind me are laughing so hard, I don't have time to start and making it thru the light... I was laughing to hard. Same thing with most of those behind me, they were laughing to hard to care either. I did hear some horns honking further on back tho.

Another pair of victims to our education system, and 'captivating technology'. Later I was thinking too bad these idiots didn't break their figgin necks, or at least their knees. It does prove tho, that God DOES have a sense of humor.

I didn't " know it" but around here it is certainly predictable, because we have a real fair share of that for a town of this size. May not be the same everywhere, but plenty of people from your fair state, don't move here for "work opportunities", unless its in the recreational pharmaceutical industry.

My son will be 30 this May. Many of the kids he graduated high school with, that he personally knows, DON'T have jobs and have been collecting on the welfare rolls since they graduated. Most of them still live in mom's basement, and don't have cars, because they use mom and dads and don't have to even pay for fuel. The motivated ones tho at least work under the table in the recreational pharmaceutical industry.

My son on the other end ( because parents have some input into their children's life style), has several college degrees and certifications working in the medical industry and works full time at our local hospital. He has no college debt, because he got an EMT and Paramedic degree, and then working at the hospital full time, he was reimbursed for taking educational course, so taking two courses every 60 days on line, he also has a graduate degree in health care administration, that the hospital paid for.

My son also doesn't use drugs or alcohol, and volunteers to teach EMT courses and certifications to high school kids via the Scouting Explorer program over at Mercy Flights, which was the first Air Ambulance company in the nation. I've also been heavily involved in Scouting in town for 25 years now. So I see a lot of kids, as they grow up and run into many of them now that they are adults. What they do in life as adults is reflective on what their parents taught them to do.

The area is also loaded with adults, even up into their 60s and 70s, who still act like irresponsible teenagers, still living in the 60s. Heck at Walmart and a lot of stores around here , you see 70 and 80 year old grandmas covered in plenty of tattoos.

This area is NOT for , or full of MENSA society members. Sign of the times.

Texting while driving has illegal in Texas for quite a while but the cops aren't enforcing the law. I know a cop (retired now) that texted, responded to emails and surfed the internet while driving 80-90 mph down the highway. He said cops don't get tickets and he never did.

Using cell phones while driving should be treated like Dui.

I’ve noticed in the past couple of years when I see someone texting and driving, it’s usually not the younger crowd. I see more 60 somethings and up texting and driving than other age groups. It also doesn’t matter make or female, they all do it equally.

The real problem is many people, of all ages, have an addiction problem with their phone. If they use it while driving I imagine it's used at work and everywhere else to satisfy their craving.

And I believe every bit of it.. I have coffee with the owner of a large wrecker service in the area and he confirms that it's been a boon for his business.. Probably ditto for the mortuary...sadly to say.

Drinking and texting is almost as bad.

if people are as bad at texting like they are there driving, who they texting Biden

Several years back a lady center punched our pickup in the middle of our lane. She never saw us. We have a big roo guard on the front. It absolutely totaled her van and put a slight dent in our bumper. As the medics packed her off, she had her phone firmly in hand.

Sounds like you center punched her?

FedEx drivers are way to busy smoking dope to text...

Can I get an Amen?

A friend of mine was killed driving his pickup by a 17 year old girl texting and driving. She T-boned him at a traffic light. She spent a couple days in the hospital, he’s been in the ground since. Her parents got a good lawyer. She never served a day.

Have you thought about tracking her down... and killin the bitch?

Just curious...

IDIOTS. I see them every day when I’m driving. Of all ages but the younger ones can’t seem to drive without their phone parked in front of their face instead of eyes on the road.
I suspect if they ran a graph of accidents, nowadays, texting and driving and / or talking or surfing on the internet kills more folks nowadays then drunk drivers.
No driving Wetbacks probably account for the 2nd biggest amount of accidents / deaths, I suspect.
That’s why you see those crosses with flowers all over the roadsides EVERYWHERE you go, and especially in TX.

Darwin jumps up and bites a lot of them in the ass.
Unfortunately, they take a lot of good folks with them, because they’re either too Fuqking stupid to put their phone down. Or too selfish, and don’t give a schitt about the safety of others.

I agree with another poster that mentioned if you cause a wreck or death while texting and driving, the Penalty should be the same as if you were DUI and wrecked or killed somebody.

Same here in Boise.

L.W.

I pulled along side a lady texting and driving and I got soo mad that I threw my beer at her

lolololol

We often see drinking and posting here.