Wisconsin’s texting ban went into effect today, Dec. 1, prompting a shout-out on Facebook from U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. It is the 30th state to enact such a ban.
“I never had the pleasure of meeting Julie Davis, but as a grandmother of 14 I bet she would appreciate Wisconsin’s texting ban, which goes into effect today,” LaHood wrote Wednesday on his Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/sec.lahood
The Facebook posting had a link to the Department of Transportation’s blog, which tells the story of Davis, the deceased mother of Laurier Hevier.
http://fastlane.dot.gov/2010/12/faces-of-distracted-driving-julie-davis-58-one-second-she-was-there-and-the-next-she-was-gone.html
“Laurie, who I met at our second national Distracted Driving Summit in September, lost her mother Julie because of a distracted driver in central Wisconsin,” LaHood said on the blog . “We have featured her story on distracton.gov in our recently launched ‘Faces of Distracted Driving’ series.”
Here is Julie’s story, as per the blog:
“Julie Davis lived a quiet life in Rudolph, Wis. She ran a small hobby farm with her husband Larry and spent her days knitting, tending her vegetable garden, and making jewelry. But her true passion was for her friends and family — especially her fourteen grandchildren.
‘She said being a grandma was one of the busiest jobs, but she loved it,’ Laurie said. ‘She was at every event – if she could make it, she would go.'”
That all ended April 15 last year.
“That afternoon, she set out for a hike near her home with her best friend,” the Transportation blog said. “As they walked beside the road, a 19-year-old driving at 70 mph struck Julie from behind, killing her instantly. There were no skid marks, no signs of attempted braking.”
Blame a distracted driver.
“Phone records and the accident investigation indicated the driver who struck Julie was likely distracted by her cellphone,” the blog says. “Crash reconstruction reports showed that the driver must have taken her eyes from the road for almost 9 seconds to miss seeing two pedestrians. And two witnesses saw the driver swerving back and forth just prior to the crash.”
Citing that case, LaHood wrote on the Transportation Department blog, “That’s why we need good laws, like Wisconsin’s new texting ban, to keep drivers’ focus where it needs to be.”
Wisconsin’s new law permits drivers to talk on their cellphones, but they cannot send e-mails or text messages while driving. For my money, the law doesn’t go far enough. It should have barred talking on cellphones by motorists. But It’s better than nothing.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/111064114.html
