So it's not just texting while driving by teens that we have to worry about:
An Elkhart teen is in critical condition after police say he was texting and biking and swerved into oncoming traffic.
Officials say at about 4:45 a.m. Tuesday, 18-year-old Jeffery Cook was biking along the shoulder of SR 120 W near CR 23, just outside of Bristol in Elkhart County. Police say witnesses saw Cook texting on his bike and then drift into the road. Police say 53-year-old Wilford Connell from White Pigeon, Michigan hit Cook with his pick-up truck.
[. . .]
"Kinda of getting goose bumps a little bit just thinking about it," says John Pickett, who lives next door to Cook in Elkhart. "When you're not paying attention what you're doing--riding a bike, bicycle, motorcycle, anything, this is what happens. I just hope he's going to be okay. I wish him a speedy recovery and I hope everything's in tact when he gets out of the hospital."
I've finally upgraded to a smartphone, and I have to admit that I find texting more seductive than I had imagined. But trying to do it while doing anything else -- even something as passive as watching TV -- is beyond my capabilities. I wonder if all these youthful texters are going to end up being adult go-getting multitaskers or scatterbrains who can't stay focused on a single thing. Fine line, probably.
Comments
At least the kid on the bike will only kill himself, hopefully before he contributes to the gene pool. It's evolution in action.
I got rear-ended about a year ago on a straight, level road by a young woman who was - you guessed it - texting. She never even hit her brakes.
Fortunately, I drive a sturdy car and she had functional airbags. But I suspect her insurance rates have increased considerably.